Celebrating the 15 years of the last major UN conference on the Equality of Men and Women, this article analyzes the reasons why there is still a structural asymmetry in human development outcomes of the two halves of humanity, despite equality legislation. The key is the elimination of gender stereotypes. It revises a set of international legal instruments which refer to the critical importance of participation of men in unpaid work to support family life on equal terms with women, to the equal exercise of fundamental rights by women and men. It proposes the inclusion of the fundamental right to equality and of the fundamental right to care in the international conventions on human rights and in national law, in order to create conditions for the effective feasibility of the legal norms on gender equality.

keywords: Equality of women and men; Gender stereotypes; International Conventions on Human Rights; Maternity and Paternity; Social reproduction.