In other words, are men supposed to be as "good" as women, or are men supposed to be as debased as women for things to be equal?

i am in agreement with the comments i have read so far [the first two] on this topic. that while degrading men to the point that we have degraded women would allow for some sort of quantitative equality, it would also reduce overall value for people and the individual in a prisoners' dilemma type situation.

men and women could be equal on a much higher level of respect. men have chosen to exploit women and corrupted that respect. the ways to get to a level of equality are to either cease the degradation of women or increase the degradation of men. the first will not likely happen because we live in a society that respects money only. respect does not make nearly as much as depravity. it would seem that the only probable equality will be at the lower level. it is sad and disgusting to see this level of disrespect so constantly, but with very few examples of anything else to compare it to, it is expected.

i will hope for a real equality, not this lower level of similarity.