Feminism. The word brings to mind old photos of suffragist marches, great leaders of the movement like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Mary Wollstonecraft stridently defying the social injustices of the day and the desperate struggle of working class mothers to attain equal pay to support their families. Originally feminism was the righteous struggle of the oppressed and disenfranchised, in a crusade to gain equal representation and liberties under law. However, in the contemporary Western World, most if not all of the original goals of the movement have been attained. Which brings to debate the question, is the Feminist movement really still necessary?


The original goal for feminists was gender equality. However, according to an article written on www.freewebs.com/feminism-evaluated/ many modern feminists have been using the guise of equality as justification for their unequal stances. Since the early 80s, a vast number of radical feminists have struggled to attain a position of dominance over men, as was demonstrated by Britain’s Equality Minister, Harriet Harman. In 2008 she encouraged business owners to choose women over white males if they were of equal skill levels. This is without debate discrimination. If such favoritism were encouraged over a racial minority or even women themselves, it would draw considerable controversy. Imagine the outraged response if our President were to mandate that all supermarket chains were to hire men preferentially over women. A slew of protests and cries of indignant condemnation would flood the media, and he would likely be forced to publicly recant his opinion to salvage his damaged credibility. So how is it that Mrs. Harman, the Equality Minister, is able to blatantly encourage discrimination in the workplace? If radical feminists are able to influence the political landscape so effectively in their favor, we may be facing a form of widespread prejudice against men. What has pushed her and other feminists from the desire to attain equality to the urge to dominate the male gender?


Perhaps it is born from the general hatred of men that appears to have permeated the feminist movement. Don’t believe me? Perhaps the words of Marilyn French, an acclaimed feminist author will solidify my point. According to her “All men are rapists and that’s all they are.” Or perhaps the encapsulating belief that “Men are the enemies of women” according to Professor Ann Oakley is more demonstrative of the sentiments many feminists hold. What has brought about such gender based hatred? Perhaps it is a superiority complex, much like that which was held by European imperialists in regards to the Africans they were enslaving. For example, Erica Jong of the Washington Post believes that “…women are the more spiritually advanced race.” Imagine for a moment that these quotes were taken in a different context, substituting some of the key words. “All Blacks are rapists”, or “whites are the more spiritually advanced race.” Suddenly these words somehow become incredibly more controversial. It is simply amazing the things that some feminists can say and get away with in the “politically correct” world of today.

Perhaps to justify their strongly anti-male views, Feminists frequently parade around horrifying statistics displaying the abuses that women suffer at then hands of their male oppressors. For instance one of the most stable columns of criticism that men are frequently accused of is domestic violence. If one were to only listen to the feminists, it would seem that every other relationship is an abusive one involving a drunken, lazy layabout of a husband who backhands his wife every time she forgets to wash his favorite undershirt. Using these horrifying tales, feminists have managed to enact numerous gender-specific laws that give no protection to men by pulling the heartstrings of sympathetic legislators. In reality, studies have proven that the ratio of domestic violence is roughly 50/50 between men and women, with men receiving their own fair share of physical abuse. Of course if a man reports his wife for domestic abuse he can expect to be ridiculed, and there will likely be little or no action taken in his defense, as there are far fewer laws protecting men from domestic abuse. Clearly feminists are not concerned with the overall well-being of the victims of domestic violence, for they have done little to aid half of the victims.


Finally, equality in the workplace concerning wages and conditions, one of the oldest grievances held by the feminists is now a moot point. If you listen to the vague, unfounded factoids and statistics that many feminists liberally toss around, you’d think that the average working female is barely living above the subsistence level. However, a NY times study has shown women typically make about $5,000 more annually than men working similar jobs in the $30,000 annual pay range. On the other end of the spectrum, women at high ranking director jobs in America make a median pay of around $120,000, while men holding similar positions make a median closer to $105,000. Really, what more is there to be accomplished? Perhaps we need to be more like India, with laws declaring that if a man insults a female relative, he can be sent to jail? Or maybe we need more books like the Swedish SCUM manifesto that calls for the gendercide of men? I fear that if feminism continues on such a destructive path, it will soon degenerate to become an over glorified hate group. Many argue that it already has. A feminist slogan viciously declares that women need men like a fish needs a bicycle. I think the same could be said for America and the modern feminist movement. The time for feminism has drawn to an end, and it is high time that the world came to realize that those who want feminism don’t want equality, and those that want equality don’t want feminism.