Cartoon of a cat executive and a dog employee. The cat says, “We have a ‘No Panting Policy’ around here.”
I thought of this idea several years ago when my kids were watching the movie, Cats and Dogs. It’s about dog spies and an evil genius cat that is planning to take over the world.
I thought of what would the world look like if cats were in charge and dogs had to bow to the felines’ whims. Then I wondered how many rules and laws are skewed towards the majority culture and we don’t even realize it.
Is it easy to spot those rules? I’m not so sure it is. What seems perfectly normal to one culture could look like oppression to another. It’s mighty hard to abide by The Golden Rule when you don’t ask the other party how they want to be treated.
So how do you spot an unfair rule?
- Seek the input of all parties involved
- Listen without being defensive. Besides, is that rule really worth defending?
- Ask whether an old rule still makes sense
- Ask why the rule was instituted in the first place
