MAKING MORE EQUAL

 

                                      It is easier to treat woman as the equal of man

                                      When she makes a determined attempt to be equal

                                      Than when she insists on her womanhood.

                                      A woman with short hair and fingernails,

                                      No make-up, dressed in pants and low-heels,

                                      Is more likely to strike men as equal

                                      Than one whose appearance is traditionally feminine.

                                      If she is well-educated and cultured to boot,

                                      That is an even better reason

                                      To regard her as an equal.

                                      But too many women insist on being considered

                                      The equals of men

                                      When they make no real effort to be so.

                                      This is wrong; for a woman

                                      Will only be treated as a 'lesser man'

                                      When she looks and behaves like one.

                                      At present sexual equality

                                      Still has a long way to go,

                                      Especially when women insist on taking

                                      The seats offered them by well-intentioned,

                                      Though fundamentally deluded, males

                                      In crowded buses or trains.

                                      A truly liberated woman, or 'lesser man',

                                      Would refuse such an offer,

                                      Deeming it unnecessary for one man

                                      To abandon his seat for another.

                                      And so it is, though

                                      Only equals would know that!

                                      A woman who doesn't look like an equal

                                      Is likely to be treated unequally.

                                      If, in future, women are treated more equally,

                                      It will be because they'll be

                                      More masculinized than at present.

                                      A post-dualistic society should never

                                      Think dualistically, though there will, of course,

                                      Be occasional lapses, not least of all

                                      In regard to propagation!