I've wanted to bring up this subject for a while but have held off as almost every female I speak to proclaims herself as a 'feminist', I'm starting to wonder if there are actually any females out there at all that see the massive flaw, coupled with the healthy dosing of hypocrisy, in the feminist ideology.
Here I present a list of reasons I would never identify as a feminist in the Western world.
1. Equality Feminists believe that women do not have political, cultural, economic or social equality with men and that they must fight in order to attain this. In the Western world this goal has already been attained. To argue that women in the West don't have all the opportunities that men have and most of the time have things a lot easier, is laughable. In addition the very idea that the feminist moral compass only permits them to fight for female equality as opposed to human equality in general makes them lose even more credibility.
2. Pay gap Feminists will often complain about the so-called 'gender pay gap'. In reality, women are more likely to choose to work fewer hours throughout their working lives, lowering the average (mean) wage of women. Women take maternity leave, and shock-horror, many choose to raise their own children. Men are twice as likely to work more than 40 hours per week as women, that is a fact. When you apply for a job the wage is fixed and advertised before interviewing, it does not change when a women gets that job.
3. Objectification There is a belief amongst feminist that men are perverts who 'objectify' and degrade women. This viewpoint is constantly pushed everywhere in the media. What does 'objectify' mean anyway? "To reduce a person to the status of a mere object to be used" - this word is thrown around far too much by feminists to accuse men of being perverted; I see it as the result of the highly negative portrayal of male heterosexuality that has been over-taking the Western world for decades.
It has gotten so bad that studies have found most men would be extremely reluctant to help a lost child or woman in need of help for fear of being suspected as a pervert. Simply put, if a man looks at a woman that the woman doesn't find attractive then he is a pervert, but if she thinks he is good looking then he is flattering. Who is really being objectified in this case? As for women being used to sell things in the media, they are not being forced, it is their choice to show or to cover up their bodies. Plus there are many occasions where male bodies have been used to sell things targeted at females.
4. Media portrayal "Women are always sexual objects in the media blah blah blah wah wah wah". All you have to do is look at films and stereotypical characters in programmes to see that the vast majority of the time the 'villain' is a male, the attractive 'victim' is the female and the sweet, lovable character is the (feminine) gay guy. In addition, there is a huge about of double-standards and hypocrisy in what is acceptable for men to be portrayed as verses women. For example, it is completely normal for men to be portrayed as dirty, lazy idiots (and often, animals) in adverts and programmes and for the woman to be the sensible one that is clean and pro-active. Examples below.
Imagine if those adverts were switched around for the woman to look like an idiot? Feminists would be the first to complain and get these adverts banned. But if men are portrayed in this way, they are expected to not complain and if they do, they're told to quit winging and 'man-up', probably by feminists. If feminists truly wanted equality, they would be just as pissed off by these sorts of negative portrayals of a single gender.
Also, imagine having an advertising campaign for men like the Dove one for natural beauty with a bunch of overweight men in boxers talking about body-confidence? It'd be laughable. But for women, it's encouraged and woe to the man that criticizes it.
5. Violence towards men vs. towards women If a man hits a woman he's a swine and deserves punishment. If a woman hits a man, she was probably just defending herself and she should be congratulated. Violence is never right, for either gender but feminists don't care about violence towards men. And the reality is that violence towards men committed by women is not less prevalent than the other way around, but men are less likely to report it or to be visibly injured by it. Why does society accept women's violence?
6. Value Feminists might complain that women are objectified and degraded by men and that their value is based directly on the way they look but the value of men is related directly to how 'useful' they are in society and how much they are willing to put the female life ahead of theirs. Almost everyone in the world will have heard of the phrase 'women and children', in wars, accidents, emergencies and famine the life of the woman and the child automatically takes precedence over that of the man. What's more, men are expected to put the life of females before theirs, always, and the man that doesn't he is a worthless, selfish individual. By simply being a woman, you have more of a right to life than a man. Not convinced? Who would the majority of people save first from a burning building if there was a man and a woman trapped inside?
To conclude, feminism in somewhere like Afghanistan is great but in the West feminism is just a way to promote hateful degradation of masculinity and to forge yet another group of 'victims' to be positively discriminated and given special attention. Want to be treated like a man? Stop winging like a woman then. :)
