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Gender neutral standards! That’s what women hear when we say we too want the same opportunities of our male counterparts. But we don’t get gender neutral. Instead, we get the generic masculine masquerading as “gender neutral” or the “one-size-fits-men” approach. 1/
There is a vast difference between “gender neutral” and “gender blind.” 2/
Gender-neutral policies are not specifically aimed at either men or women and are assumed to affect both sexes equally. However, they may actually be gender-blind. 3/
Gender-blindness means ignoring the different roles, responsibilities, capabilities, needs and priorities of women and men. Gender-blind policies are based on info derived from men’s activities and/or assume those affected by the policy have the same (male) needs & interests. 4/
This is not just a military problem. It is literally a world-wide problem where the male gender is considered the default gender and what most research and development is based on. So, how does this play out? 5/
It plays out in city planning, consumer products, health care, hiring practices, and the list goes on. (If this interests you, check out the book “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado Perez) 6/
Did you know that women are significantly more likely to be misdiagnosed following a heart attack? Because women generally do not exhibit the same heart attack symptoms as men, they are more likely to receive substandard medical care. 7/
Did you know that a woman is more than 50% more likely to be seriously injured in a car crash because the car is designed for the “reference man.” 8/
Same with cell phones. Most cell phones do not fit comfortably in a woman’s hand as they are designed for a usually much bigger male hand. Nor will they generally fit in a woman’s pocket. 9/
This plays out in the military where we just give women equipment designed for men, develop a PT test without meaningful participation from women, and the countless calls for women to conform to the male standard or get out. 10/
So, if you come out of the wood work yelling about gender-neutral standards anytime a woman has the audacity to exist, please understand that taking a male standard and applying it to women is not a gender neutral standard. 11/
Being blind to gender difference is not the same as being gender neutral. If you want something to be truly gender neutral, that will only occur when we start actually looking at sex-disaggregated data and making informed decisions. 12/
Simply taking the male standard and telling women to get with the program will never be “gender neutral” no matter how loud one yells those words into the void. 13/13
