Public policy expert Anne-Marie Slaughter made waves with her 2012 article, "Why women still can't have it all." But really, is this only a question for women? Here Slaughter expands her ideas and explains why shifts in work culture, public policy and social mores can lead to more equality — for men, women, all of us.
In a June 2013 TED Talk, Slaughter poignantly dissects what it means to be equal and how the U.S. is going about it the wrong way. While attaining equality in the workplace is undoubtedly important, Slaughter maintains that it's only half of the conversation.
[youtube height=”500″ width=”800″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH5iEf9oxaI[/youtube]
She argues that breadwinning and caregiving must be valued equivalently in order to achieve full gender equality: "I suggest that real equality, full equality, does not just mean valuing women on male terms. It means creating a much wider range of equally respected choices for women and for men."
Slaughter's talk makes it clear that work and family problems are not two separate issues divided by gender. As Slaughter suggests: "If family comes first, work does not come second — life comes together."
“Real equality means recognizing that the work that women have traditionally done is just as important as the work that men have traditionally done — no matter who does it,” Slaughter says. In order for true equality to be achieved, both genders need to evolve.
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