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Comment by rajin444 | Hacker News Reader

Because there are many programs deliberately designed to benefit women - as in, their public stated goal as well as taking direct (as opposed to indirect, i.e requiring height or strength) steps to limit their benefits to women.

The same is true of many minorities.

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if women are a minority doesnt that make a mockery of the term?

Minority isn't just numerical, it can also mean having a minority of power. For example, in South Africa Black people were (and still are in many ways) a minority even though they were a numerical majority.

One would be pretty hard-pressed to argue that women hold "minority of power. For several decades now, women have had higher college enrollment rates. And among the two youngest generations, the gender pay gap has actually reversed with women out-earning men [1]. One could very well make the argument that discrimination favoring women isn't affirmative action, but rather "punching down" so to speak.

1. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/aug/29/women-in-20s-e...

Only 30%ish of US state legislators are women. Abortion rights we're just taken away in a number of states. That's a pretty naked display of power.

> Abortion rights we're just taken away in a number of states. That's a pretty naked display of power.

A policy change that women are actually more likely to support than men. If it's a naked display of power, it's power of a group that's actually slightly overrepresented towards women.

1. https://www.vox.com/2019/5/20/18629644/abortion-gender-gap-p...

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