No point judging feminism on its members. Judge it by it's works of the last 15-20 years. It's resulted in a very strong bias for women in government social programs, created an anti-male/anti-father judicial system, crippled research dedicated to eradicating/finding new treatment options for cancer, as funding for cancers in general have been heavily cut (considering inflation), while female-specific cancers have ballooned in grants and philanthropic grants--the odd thing is, studying male-specific cancers may have stronger benefits than studying cancer in general, and definitely more benefits than studying cancer in women alone, as it is so aggressive in men and the rate of growth is increased. Despite efforts, monies to meet that specific effort have been continuously blocked and denied.
Modern feminism has happily created a common-sense understanding in society that men are more abusive in relationships, when this is a blatant falsehood. Modern feminism has resulted in single fathers, teen fathers, and fathers-to-be getting virtually no special protection, assistance, or education opportunities from governmental institutions. What they do get is laughably pale in comparison to services offered to females in similar situations.
Modern feminism is the very essence of sexism. It caters to and spreads misandry. It has pitted women against men, and made men feel guilty for and ashamed to point out the hypocrisy and failure of the continued existence of feminism. Any public criticism results in the instant labeling of one being sexist, oppressive, fearful of women, and enabling of anything and everything anti-women.
Perhaps most dangerously of all, it has resulted in special rights. Equality cannot exist where one group has special rights over another. The foundation of feminism, in the beginning, found strength in a grassroots effort based on equality. Many of the movements first and most pivotal shakers, of course, were quiet or publicly sexist against men, but without the banner of equality, they had nothing, and they knew it.
Once equality became legally achieved, feminism's job was achieved. The rest should have been the shared effort of people who understand and value equality for everyone, rights for everyone, and opportunity for everyone. This is something that can, and has been successfully done by non-feminist groups interested in equal rights for everyone, people with penises included. Anything else isn't a fight for equality.
If we have concerns about, say, a pay gap. Do some actual research on the issue--find out exactly why a pay gap exists, or seems to exist, rather than automatically jump on the oppression boat and condemning society as being anti-woman. Why not bother to find out whether or not men and women are equally productive at work?
Incidentally, that has been done--a few times, actually. How many times have you heard about this on TV? Hell, even Fox News won't tread those waters, because it's bad for business. It is difficult to measure productivity in many jobs, such as teaching, where your level of productivity is muddled by the productivity of not just you and your pupils, but parents, a school board, the spending of state and federal agencies, and even what's to be found in the snack machines and served for breakfast and lunch. Others are easily measured, such as sales representatives--where men tend to be substantially more productive than females, with females making significantly more than males (in most fields) of similar productivity levels.
Asking for raises. How often do you ask for a raise? How do you ask? Do women ask as often as men? Do they use the same strategy? I ask for a raise six months after starting a job. After twelve months, I don't ask. I expect to have one. Six months my first year, I ask for another raise. Six months after that (twelve months after stating that I think I should have one), I again point out that I should have a raise-I don't request, I make it known that it's time for a raise. So, once a year I expect a raise, and am persistent until I get it. Every six months, I request to be reviewed for one.I do it politely and professionally. I don't bust in all aggressive like I'm the best damn thing that's happened to the company. I make an argument for myself, and I present this argument to the person(s) responsible with deciding whether or not I'll be getting a raise. Perhaps most importantly of all, I fully engage myself in my work. I don't text at work. I'm 33Ā years old, and I've not sent a single text message from work in my life. I've never made a private phone call while on the clock from work. I've never once visited a website that wasn't required for work while at work. Whether I was working as a busser cleaning tables at a restaurant, a corrections officer, shoveling horse shit at horse shows, to eventually managing stables for show animals (yep, when from being the guy who shovels shit to the boss), being a supervisor at a large casino and resort, or teaching (well, student teaching, back when I was in college--didn't get paid for that), I went to work and dedicated myself fully to what I was supposed to be doing without exception. I make a deliberate effort to exceed expectations and to be the kind of employee who can't reasonably be denied an increase in pay. Jobs that pay on a scale, such as teaching in most states (mine included) won't have this option, but I still put everything I had into when I was doing it.
Men are far more likely to request/demand an increase in pay.
Incidentally, men are also far more likely to work substantially more than 40 hours a week (by that I mean more than 50 hours a week).
When dealing with a pay game between men and women, everything should be considered before jumping to conclusions that may have severely negative consequences. Even things that are uncomfortable, such as the possibility that some women want the same pay for less work. Having the same job as one person does not mean you're doing your job as well as the other person, or that you're willing to do what is necessary to have extra pay, such as working 60-80 hours a week, having liquid schedules, relocating, spending less time with your family.
Another major problem women in the workforce have is that they actually market themselves for less than men do, then complain about making less than men.
Imagine that you own a business. You want to make money. Two people come into your office for an interview concerning a job opening you have available. Both individuals are equally established in the field for which they are applying. Both have similar experience. They appear to be equally qualified for the job.
Now comes the business part of your decision regarding who will get the job.
You have to consider the possibility of being accused of discrimination should the one you opt not to hire happen to belong to any minority, particularly female or black, and sued. That is usually unlikely, so it is often not considered (sadly, resulting in many perfectly innocent business owners and companies being sued, but it's still unlikely), so we'll not let that possibility burden us too heavily. We're more concerned with getting a position filled and getting back to making money. Money. That's what it's all about, in the end. The first person you interviewed wrote on the application that the salary expectation is $55,000 a year. The other person wrote $40,000 aĀ year.
Both people are equally qualified. You expect that you would have nearly identical performance levels from each individual. Who is the most financially practical hire? If you didn't say the one that will cost you $15,000 less every year than the other one, you're not a typical business owner.
Therein lies a very telling problem with female pay. They ask for less, and if what they ask for is not met with optimism, they're more likely than men to surrender and accept significantly less pay. Why? I don't know. I have a passing curiosity about it, but not enough to find out whether or not any research has been done on the issue.
There is no problem in society that is carried by women and women alone. There is no issue with equality that applies to women and women alone. Feminism as an institution is wholly unnecessary.
The word feminism no longer needs to even exist. If you believe in equality and liberty, you are a feminist by default. Simply stating a belief in equality and liberty for everyone should naturally encompass women and any trials and burdens they face as a result of having a vagina--just like it should equally include the burdens faced by people with penises.
You know what I think we need to hear more of? I think we need to hear more about single fathers. Teen fathers. Dead beat mothers. Pretending these people don't exist has never, and will never help promote equality. It will never make life better for children in poverty. It will never do anything to improve any country. It will never do anything resulting in long-term improvement of life as it is experienced by men OR women.
Maybe you like labelingĀ yourself as a feminist. As for me, I'll stick to labeling myself as one who believes in equality for everyone. Equal rights for everyone. Equal treatment for everyone. Everyone of every possible variety.
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