Yes, I know, this entire post is probably immediately dismissible as "mansplaining." You know where the comment section is, though. Go for it. All I ask is that you read my actual arguments and address them, not some prejudiced preconception in your imagination.
As I write this post, we are two days from another election in the US. Voting rights was one of the earliest campaigns for womens' rights. My perspective here is different. Women do not have a right to vote. Neither do men. I reject the premise of democracy as a valid means to manage society. That said, no one is threatening the legal ability of women to vote. Period. That battle is over. Won. Done. Just remember that the problem of people voting away any other right is a problem of the political system, not anti-feminist reactionary oppression. Majority rule does not produce wisdom and benevolence.
I am an individualist. I don't care what plumbing is between your legs, what chromosomes are in your cells, or what gender you feel like you should be. This isn't apathy or dismissal or hate, though. It's my effort to let you live your life without my interference. That is what equality should be about, right? I treat you as an individual, not as a member of some group where I build prejudices on top of prejudices about strangers in order to dehumanize you. But when people identify themselves as part of a group with a defined philosophy, I think that does open them up to criticism based on such group terms.
There seems to be an assumption on the Left that the Right has wet dreams of a future like The Handmaid's Tale. While I have no doubt there are a handful of people like that, it is hardly an accurate representation of conservatism, and I detest arguments built on such a strawman premise.
There are also perennial claims that a wage gap exists. Never mind that men tend to work different jobs, suffer in insanely higher death rate on the job, tend to work longer, resulting in pay increases due to greater tenure, or that equal pay laws have already been on the books and enforced for decades. Correcting for career and tenure turns the wage gap from a massive hole to statistical noise, yet the myth persists nonetheless.
The real subject of modern debates, though, seems to be abortion, and here is a major flaw in modern feminist thought:
- "My womb is none of your business, so keep your laws off my body!"
- "You must pay for what happens in my womb, whether by funding abortions or welfare!"
Can you not see the problem here? On the one hand, laws must respect the individual, yet on the other hand, the individual must be subjected to legal mandates. This is not equality, this is cognitive dissonance. It needs to be addressed, but neither the left nor the right has any philosophical standing.
OK, that's it for my ranting and raving on half-formed ideas for now. There is more on this topic rattling around in the back of my mind, but this is sufficient, I hope, to express my thoughts at this time. Feel free to add to the discussion in the comments section below, but please try to keep it a civil conversation about ideas, and not a stream of personal attacks.