"If you're not a Feminist, you're a Sexist"

[DeistPaladin]

you are of the opinion that chivalry isn't dead, and I happen to agree.

I don't see any signs of that personally, as it seems to have worked for me in my life and the women I've dated or had relationships with. It's only in online discussions where my intent seems to be misconstrued. But that's just my experience, FWIW.

That could be why you receive those 'reactions' at times, because feminism has become synoymous in many people's eyes as women want to 'be' like men. Treated like men.

This might be taken care of with the "third wave" discussed above. Just as some feminists are realizing that there's a distinction between "sexy" and "just a sex object", perhaps feminists will also realize that attaining respect, rights and equality doesn't require becoming a man.

It may be possible for 'separate but equal' to approximate equality, but it will never be exactly equal.

Perhaps that's where the misconception "equality requires interchangeability" comes from. It's more than a little unfair, as we're not discussing access to services or education.

Consider, which is the superior instrument, the piano or the violin?

They are quite different. The former can provide it's own harmony, has a much wider range and, in the hands of a skilled performer, duplicate the harmony of an entire orchestra. The latter is a superior melodic instrument, allowing the performer such nuance as to make that sharp just a hair sharper as the melody moves to its resolution. They are different but that doesn't mean one is inferior to the other.

Beethoven's Violin Concerto was once arranged as a Piano Concerto. It was awful! The melodies that were originally conceived for violin could only be clumsily followed by the piano. They are not interchangeable instruments by any means.

The violin does not need to become a piano in order to be equal.