Everybody’s against inequality, but they often feel as though there’s nothing they can do about it. While it’s a systemic issue, it’s something everyone can play their part in changing. Starting at home and talking about the issue can be the first step in doing this.
Whether it’s gender equality or anything else, it’s something everyone can do. By doing so, you can start working outward and actually making a change. Even the smallest efforts can do more than you’d expect.
Three top tips focused on talking about equality at home can be effective at this. In time, they can inspire and cause more than a few other changes.
Talking About Equality At Home
1. Beware The Meritocracy Myth
Quite a few people believe that they live in a meritocratic system. People who know better know this is a myth. There are quite a few hidden biases and other negatives that prevent meritocracy from working as it should. They get in the way of true equality.
Inequality is a structural issue, which highlights that meritocracy hasn’t worked. Structural changes will need to be made, and you’ll need to know this when talking about equality at home. It lets you speak about equality and how to tackle it the right way.
2. Engage Peoples’ Values
Engaging peoples’ values is a sure-fire way to get them to work toward something. When it comes to inequality, compassion and fairness can be notable values to engage with. It ties an issue to particular emotions and a sense of rightness, making them worth focusing on.
At the same time, however, it could be worth avoiding negative values, such as selfishness. Focusing on these could help in the short-term, but they lead to issues in the long run. Stick with the positives, and you’ll be more likely to have positive outcomes.
3. Link Stories With Solutions
Specific stories and anecdotes can be great ways to highlight how inequality has affected particular people. While it’s great to highlight this, it’s often not enough. Instead, you’ll need to link these stories with solutions. If there was a problem, consider how it could’ve been addressed or avoided.
By sharing these, you can get family members and other people thinking about how the logic can be applied elsewhere. It can make something that feels relatively vague feel more tangible. Instead of being abstract, it becomes much more real.
While these solutions will naturally change from issue to issue, the underlying logic could still be used elsewhere. Be sure to highlight them.
Talking About Equality At Home: Wrapping Up
Talking about equality at home might seem like something small, but it can end up having larger repercussions in the long term. It often leads to a domino effect, which could help make larger changes in time. You’ll need to make sure you go about this the right way, however.
By linking stories with solutions, avoiding the meritocracy myth, and engaging peoples’ values, you can start getting this done. With time, it can encourage more and more changes, which can end up eradicating inequality.
