Girl power: Has sex equality gone too far? Your reaction

No, I don't think sex equality has gone too far. The problem lies in society as a whole. There seems to be a loss of respect for people, property and feelings to name but a few. People have become too materialistic and have lost their way. They are concerned more about possessions than they are about their fellow humans. If we treat everybody the same (no matter what colour or religion) then women wouldn't feel like they had to be men. Women + Men = Humanity, so let's behave like an intelligent, loving and peaceful species.
Jon, UK

I like to have a man open a door for me. I like men, all ages, to stand up when I come into a room. I like a man to offer me a chair, but I also like to be equal to men. I would never hit anyone. I like to dress in jeans, but also to dress as a lady.
A lady should always behave like one. To hit anyone, to fight, to use slang, is to lower your standards. Men and women ARE different. How can your expect respect if you don't give it. Let's keep men manly, and women as females, who wants an aggressive female?
Heather Nelson, Northern Ireland

When I last worked in England (25 years ago) women worked hard to achieve recognition in the business community. I think the concept in those days was towards unisex - no bias in favour of any sex or sub-sex group. I suspect it was only the ultra competitiveness of the USA female that distracted British women from "equality" as now they clearly seek "superiority". And this is not limited to Great Britain.
Only a few days ago in a crowded Sydney bar, popular with many British men and women, the subject of "equality" was brought up by the "uncouths". So women still can't break wind louder than men? Ten minutes later we were proved wrong. So women still can't break wind at both ends simultaneously? Ten minutes later we were proved wrong - although I think there were a few mishaps [please excuse the mis there]. So women still can't relieve themselves over a car tyre like men can? Ten minutes later the police arrived and we were proved wrong again....
Perhaps it is a good idea to indulge young females and let them explore loutish trends in their youth. This may prevent them from becoming manipulative and skilled fibbers in adulthood, not that I am suggesting here that all mature women are skilled fibbers and manipulators, merely that they expect to get away with it simply because of their sex.
P Colley, Australia

"Girl Power?" Not to long ago, we fought to be called "women," and now we're back to "girls."
Elizabeth, USA

Give women more and more. They need it. Men enjoyed their freedom for long and without any opposition. If we give women their full rights, if we give women their right to say no, I think we will have a new generation of free women. If we notice what happens during and after revolutions eg French, African continent and Iranian, we will understand the current situation. Laissez faire, laissez passer I think is the best policy.
Hussein Kamel, Canada

I like to have a man open a door for me, I like men, all ages to stand up when I come into a room, I like a man to offer me a chair. But I also like to be equal to men. I would never hit anyone. I like to dress in jeans, but also to dress as a lady. A lady should always behave like one. To hit anyone, to fight, to use slang, is to lower your standards. Let's keep men manly, and women as females. Who wants an aggressive female?
Heather Nelson, Northern Ireland

Girl Power is a commercially manufactured term, which has very little to do with the issue of gender equality. It does seem, though, as if the struggle for equal opportunities in Britain has turned into a silly battle of the sexes where the main question is whether the lads can still enjoy their pint and football, without the foul tempered feminists taking the poor lads' pleasures away from them. This turn of events would not have mattered if women in Britain really had equal opportunities to men, but this media hype seems to conceal the big issues at stake such as equal pay for equal work.
Anne, Norwayv

Sex equality? Women have the upper hand. That's called positive discrimination. (It's only positive if you're a woman). Women are slowly heading for a male backlash as they start to push beyond reason. Let's just stop at being equal, without all this nonsense about who's better, and who should be biased for/against. Finally, laddish behaviour in blokes can be as low as it gets. Why do women want to lower themselves to this level?
Tim Pearce, UK

Girl Power is interpreted in different ways. Only confused young girls give the definition of Girl Power as "Bullying, punching, kicking, head-butting and stabbing" other boys. Obviously, that wasn't the intention of Girl Power, the intention was to give EVERYBODY (including boys) a feeling of confidence and positivity. It's another word for People Power, really.
ShyGirl, US

