Equality vs Equity

Hello my dear readers,

Sorry it’s been a while, school has been hectic.

I was doing some reading over the summer, and came across a book by Baroness Helena Kennedy QC - Eve was Framed.

As soon as I saw the title I knew that this book would be a great read, and so far it has been.

Firstly, from the perspective of an English Literature student, the way she writes is an absolute dream - it’s eloquent, scholarly, and so infused with emotion that I found myself in tears on more than a few occasions. Kennedy writes with the authority of a Queen's Counsel Barrister, but with the emotion of a woman attempting to escape the patriarchal shackles of society.

At its core, the book is about women in relation to the British justice system. It dives into the nuances regarding the treatment of women, as defendants and as lawyers. It highlights the truly discriminate nature of the Bar, and the prejudices and misconceptions from all sectors of the legal field, and how it leads to the marginalisation of women.

One of the things I found most striking was Kennedy’s distinction between equality and equity. Too often, 'equality' is held up as the ultimate feminist goal: the idea that women should be treated the same as men. But she makes the very correct argument that:

"Dealing equally with those who are unequal creates more equality." (pg 31)

This resonated deeply with me, because it encapsulates perfectly what I have always believed. Giving women the same rules, the same expectations, is not what we want, what we need. This is not what we mean when we say we want to level the playing field. Yes we want the same opportunities, yes we want the same pay as our male counterparts, but it also must be recognised by employers and people in authority that women are not the same as men.

And this is the crux of the argument - equality is about everything being the same for all, while equity is about it being fair for all. Equality assumes that if we give everyone the same conditions, we have achieved what we want. But equity recognises that people begin from very different places, and that treating them identically can lead to more disadvantages. And that is true with the fight for women's rights - we are not the same as men, and thus feminism is not just about equality, but it is a call for equity.

The history of the fight for women’s rights has never been about remaining trapped in the male model of life and aspiring for male ideals of success. When women fought for the vote, for access to education, for the right to work, and for reproductive freedom, they were not asking to be treated as men. They were demanding recognition of their different realities and insisting that systems be remoulded to accommodate them, and their dreams. Equity demands accounting for the socio-politico-economic barriers that affect women, and prevent them from reaching their full potential.

And this is still pertinent to today's society. For example, take a single mother of three young children. She shouldn’t be discriminated against for wanting to work less hours as a man without any familial or caring commitments.

But crucially, that doesn’t mean her work should be valued less. If she is delivering the same quality of work, she deserves to be paid the same as her male colleague. Pay is about the value of contribution, not about conforming to archaic, androcentric ideals that assume everyone can work whatever hours.

And then, there is the notion of a promotion, which is more complicated. Is it fair that someone working fewer hours should be considered for the same advancement? Kennedy would argue that fairness doesn’t mean sameness. Promotions should not be handed out solely on the basis of hours clocked, but on merit, and the level of hard work carried out. A man who stays late every night because he has fewer family commitments isn’t necessarily more deserving of promotion than a woman who achieves the same (or more) within restricted hours while also carrying the invisible labour of caregiving.

Equity means rethinking the way we measure “commitment” and “success.” Instead of equating long hours with dedication, we should be asking, "who is producing excellent work?". By adapting our definition of 'merit', we start to change this patriarchal system, and allow both men and women, who have different circumstances, to both have equal - and fair - opportunities to progress further.

And this is what feminism requires - not only equality of opportunities, but also equity alongside that, to make sure that the reality of our lives are understood and accommodated for, in a way that allows us to get to where we want, and follow our own versions of success.

Thats all for today readers, i hope you enjoyed.

All my love and rage,

The equity enforcer. xo