Equality Quiz
By Jane Ledwell
The federal Minister for the Status of Women says that women in Canada are
already equal, so Status of Women Canada doesn’t need women’s equality goals in
its mandate. Are you in that lucky group of Canadian women who have achieved
equality? Take this Equality Quiz to find out!
You walk into your workplace. What do people notice?
a) your authority and confidence
b) your hair
c) your makeup
d) your shoes
e) your exhaustion from being up all night with your teething baby
You cash your pay cheque. How would you describe it?
a) just what you deserve, based on your work, training, and experience
b) not bad -- for a woman
c) not bad for part-time work -- which is all you can find that’s flexible
enough
d) about 62% what a man would earn for similar work
e) pay cheque? what’s a pay cheque??
You are passed over for a big promotion. Why?
a) the person who got promoted earned it most
b) you’re just not management material, dear
c) you’re single and therefore not serious or mature enough
d) you’re married and therefore too divided between home and work
e) you’re under forty and will probably just end up pregnant
f) you’re over forty
You become a cabinet minister. What do the media remark on?
a) your competent, collaborative savvy
b) your girlfriend or boyfriend
c) your looks and your fashion sense
d) your over-emotional or overly personal response to issues
e) the time you spend away from your family -- or away from your desk
You wake early and think about the day ahead. What do you plan?
a) to do your work, come home, meet your needs, care for others, and have some
time to yourself
b) to do your work and take your mother to a doctor’s appointment
c) to do your work and cover off child care for your child who is coughing in
the next room and will have to miss school
d) to do your work, make supper, and get the laundry and dishes done
e) a combination of b, c, and d
You’re getting ready for that hot date. What do you pack?
a) a nifty purse, a positive attitude, a sexy swagger, and no cares or worries
b) a sweater -- because how sexy is too sexy? how hot is too hot?
c) baggage from past bad relationships, sexual abuse, or sexual assault
d) three kinds of birth control -- it’s your responsibility to be prepared
e) pepper spray, a cell phone, a cover for your drink at the bar, emergency
numbers
You choose a place for your date. What kind of place do you choose?
a) the best spot to suit the occasion
b) somewhere bright and public so you’ll feel safe until you get to know each
other
c) somewhere dark and private, where maybe no one will notice your date is
another woman
d) somewhere kid-friendly -- who can afford child care?
You forget an appointment you had scheduled a month ago. Why?
a) you’re having an off day like anyone else
b) you’re premenstrual
c) you’re menstrual
d) you’re pregnant
e) you’re postnatal
f) you’re perimenopausal
g) you’re menopausal
SCORE: Unless you answered “a” to all of the above . . . Too bad! You still have a way to go to reach equality.
Few, if any, women have achieved all “a” answers in Canada. When we do, it won’t be by accident. Individual women will have worked to get the respect they
deserve. Women’s groups will have successfully striven to build on past
generations and look to future ones. Women and men together will have recognized
that women’s equality has a positive impact for everyone.
When women answer “a,” equality will apply not only to the most privileged groups in society but also to poor women, lone parents, lesbian women, immigrants, Aboriginals, and women of colour.
Be heard. Send your quiz scores to federal Minister Oda and to Prime Minister
Stephen Harper.
Note: This quiz was prepared on behalf of the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