Why can't feminists refer to themselves as, say, "equalitarians"? After all, the original ideal of feminism advocated equality, but it now seems that some feminists have left that behind and are simply hell-bent on domination.
The violent behaviour of these young girls is symptomatic of this; they are merely adopting the masculine traits of the males that feminism has so long held in contempt. We are now in the situation where women are increasingly expected to behave in a similar manner to men, and this is the result. In short, it seems that it is no longer acceptable for boys to be boys and girls to be girls.
Progress in life should be based on ability, not related to gender. Unfortunately, society is moving to a position where women are advancing simply because of their sex, not because they are the best candidates. This is dressed up in the term "positive discrimination", which gives it the air of acceptability. What needs to be understood is that this is outright and blatant discrimination against men, and that other discrimination exists. Should women be "positively discriminated" against, the result would be hysteria and condemnation. In this regard, sex equality has gone too far.
I'm pro-equality, and I appreciate that discrimination against women is still rife and unacceptable; what disturbs me is the relentless march towards the ultimate goal of females becoming the dominant sex. This is not equality; it is role reversal.
DT Coates, UK

I applaud and admire women like Anita Roddick who have proved to other women that they can succeed with the right amount of determination and intelligence.
I also believe that more women should be promoted to top jobs if they have the necessary qualities to do these jobs and many clearly possess these. If they want to progess and have the right attitude to their work, then they should be encouraged to achieve their goals. However, I don't believe that there will ever be total equality between the sexes and many women are seriously deluding themselves if they seriously believe that they take on and beat men at their own game.
Men are on average physically much stronger than women and their bodies can generally handle a greater amount of food and alcohol than womens' bodies.
Women have done really well in recent years to equalise the gender gap, but there is no way that they will ever close this gap and gain full respectability if they adopt the less appealing male traits to their character such as heavy drinking and general sloppiness.
Surely, it would be more beneficial for the female cause if women like Anita Roddick were held up as 1990's icons for the younger female generation. Why use "ladettes" like Zoe Ball as icons when they haven't done anything significant to promote the equality cause of women over the years.
Where is this "independence" that 1990's women are supposed to possess if all they are effectively doing is trying to copy the blokes?
Simon Porch, United Kingdom

Well, I could write quite a bit about this. I am a 40 year old GP with a 6 year old boy and an 8 year old girl. I was heavily influenced by but just missed out on the hairy armpit feminism of the 70s. Physical violence is not a form of human behaviour to be exalted in either sex. Girls doing it don't make them equal, it makes them equally bereft of any other form of communication. It reflects a poverty of communication that afflicts many people. The big mistake is to justify it if girls do it. There is a new political correctness that allows females to do things eg be violent, that males cannot do. Such correctness is appalling shallowness of thought. Violence is wrong, be it perpetrated by those of either sex, any colour or any religion. I am not answering the question, as in some areas there is not equality of opportunity, but in many others feminism has succeeded beyond its wildest dreams. The question as phrased is too simple, but if you are asking, is violence acceptable in girls, then my opinion is no.
Sandra Oelbaum, UK

Is this really a question of sexual equality or inequality as it is one of a general decline in the mores of society?
Dean P Vanek, USA

How can "equality" go too far? Otherwise it must become inequality again. Violence and aggression should be tackled across the sexes; not be seen as the preserve of one.
Women still have a long way to go to achieve real equality and this sort of thing just muddies the water by distracting everyone from real inequalities that exist across society between classes, races and genders.
Barry Tregear, England

With the Spice Girls on the verge of collapse, there is not going to be anyone positive for young girls to look up to, so they might become too aggressive.
Andrew, Scotland

Definitely the girls of today need to get a grip of themselves. I am 24 and am embarrassed by that study.
Lesley-Anne, N Ireland

