Thoughts about Equality

Okay, so a while back on Ragnell's blog, a discussion erupted on whether Diana and Clark should be together, versus with their actual significant others.

There were good points raised on both sides, I think, even though I'm firmly on the side that Clark and Diana do not actually make a good couple. Whereas Clark and Lois and Steve and Diana do, in my opinion. (I won't go into why, as they're at the link.)

There was something that bothered me though, the constant assertion that Clark and Lois (or Diana and Steve) were ill-matched because they were unequal. That in the case of Diana in particular, it wasn't "feminist" for her to settle for some guy who isn't her equal.

This is a revolting concept for me. Not that couples shouldn't be equal of course, but since when does equality mean "the same"?!

Honestly, the idea strikes me as anti-feminist in a sense. Because if physical power is the only way in which equality counts, where does that leave women? I mean, face it, the average woman is not usually as physically strong as the average man. We're compensated in other ways, of course, but if you only judge equality by physical strength, then where does that leave us?

Equality, to me, isn't about having the same abilities as my significant other. It's about difference. It's about being strong where the other is weak, compensating for one another's weak points. It's about balance.

I mean, sure Diana and Clark are very different in personality, but it's the similarity of powers, their physical strength, that gets them touted as equals.

Lois Lane will never be as strong physically as Superman. But in personality, she's more than a match. He's a calm, easy going, and occasionally very passive fellow. He lets things happen. She's proactive and ambitious. She goes after what she wants and gets it. She's very brave. And reckless. She puts herself in dangerous situations all the time for a story without Superman's strength. Sure she needs saving a lot, but she's willing to take the risk.

She's smarter than he is though. More adaptable. And certainly the better reporter. She's got a knack for scooping out the big stories...even if that knack gets her tied up more often than not. She's very strong emotionally, unphased by being constantly in danger, threatened, or facing death. (And I challenge anyone to read that OMAC tie-in issue where she tries to face one down with a hair dryer and ducks for cover in the bathtub to tell me she's not strong.)

So what do we have? A man with superpowers and a woman with the personality to meet him halfway in anything. A couple in which the man is strong where the woman isn't and the woman is strong where the man isn't... That seems equal to me.

Now Steve gets a lot of flack because he's essentially Lois Lane as a man. But that's a shame, because he balances Diana in much the same way Lois balances Clark. He's not as brash/forceful because Diana's not as passive, but he's got his own strengths.

Diana is an intelligent and diplomatic woman, but she's from an alien culture. She's always going to be a bit awkward in American social situations. Steve excels there. He's charming and socially adept. She may be the more intelligent of the two, but a lot of her knowledge is inapplicable to American culture. Steve has the knowledge and understanding of modern American culture that she lacks.

And like Lois, he's brave. Far braver than Superman, for example, because he faces danger daily without any sort of powers to protect him. Sure he gets in trouble and needs saving, but that's because he's doing his duty for the country. He knows the risks and accepts them. And he tends to enjoy being rescued by a sexy, powerful woman.

So he'll never be strong/fast/enduring as she is, but he makes up for it in his social adeptness and applicable knowledge and skill. They sound pretty equal to me as well. And he's pretty in a uniform.

Though I should be using past tense here, as Steve was rewritten post-crisis as a brother figure. But I'm not, as I protest taking away Diana's Lois Lane. Hmph. As cute as Etta is, it's like giving Lois to Jimmy Olsen. It's Not Right. :-(

Anyway there are a lot of good reasons to prefer Clark/Diana to Clark/Lois or Diana/Steve, but I protest at including "equality" among them. People can be equals without being the same.