When I was in college, I came across people debating whether feminism was a real movement or not. I thought it was a great movement, because how can gender equality be a wrong thing to want? and how the gender pay gap was a real problem. I thought these were all valid claims, until I began to do a little research of my own.
The first claim is " there is gender inequality, and women do not have the same rights as men do" . I find this hard to believe in the western world, because I dont believe there is any law or right that favors men over women. In the US, we all have the same rights in the eyes of the law, we can all vote, drive a car, own a house, own a business, right to an education etc.
The second claim is " there's a gender pay gap". The real question is why is there a gender pay gap, and that's a fair question to ask. I went to an university where 65% of the students where women, is it fair for me to claim there's sexism in the university registration process? there's obviously many factors why there's more women in that university, and sexism from university officials is not one of them. Going back to the pay gap discussion, this is happening because on average, women work less hours than men, work more part time jobs and take more time off ( maternity leave). I don't deny there could be some wage disparity on a case to case basis, and if that's happening you have the right to sue the company. Everyone seems to forget the pay equality of 1963, which states that there cannot be a wage disparity between genders.
I came across a blog post of a woman, who was asked why is she a feminist and she had many reasons, and I'm going to argue those reasons right now.
1.I’m a feminist because I believe in gender equality.
2.I’m a feminist because women should gain the same salary as men if they do the same work.
3- I’m a feminist because there are still women who are treated like slaves/sexual objects and have no rights
4- I’m a feminist because there are still people who think women are less smarter, less important in society, less human than men
5- I’m a feminist because no women should feel less than men just because they’re a woman.
6- I’m a feminist because there are still people who think feelings are a girl thing and men can’t wear makeup
-once again, people are allowed to think what they want, are we putting men in prison for wearing make up? i don't think so. are some gay men being harassed and getting beat up cause of their sexuality? yes, but our justice system can do something about that, unlike other countries where being gay is punishable by prison.
7-I'm a feminist because there are still people who think just for a girl to wear shorts/dresses/skirt is a “slut” and a girl who wears too many clothes is a “conservative”
8- I’m a feminist because people still judge women for how many men she slept with and for their way to express their sexuality
9- I’m a feminist because there’s still many people who think the only place women should be in is the kitchen and to take care of their kids.
10- I’m a feminist because if a girl gets raped they ask what she was wearing and she’s the one who provokes.
11- I’m a feminist because the society teaches “how to avoid getting raped” instead of “don’t rape”
12- I’m a feminist because there’s still people who can’t study because society forbids them.
13- I’m a feminist because we still raise boys and girls differently in things that are the same for both
let me know what you think.