I applaud girl power. I do not applaud girl yobbos. Let's have more equality and less stupidity.
Julian Ware-Lane, England

The last 10 years or so has seen a blurring of roles between men and women, to the detriment of both in my opinion. Both sexes should learn to be content with who/what they are, rather than trying to be something else. The recent breakdown of 'normal' married life seems to have happened at about the same time - a coincidence?
Ian, UK

Unfortunately the masculine approach has far more power than the feminine approach.
Tank Girl has, and always will be the person I look up too. The Spice girls were too fake, although they did hold some decent ideals. I know that fighting is not the most efficient way, but if it works once, it'll work again.
Rosemary Hutton, The Sultanate of Oman

This question is far too complicated for a simple yes/no answer. It's all well and good for women to have equal rights, but for them to cause an equal number of crimes? I don't think that's good. On the other hand, it's certainly true that men need to be less violent. It's hypocritical for men to claim that women should be less violent. We men need to clean up our act first, and then, probably, the women will follow suit ... assuming they don't beat us to it, and clean up their act first.
Llewellyn Reese, United States of America

Really it's not so much sex equality, it's more physical prowess. There's nothing wrong with 'girl power' in business, the boardroom, politics etc. But why some females think that by being masculine makes them equal is beyond me. Equality is conducive to femininity, female oafishness is not.
P Olohan, USA

Although things are improving there is still not equality in the way men and women are viewed in society. Women are still expected to act demure and lady-like and not indulge in 'loutish' behaviour that is reserved for our male counterparts. Whilst I don't condone violence I do think women should have the right to defend themselves and violence committed by women should not be viewed as any different to violence committed by men.
Alice, US

Sex equality hasn't gone "too far", but "girl power" is pointless if it means women and girls merely acting in the same violent, idiotic ways that most men do. Don't let them sink to that level.
Matt Simon, USA

Violent behaviour is a problem within the person who commits it, irrelevant of their sex. Look at the problem of why PEOPLE are violent, instead of using it as an excuse to rail against feminism. Are you suggesting that it's socially acceptable for men to behave violently?
Jo Wright, UK

As women still do not have equality the question is rather ill phrased. The aggression shown by these teenagers is all part of the yobbish culture that is being portrayed on TV, on the radio (Zoe Ball, for example) and in magazines like 'More' and 'Loaded'.
Since women's salaries are approx 60% those of men's when doing the same job, since there is still a glass ceiling and since women's pension payments are about 60% lower than those for men who have made the same contributions, we have a long way to go before we have achieved equality. Violence will not help us reach that goal, however.
Hannah, UK

It's not about girls being more like boys, it's about acceptable behaviour. Fighting is unacceptable, whether it involves boys OR girls.
Ross Hall, UK

I think women should concentrate their Girl Power on fighting for world peace. If they could pull that off then they could say that they accomplished more than men ever could.
Carl Hall, Holland

As an Asian, I cannot accept girls who smoke in public and speak foul languages. It is still good to maintain certain ladylike (not the very old fashioned way) behaviour and that's what romance is all about. A man wants to go after a dear sweetheart and not a fighting hen.
Allen Chua, Singapore

Girl Power = No Power. If you equate ladies behaving badly to having power, then power should be given a new definition. The Spice Girls started this Girl Power, yet with all their 'power' they still result to the age old gimmick of 'showing a bit of flesh' to sell records. If they had real power, they would know that people should judge them on their singing ability alone, not by the amount of flesh they show or how much of their sex life they tell us about.
Michael, UK

There is a difference between equality-as-empowerment and equality-in-stupidity. Sex equality is only positive in its ability to empower individuals, regardless of their gender, to thrive in a way which enhances their and everyone's life experience. What we seem to so often see now is not sex equality, but rather the reification and adoption of a limited set of behaviours typically associated with the male gender, rather than the encouragement of individuals of either gender to think and act for themselves. Physical strength is useful and important, to be sure, but equality bound to the lowest common denominator may well be said to be self defeating for everybody. From this point of view, sex equality, rather than going too far, still has a long way to go.
Chris Kuist, USA

