**TL;DR - Gender blindness is wrong as it does not acknowledge how people can be oppressed or privileged because of their gender identities. Therefore, it can act as a deterrent for future improvements.** [Gender blindness](https://medium.com/@sydney.j.randolph/what-is-gender-blindness-and-why-is-it-a-problem-for-women-8d870c35bbfe) is a term used to describe treating all genders the same regardless of their biological or historical differences (equality). Although this may on the surface seem to be a great step forward in the journey to equality, this blanket treatment of all people as the exact same ends up doing more harm than good. In the ongoing fight for gender rights, the word “equality” is used a lot. From this constant usage of the word, gender-blind views became more common in response to the cry for differing genders to have an equal chance in the world as men. [The reality](https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-gender-blindness-5093945) is people are treated differently throughout their daily lives (whether that's in public, in relationships, or in healthcare settings) because of their gender. These are factors we cannot ignore as we try to treat all individuals with respect on the road to gender equality. Due to sexism and transphobia, cisgender women and all transgender individuals are oppressed and victimized through unconscious biases and stereotypes about them. [Refusing to acknowledge](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5120030/#:~:text=Gender%2Dblindness%20is%20problematic%3A%20ignoring,important%20social%20and%20ecological%20challenges.) how people can be oppressed or privileged because of their gender identities and if they are transgender or cisgender runs the risk of ignoring and not appropriately addressing the hardships of gender minorities and the systems of oppression that privilege cisgender men. Transgender people (people whose genders are different from the gender they were assigned at birth), women, and non-binary individuals are oppressed every day. By saying we don't see society's disenfranchisement of these communities, we are saying that we don't see the ways gender affects how people are treated and the experiences they have as a result. As a result, real change cannot occur. By minimizing or ignoring societal issues between genders, gender blindness is a deterrent to future improvements.

It depends on the context. From a social standpoint, gender-blindness can ignore social issues unique to each gender. From a legal standpoint, I believe no law should be made that acknowledges gender. But rather only acknowledges certain specific commonly-gendered items for only the context in which they are relevant. IE, if you don't offer gender-neutral "parental leave", then the wording should be listed as "birther leave" rather than "maternal leave", and the difference should only be relevant to giving birth. This reduces issues with edge cases such as trans men who can get pregnant, or women who can't. This also reduces laws which target or apply to people differently based on characteristics not immediately related to the issue at hand. For instance, domestic violence is in many cases treated differently based on if the victim was male or female. But under the above policy, it is harder to reasonably pass or enact such differences. There aren't many ways to enact a law regarding domestic violence that works differently "if the perp/victim can give birth" since it isn't related to birth, or "possess a y chromosome" since the issue isn't related to genetics.