Gender equality or reversed gender inequality?

I was reading a newspaper article today that was advising parents to reconsider buying their children gender-specific toys like dolls for their daughters and airplanes for their sons. They said that we need to start training children from a young age that women can lead, which means that we need to stop encouraging traditional gender roles.

Now here's the thing: gender equality does not mean that women have to give up traditional gender roles; it actually means that both women and men have the choice as to whether they wish to pursue traditional gender roles or not.

If we all of a sudden stop buying dolls for our daughters because it doesn't teach them that they can lead, then that means we are trying to force a new role onto women. We are implying that women can only be leaders. What about the woman who doesn't want to enter the world of business or politics? Will she be scorned for choosing a different path to what has been newly prescribed for her? If we want to force all women into this new mould, who will be left to be mothers?

Something as simple as a doll teaches young girls how to look after children. How can they be expected to have their own children one day if they have never even had the smallest experiences? Or by saying that we should no longer buy dolls for our daughters, are we effectively putting an end to the human race, by no longer encouraging motherhood?

The fact of the matter is that motherhood is a leadership role. The best mothers are effective leaders. If we encourage women to only go into what the world considers as leadership positions and we make them believe that motherhood is not a worthy enough pursuit, then the only women who will aspire to motherhood will be those who are "not good enough" for anything else. If motherhood is a leadership position (just not one that is recognised by the world), and the only people becoming mothers are those who are not natural leaders, what kind of mothers will we have? How will the next generation be raised?

When I was young, my parents told us that we had to do at least one year of music lessons. If after that we decided not to continue, that was fine, but we had to first try it. Isn't that what we should encourage amongst the young children? In our attempt to have gender equality, we are simply limiting women's options in another way. If we want true equality, we should be expanding their options, rather than pushing them in the direction the world dictates to them. Just like my parents encouraged us to try music before choosing if we wanted to carry on, we should expose our children to as many different options as possible. Teach them that every career is important and has its place. The teacher teaches, the doctor heals, the mother loves and the street cleaner beautifies. Each is important and needs people to fill the role. If we want gender equality, we should not force all women to become leaders, just like it is wrong to force all women to become mothers and housewives. If we truly want gender equality, we should teach both boys and girls from a young age that they have the right to choose their own path and not be limited by society's expectations.