There is a quiet but present discussion taking place among socially- and politically-curious persons over the need (or lack thereof) for feminism in a western society, more specifically, America. Many who call themselves feminists would have you believe that women are terribly oppressed and that they are victims of the patriarchy. It’s true, our culture was long-ago based upon a patriarchal social system, meaning that men were in authority over women in all aspects of society. However, it is very plain to see that this is no longer the case in America today. It is very common for women to hold leadership positions at their jobs, organizations, and in their households. There are no laws prohibiting it and frankly, they are often encouraged to.
While most solid facts would lead many to believe that there is no systematic oppression going on here, many feminists are still claiming that there is a social inequality present. Third-wave feminists are different from second-wave feminists because of their focus on more diverse feminist activities and studies bring up issues such as “manspreading” or “mansplaining.” Words like these are used to assign a male-only connotation to negative tendencies that truthfully apply to women as well. Mansplaining, for example is a word used to describe men “explain[ing] something to someone, typically a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing” (according to a Google definition). This is very misleading because while men are capable of such a tone, they are no more capable than women are of the very same act.
The funny thing about mansplaining is that feminists often present their ideology in a condescending way, telling young women that they may not think they are feminist, but that if they’re a woman, they really should be. In the same way, manspreading, or man-sitting, is a new term used to describe a man sitting in public transport with legs wide apart, thereby covering more than one seat. Oh, sure, because women would never use up more than one seat. Purses? Bags? No, never.
Regardless of whether these issues really do stem from only men, they are such small issues that most women have likely never even thought about them before reading about it in feminist publications. And this is not to say that there are not very serious and terrifying problems facing women in our world, even today, but many of those problems do not exist in the United States. There are plenty of real issues facing women in non-western cultures that they could be more concerned about such as: access to education, employment opportunities, child marriage, and gender-based violence.
It’s interesting that these third-wave feminists seem to be so unconcerned about these international issues while they’re perfectly fine making mountains out of molehills (very masculine molehills, of course) when it comes to small annoyances in America.
One issue that many young feminists are buying into is the idea often referred to as “toxic masculinity”, which, according to geekfeminism.wikia.com, “refers to the socially-constructed attitudes that describe the masculine gender role as violent, unemotional, sexually aggressive, and so forth.” Now, I would agree, masculinity does naturally carry with it an element of aggression and power, but I do not see that as a horrible thing or even as a negative trait. The fact is, males throughout the animal kingdom and the human race have historically always been the protectors and the breadwinners for the females, while females contribute in their own way. This is a trait that has been helpful throughout history and I believe will continue to be helpful in future years, so long as feminism does not continue to try and end what they refer to as “toxic masculinity.” Yes, men tend to have more dominant personalities. No, men are not celebrated for committing horrible, violent crimes; they are imprisoned and rejected by our society.
The fundamental truth that modern-day feminism chooses to ignore is that men and women are simply different. Both sexes have burdens, privileges, and strengths that the other does not have. That is why God made us differently; our strengths mutually benefit one another. The focus of feminism needs to be re-focused to care more about equality and justice where inequality and injustice are present. By: Miriam Nelson, Writer.
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