1. According to feminists - inequality between men and women in society is the result of patriarchy. 2. While reflecting on the issue of equality a distinction must also be made between treating everyone in an identical manner and treating everyone as equals. 3. The latter may on occasions need different treatment but in all such cases the primary consideration is to promote equality. 4. Different or special treatment may be considered to realise the goal of equality but it requires justification and careful reflection. 5. Since different treatment for different communities was part and parcel of the caste system and practices like apartheid - liberals are usually very wary of deviations from the norm of identical treatment.