Justice or EqualityFor years now, we have been taught to fight for equality: equality this and equality that. One of the major things we have been taught about equality is that women are equivalent to men and should be treated the same. This is based on the argument that equality involves treating every individual the same regardless of whether he/she is male or female. However, that is not the case. Women are not created equally to men, nor are we the same, but rather similar to each other. Women are set out to be different from men, and men are set up to be different from women. For instance, men think about things differently from the way women do, which demonstrates that men and women are not the same. Why is it that we ask for such a burden, when we can ask for fairness and just actions instead?

Equality does not promote fairness between genders by focusing on treatment of women and men as the same. When equality is used as the basis for determining how men and women should be treated, the end goal is to achieve a gender-less state. This is totally wrong because it's impossible to reach a state of genderless given the diversity of humanity. Justice is a fair platform for treatment of men and women. Unlike equality, justice seeks to ensure women and men have equal and similar opportunities to succeed regardless of their intrinsic individual differences. In this case, no one has an upper hand in the ladder of success but everyone has equal and similar opportunities that are not gender-based.

Going back to tenth grade, my teacher asked us to choose between justice and equality. At that time, I thought they were both the same and that they're both suitable. Nonetheless, I was wrong. Ever since, I have always asked myself which one is better: equality or justice? By definition, equality is the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities; whereas justice is experiencing a just behavior or treatment. Over the years, I have concluded that I would prefer justice over equality. The question is why? Why choose a just lifestyle rather than equality? Aren't they both the same? The answer is no. Being just is the epitome of fairness where as equality only provides the bare minimum. Based on its definition, equality seeks to make everything the same for every person. However, this is nearly impossible because very few things in the expansive diversity of humanity are the same.

In Animal Farm, a story by George Orwell, an analogy of communism was brought up. In the beginning, the characters were opting to achieve equality. Throughout the story, equality was achieved, and communism came about. This is what I believe to be true when equality is demanded. When people urge to be treated the same and desire equivalence, they are prioritizing it over flexibility. Being just means you can be treated in different ways, however you will achieve the same outcome. I believe that we are all created differently. It is scientifically proven that not one person is created...

If we want to all be contented, treating each other fairly and justly should be the solution. Every person has his/her own struggle that should not be overlooked. Treating everyone the same will not necessarily achieve a solution. In fact, equality will hurt people rather than be that of an aid. If the community lived up to equality, society will fall apart, since cooperation will not come about.
For example, a classroom is made of different students from different backgrounds, families, cultures, races/ethnicities, and even nationalities. As a result, every student enters the classroom setting with a learning style that differs from the learning styles of others. Some of the most common learning styles adopted by students include visual, tactile and auditory learning styles. Even though these students will be in the same classroom and have the same teachers, they are intrinsically different from one another because of their demographical differences and variations in learning styles. Treating these students the same, as postulated by equality, is unfair because of these intrinsic differences. If equality is used as the basis of treating these students, it will be unfair because they process information differently depending on their learning styles and personality traits. Actually, differences in learning styles between these students implies that they have different learning needs that cannot be met if they are treated the same. If the teacher always lectures these students, students with auditory learning styles will have an advantage over the rest. While the use of lectures for all the students show that they are treated the same, it's disadvantageous to some because it does not consider their needs.

In the above scenario, justice will demand that every student is given a fair platform for learning based on his/her needs. Since these students are different despite being in the same classroom and having the same teacher, their differences should be embraced as unique and teaching methods tailored to meet their individual needs. Therefore, the teachers should engage with students to redefine their basic expectations for success and fairness based on their individual differences and distinctiveness. This essentially means that fairness and success differs because every individual is unique and different. Differential instruction would be the ideal teaching style in the classroom because the teacher must think about each student. Through adopting this teaching method, the teacher will essentially re-evaluate the classroom system and adjust it accordingly to enable all students to learn and be successful based on their individual needs and goals.

Justice and Equality are like the few types of people in the world. There are people who strive to be helping hands for all, and there are those who treat everyone the same without offering extra help. This…