Sir, - I commend The Irish Times for fostering a healthy debate on its letters page about whether gender-based preferences are innate or socially constructed. Mary T. Cleary (February 23rd) praises the columnist John Waters for "acknowledging a natural fact" that "certain masculine traits are more natural for men and certain feminine traits are more natural for women." She states: "Equality will not be achieved by denying truth, but instead by accepting the different nature of men and women and valuing equally the unique, positive and natural virtues of masculinity and femininity."
The problem with this "truth" is that it is exactly what patriarchal societies have cited for centuries in order to declare that women have their "natural" place in society. This has resulted in women faring worse in healthcare and educational opportunities, among other measures. Devoted care-givers, yes, but also ultimately subservient to men in many decisions that affect their families' future opportunities and often subject to physical and sexual violence in the home and harassment in the workplace with little recourse. It is true that over time many women have learned to survive and that some even flourish in this environment - but only within the existing patriarchal framework where the rules are set primarily by (wealthy) men.
Ms Cleary and Mr Waters, then, while apparently recognising that our society is partly shaped by "positive and natural virtues of masculinity and femininity" fail to see that negative male behaviours such as greed and violence regularly go unchecked because men still largely determine the social, political and legal norms that govern our lives. Acknowledging the power and privilege that exist in our world is the first step to addressing injustices and beginning to value each other equally. - Yours, etc.,
Kevin Donegan, Roosevelt Avenue, Berkeley, California, USA.