I think separating the sexes into distinct classes (“kitchen staff are one sex and serving staff are another”) wouldn’t output a separate-but-equal situation; it would instead output a society that subjugates women overtly (again).
Maybe it’s worth factoring out gender separation from gender roles.
Curves is a gym that’s just for women. Does it have the effect of exacerbating gender inequality? (If so, in which direction?) Would a gym that’s just for men exacerbate gender inequality?
The obvious story I can think of here is that a mono-gender space gives one gender the opportunity to coordinate against the other. So insofar as women have been rising in status relative to men, perhaps Curves helps a bit on the margin.
However, I think social media really throws a wrench in the works here. People are way more comfortable talking politics on social media, and many social media communities are de facto mono-gender. Especially those that focus on gender issues. It seems like social media is where the vast majority of the gender-based coordination is nowadays.
In theory, I like the idea of people feeling more freedom to form mono-gender groups IRL. In practice, I’m worried it would cause even more gender tribalism, because people would get an even greater fraction of their information about the other gender from heated online discussions, as opposed to real-life interactions. I’m especially worried about a growing gender-based political divide among the younger generation that’s constantly on youtube/tiktok/etc.
Maybe it’s worth factoring out gender separation from gender roles.
Curves is a gym that’s just for women. Does it have the effect of exacerbating gender inequality? (If so, in which direction?) Would a gym that’s just for men exacerbate gender inequality?
The obvious story I can think of here is that a mono-gender space gives one gender the opportunity to coordinate against the other. So insofar as women have been rising in status relative to men, perhaps Curves helps a bit on the margin.
However, I think social media really throws a wrench in the works here. People are way more comfortable talking politics on social media, and many social media communities are de facto mono-gender. Especially those that focus on gender issues. It seems like social media is where the vast majority of the gender-based coordination is nowadays.
In theory, I like the idea of people feeling more freedom to form mono-gender groups IRL. In practice, I’m worried it would cause even more gender tribalism, because people would get an even greater fraction of their information about the other gender from heated online discussions, as opposed to real-life interactions. I’m especially worried about a growing gender-based political divide among the younger generation that’s constantly on youtube/tiktok/etc.