What does EQUALITY look like? And what I am talking about here is FULL equality?
That was one of the main questions I was asked at the Indianapolis Conference for Women where I presented last week.
I was pushing for women to embrace the concept of FULL EQUALITY in my presentation “GUTSY: How Women Leaders Make Change.”
I have received so many emails thanking me for “the formula” that I decided to share it here, with all of you.
First, let’s take a journey back to the long-ago past where men were hunters (the daring ones) and women were gatherers (the caring ones).
Or brains still react as if we were still back in that day. I will explain in a moment.
In tribal times men went out with spears or a bow and arrows to make sure they could track and kill the deer or buffalo that would be dinner for many nights. They were trained from childhood to be uni-focused, speak less, and go out alone.
Women, on the other hand, were multi-trackers. They would watch the kids, keep the tent clean, go out to get the herbs and berries to make the food tasty.
Research shows that male brains utilize nearly seven times more gray matter for activity while female brains utilize nearly ten times more white matter. And therein lie some of the issues we are grappling with today.
Gray matter represents information processing centers in the brain, and white matter represents the network of connections between these processing centers. Men often do best with focused tasks while women excel at integrating and assimilating information.
Human evolution has created two different types of brains designed for equally intelligent behavior. However, what was needed long ago is not what is needed now. The roles of men and women are changing rapidly and who knows, maybe the brain will change how it looks in years to come.
The new formula:
Daring + Caring = Sharing
As women become more daring it gives men the chance to become more caring. And the good news is that this leads to a more powerful way of sharing. It leads to FULL EQUALITY.
For all of us to thrive and become the best we can be it is time to step out of all the recent negativity and really understand that each one of us has a part to play in creating a good balance between the sexes.
I applaud all the daring women and caring men who are figuring out how this formula can be part of today’s life, at home and at work.
If you have a story about the new balance in your relationship, I’d love to hear about it. With your permission, it could be in the new book I am working on about, guess what…. FULL EQUALITY.
Best,
Sylvia