Thoughts on Feminism

Over the past few months there's been a lot of talk about feminism. I'll admit even now I'm still not entirely sure what gamergate was all about, but to be honest I don't care much either. What does interest me is the whole feminist movement. I must admit I've never seen a more diverse movement. People of all genders have aligned themselves to it, people of all beliefs and people of all ages. It's very impressive. The goals of the feminist movement are also very worthwhile. The abolition of the wage gap between the sexes, protection of women on college campuses and all in all achieving equality of the sexes. Of course there are some who go too far (as with all causes), but for the most part it's a just movement that I could get behind. "Could" being the key word here as right now, I do not identify as a feminist. Here's why.

I am very much aware that the radical voices of the feminist movement are the minority. I am aware that the majority of feminists are rational people (although time on the internet does make me doubt this). The fact remains however that the loudest voices of feminism are misandrist voices who don't want gender equality, but female superiority. These people will see sexism everywhere. They will employ double standards regarding how men and women are treated. It's people like them that make the feminist movement toxic to people like myself. I would be thrilled if the first thing that sprung to mind when feminism was mentioned was Emma Watson giving her brilliant speech, but unfortunately she stills lags far behind.

Feminists like to define feminism as the belief that the sexes are equal. Now before I make my point, I wish to clarify a few things. Anyone who believes that women are equal to men in all aspects of society is an ignorant moron. However anyone who believes that there are no areas of society where women hold the advantage over men is also an ignorant moron. Custody battles for example often favour women. Many companies offer new mothers maternity leave, but fewer offer new fathers paternity leave. Cases where women are raped by men are treated as seriously as they should be, but cases where women rape men are often disregarded, sometimes even laughed at. Why should the fight to address the issues affecting men be labeled under feminism? This point also provides a perfect segue into my final point.

It's not often you hear feminists complain about how unfair the custody battles are in courts. You won't hear feminists complain about a lack of paternity leave for new fathers. You won't hear them complaining about how the rape of men isn't treated as seriously as the rape of women is. Why should they? It's not their fight. Feminism despite what feminists may claim, isn't interested in the societal problems that men face. Emma Watson said in her speech that feminism is men's fight too, but she was wrong. It's something we can support, but certainly not our fight.

I am not a feminist. I am an egalitarian. I believe that all people should be equal. That is my fight. If feminism were to adapt to take care of the issues listed above, maybe one day I could count myself as a feminist, but not yet.

Steven