Girls have been taught to disparage femininity and traditional feminine contributions to society. Also, feminism has "progressed" from empowering girls and women to emasculating boys and men. As girls experience increasingly less legitimate, responsible masculinity, they are less inspired to cultivate feminine attributes. Thirdly, a pop culture that celebrates mindlessness and violence leads girls (who are not being raised with values and standards to begin with in many cases) to prize "equality" with boys that requires no mental effort or self-discipline. Finally, although there is much more to say about this, an almost complete breakdown of authority, discipline and respect in any society will quickly discourage cultivation and bring out that which is most reprehensible and disgusting in humans of both sexes, perhaps, especially, the sex that imagines it has some catching up to do. The thugs who beat a 15-year-old girl unconscious should be punished but probably will not be.
Julie Sherman, USA

Sex equality may have gone too far for the males who want to desperately hang on to whatever male domination that remains in our societies.
Hany Babu, Deutschland

I'd say it's gone far enough. Nineties women behave like old-style men. They drink pints, sport tattoos, start fights, work for a living and insult and belittle the opposite sex as inferiors.
All that time and trouble their forbears went to, to win equality and what do they do with it? Indulge themselves in precisely the sort of behaviour they were always complaining about. Logic, naturally, doesn't enter into it.
Andrew, Oxford, UK

I believe that the feminist movement, which began as a quest for women's equality, has taken a course that is not helpful to to the original goal of the movement, but it also isn't correct. While we would all agree that women deserve an equal place in society, there are certain limits, physically and mentally, that women cannot cross. However, in believing that they can make all aspects of society equal, many women have chosen to test their limits in trying to prove to society that they can be all that men can be. In combat or in the sports arena, women simply cannot compete physically with males, although there are a few exceptions. Their mindstate is also proven to be more fragile than a male's. Perhaps the stereotypical quality of non-agression in females is something they were meant to be born with. Women are trying to be like men, without preserving the distinctiveness of their gender.
Neil Rampal, USA

It is about time that females asserted thier power that has been supressed so long.
Will, USA

Definitely gone too far! My wife discovered women's lib about 20 years ago and life has been hell ever since!
George Wilson, Canada

It's a positive thing that girls and women are able to fight off an attacker and not become victims in the way that they may have been expected to be in the past. The fact that some girls are being aggressive in the way that some boys are is a problem that needs to be addressed regardless of sex.
John Cahill, UK

Please, don't confuse truancy, plain violent behaviour, lack of manners, lack of education, delinquency, no self-control, no class, etc, with GIRL POWER.
A strong assertive woman knows better than that. She won't get physical, she will not get violent at all. Come on! Let's get real here.
Ana Maria Rodriguez-Rojas, USA

I may be old-fashioned (my wife is nodding furiously) but I can remember when men used to say "Vive la difference". With today's generation of females, it's often a case of "Spot the difference - if you can!"
I can't but wonder if, somewhere along the line of women's rights, the baby hasn't been thrown out with the bath water.
John Luby, Scotland

Definitely not! I would love to meet a princess in shining armour who would whisk me away and defend me from all harm! The problem isn't strong, assertive women who are able to defend themselves, the problem is a culture that promotes "lad-ism" for everyone, male OR female.
Conall, Ireland

It seems very obvious to me that indeed, the interpretation of girlpower as shown - physical - is something one could call "overheating". I think if all these women, not wanting to generalisie however, feel they need to physically fight in order to be equal to men, are forgetting what is so important to femininity: Being able to BE a female, and making use of those strengths and qualities to get done what they want.
Women are not emancipated at all when they show "they can be like men". I think women are emancipated when they can get the same things done - and others - as men, but in a way that will suit their personality and thinking. Of course, all this could be said of men as well, but at some stage testosterone will definitely speak up.
Nicky, Netherlands