To my understanding, the feminists hold the view that men are women are equal in all respects. Therefore, all tasks which can be carried out by men can also be carried out by women. From what I have read, the research carried out in this century also supports this fact. Kindly comment.
Men and women are biologically as well as psychologically different in nature. In fact, they complement one another. It is precisely for this reason that they come together to form a family. Men are more suited to some tasks just as women are more suited to some. Therefore, responsibilities have been entrusted to the two by Islam keeping in view this biological and physiological reality.
Whether the proponents of feminism recognize this or not, many scientists in the West do. Here is what some of them say on this issue:
The desires and conduct of the two sexes are not similar, but are complementary and reciprocal. In courtship, the male is active; his role is to court, to pursue, to possess, to control, to protect, to love. The role of the female is passive... Consequent on this fundamental difference are certain others. For pursuit, greater ardour is necessary than for mere reception; and the courting activity of the male is, throughout the whole animal kingdom, more ardent than that of the female; and this greater ardour is connected with certain other differences. (Mercier, Conduct and its Disorders Biologically Considered, Pgs 289-290).
We have seen that a deep difference in constitution expresses itself in the distinctions between male and female, whether these be physical or mental. (Thompson and Geddes, Evolution of Sex, Pg 286).
Man perhaps even down to the protein molecules of his tissue cells, is biologically different from a woman. From the very moment of sex formation in the embryo, the biological dusting of the sexes develops along entirely divergent paths.... We must recognize the unquestionable existence of the biological inequality of the sexes. It goes deeper and is of far greater import than it would appear to those not familiar with natural sciences. (Nemilov, Biological Tragedy of Women, Pgs 76-78).
Will it be possible for woman’s emancipation to remove these differences between men and women which are rooted in their innermost beings? Even the most rabid advocates of woman’s rights must accept the undeniable fact that women bear children, not men; that women menstruate, not men. It remains equally true that these primitive functions will always be a hindrance to complete emancipation, though they do not preclude advance and improvement in the intellectual and social position of women, which every fair-minded man willingly recognizes as necessary.... According to Mrs. Hawthorne, home is the woman’s great arena, and will, she hopes, remain so. There she can exercise a sway that no king or emperor can rival. And it is compatible with culture, intellect and earnestness. I should like to cry aloud to the modern woman; Educate yourself; dedicate your time to sciences; take part in the thoughts and occupations of men, but do not seek to do so as he does. For you will never be his equal, even as he never will be your equal. (Bloch, Sexual Life in England, Pgs 48-49)
I venture to prophesy not only that the inherent differences between the sexes will not tend to diminish in the course of evolution but that man will continue, as now and in the past, to emphasize them by custom and convention. (Julian Huxley, Essays in Popular Science, Pg 63)