Some time ago, another Blogger wrote to us and asked us to write a post about equality and it's role in our society today. The post was never published on their site, and we are going to share it, or at least Abi's part of it today.
Personally, I like to be informed on an issue before truly
making my mind up about how I feel about it.
When we got asked to write this post first I thought I’d
write an opinion piece (I am rather fond of telling others what I think). But I
changed my mind and decided to write something that would eventually help
others form their opinions. The post you’re reading right now is my attempt at
a guide on how to form an opinion on equality.
1. Check
your basics.
I can’t stress
this enough. You need to know what equality is to be able to form an opinion on
it. You can do this by looking up the definition of equality, which I have
already done for you. Equality; noun the state of being equal, especially
in status, rights, or opportunities. You have a definition know, but define
equality for yourself. Take a moment, maybe write it down. Now you know what
equality is, time to figure out exactly what this encompasses.
2. An
umbrella term.
The word equality
is an umbrella term. It covers so many things, from feminism to marriage
equality to race equity. Figure out all the sorts of equality, what they stand
for and the major activists behind them. Now think about what these sorts of
equality mean to you, and how you agree or disagree with their ideals.
3. Believe.
See if your idea
of equality matches up to the actual definition or it is different (either are
ok) and make sure you believe in it. As in you, the person who is reading this
now, not what celebrities think about it, or what the media thinks about it but
what you think about. Once I was at school and a girl said she was a feminist.
I asked her why, and she said (and I quote) “Oh because Emma Watson is.” I am
not disagreeing with Emma Watson (see is a queen), but if you believe in
something it should be your belief, not the belief of others around you.
4. Being
obnoxious is not that cool.
Now you have a
pretty good idea on what equality is and what it is to you, it’s time to be
brutally honest. No one likes the person who believes that their opinion is
right and theirs only. You need to be open to others opinions, and not preach
yours. Another great way not to be a jerk is to not offend anyone while
promoting your opinion, for example, if you believe that veganism is dumb, do
not feed meat to vegans or tell them that they are stupid. It’s just polite.
5. Have
your opinion!!
And I just
managed to write 465 words without stating my opinion, other than the fact that
I think Emma Watson is a queen. I think I just beat my personal best, but I
will leave you with my opinion on equality.
For me equality is for my rights not to depend on my
gender, for people not getting killed because of their race, for someone’s
access to education being denied because of their gender, for people to be able
to marry the one that they love, but ultimately for everyone to be treated the
same. I believe in this strongly, and I hope that one day, people won’t look at
you and see the colour of your skin,
or your gender, or your sexuality but rather the person you are on the inside.
xxxAbi
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