Last month I arrived at JFK and took a ride to Connecticut. The driver of the vehicle was an avuncular man in his late-50s to early 60s from Jamaica. He had come to the US many years before. We enjoyed a great conversation during the trip when suddenly he said something that startled me. He said "The problem here (the US) is that women have too many rights. In Jamaica the men take the lead and women should follow." Clearly he comes from another generation and another culture whose views on gender equality are not the same as the ones we value today. I talked to him about this and he was polite and listened, even nodding a few times. Do I think I convinced him to change his view on this matter? Of course not. You cannot change such a deeply held belief in one conversation. I don't know if he could ever be made to change his antiquated views. I don't know if people are able to change after they reach a certain age or a certain point in their life.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that the misogyny so prevalent in the "rich, white boy" caricatures that we see revolve around Brett Kavanaugh, only captures a small portion of the people who feel this way. This body of disbelievers in gender equality is much more diverse than we would like to think.
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