non-exhaustive list of some issues which are subjects of modern western feminism, mostly from a female perspective, though some of these negatively affect men as well:
-income inequality: that women are being directly paid less on average and/or that women are disproportionately present in lower-paying positions and have excessive difficulty in comparison to men getting promoted to higher-paying positions or receiving higher-paying jobs (glass ceiling)
-reproductive rights: desire for right to control one's own reproductive decisions free of stigma, most notably abortion and birth control of course, but this also includes stigma associated with pregnancy and motherhood which affect women, both in work and in personal life
-gender roles: that cultural expectations of what it means to be male/female directly cause social inequality (and indirectly, economic inequality) by excessively burdening men/women to conform to idealised archetypes
-political voice: contention that women are unequally represented in political processes in comparison to men
-representation in media: idea that idealised standards for men/women are perpetuated by media, pressuring individuals to conform to these standards to meet a cultural expectation
-violent crimes against men/women: that western cultures fail to completely and seriously address crimes like rape and domestic abuse and their effects on the victim
really quick run-downs of each which you can feel free to agree/disagree with but here are some examples of how feminism still works for equality
I appreciate this, thank you. But unfortunately, I do not see it as wholly truthful.
As far as the earnings gap goes, there are sound reasons for this. First of all, the Equal Pay Act has been in effect since 1963. If you believe you are being discriminated against based on your gender by your employer, you have a right to sue them in a court of law. Second, women and men typically have different ideas for what they want out of their career. Men typically are more ambitious in the workplace, while women typically choose to shift more focus from their career to their family after childbirth, most likely due to maternal instincts. On that topic, women's devotion to their family and maternity leave deducts from their hours worked, another factor that often goes unconsidered.
Reproductive rights is a tricky one, but that is to be expected. It is a VERY controversial topic, so do not expect it to go uncontested. It is not just feminists that advocate abortion, the pro-choice crowd spans a wide variety of groups and individuals. I believe that is all that needs to be said for that.
Gender roles suck. They're unfortunate, but they're also how our species has survived, in a way. Gender roles are the employment of either masculinity or femininity to achieve the best results. It makes sense, evolutionarily. But we must look at the negative effects of this push. Masculinity is a fragile thing sometimes. A man wants to be needed, myself included. We like to provide. It's in our nature. When you attack masculinity, you attack us, in a sense. Male Self Delete rates are higher than ever, especially in England, where the leading cause of death for men age 35 and below is Self Delete. Why? It's because we have lost our role as providers. We have lost our use. Feminism does try to justify it to others like myself by saying, "look! Gender roles affect men too!", and while that is true, it is very obvious they do not actually care. I'm not attempting to argue for a strict enforcement of gender roles, I just don't think you see all the negative side effects.
How are women underrepresented in politics? You do not have to be a woman to advocate for women. Hell, look at Obama, who tried to pass a law that was already in place, on women's behalf! I feel that is all that needs to be said.
You will have to elaborate on the media part. I do not quite understand the point you're trying to make.
Feminism rarely even addresses the male side of violence. I have seen a few, however, but it is still very rare. Many feminists will cite the RAINN statistic for rape and domestic abuse of women, but forget that also according to that statistic, men are the biggest victims of overall violence. Usually their response to this has been something about how "masculinity is the root cause of that" or something along those lines. I will point out, though, that feminism did not start acknowledging that men could still be raped until it was brought to their attention by a large, unnamed, group of people. Still, we see some feminists that still feel this way.
22 pages, and the thread finally starts to resemble a real debate. Thanks otto.
If you're not willing to look for evidence yourself, it's obvious you're not going to look at it objectively when we find it for you.
Your interest isn't in educating yourself, that's the problem.
"Yes, you must disprove your OWN argument!" It is not up to me to back up your claims for you. The problem is, you should be able to clearly see that feminism is equality, if it really is. It should be indisputable, without a doubt. First wave, very obvious. Second wave, little tricky but still arguable. Third wave, very hard to notice, easier to see more bullstuff or possibly a hint of supremacy or maybe even extreme bias. For what ever reason, I am not able to see the "equality" in modern feminism. It is up to you to point it out to me. I will gladly read whatever proof or counter examples you throw my way. Honest.
