Do you treat women as your equals?

I believe I treat women as individuals, and, if ever I failed to do so, it was either unconscious on my part or let both myself and her down. I certainly don't think of females as lesser than men, and I believe that society-- and the world-- as a whole won't become significantly better and less confrontational until: 1) more women are in positions of influence (I am avoiding the word "power" because I believe the traditional emphasis on power has been the root of many of our problems); and 2) women can achieve those positions without having to adopt (and too often internalize) traditionally male styles and tactics. In other words, even more than we need more women involved in decision-making, we need more Venus and less Mars.

My marcro view aside, on a personal level, I think it fair to say that I've had more female than male friends, over the years. In a few cases, they were "friends with benefits," and, in more cases, former lovers with whom I remained on good terms, but, mostly, platonic friends. In fact, some of my most trusted friends have been lesbians. I guess you could say that I think that the "battle of the sexes" always has been stupid, since we ought to be on strive to be on the same side (and the closer we come to achieving that, the better our lives become)..