all (some) arguments against feminism: debunked
Well, if you’re a feminist, tell me what a woman is.
Ah, yes. A typical red herring argument. I don’t need to define what a woman is to support feminism. That’s because feminism is about achieving gender equality. It doesn’t matter what a woman is. What matters is that all genders have equal rights and access to opportunities, both culturally and by law.
Why’s it called feminism then?
Alright. That’s because historically, women have been considered the “lesser” gender, so the gender movement is called “feminism”. Women are still oftentimes placed at a disadvantage nowadays, hence we keep the name “feminism” because we are focusing on fighting for women’s rights-
WHAT’S A WOMAN?
Sometimes, you just can’t fully categorise something. For example, what’s a table? A chair can technically be a table because you can use it as a surface to do things on. And so can a bed, and so can a floor! Is everything a table if anything can be used as a surface to do things on? What is a table then?
Women have the same rights as men already!
By law, yes we do. But misogyny is still incredibly prevalent in society. Men are still considered more dominant, more capable, and better. We haven’t achieved full gender equality yet.
And that’s just in our sparkly first-world society. What about other places where oppressive governments rule, like Afghanistan? Women are still politically oppressed in certain countries. The feminist movement should not end until we’ve achieved full gender equality in all the nooks and crannies of the Earth.
Women are actually better off than men right now.
They aren’t. They are still constantly perceived as the ‘weaker sex’. Not many people overtly say so, but the thought is still deeply entrenched in society. Women still have fewer job opportunities, are paid less, and are generally subjected to terrible double standards. Numerous studies have shown that if a man and a woman send a company the same job description, the man will be more likely to be called in for an interview.
Actually, companies hire more women to appear ‘diverse’.
They don’t. The reason why more women are being hired in finance, STEM, and other traditionally ‘male-dominated’ sectors is that companies are putting away their discriminatory beliefs, not because they “want diversity”.
And while we’re at it, let’s talk about affirmative action. The reason why it exists is to break the generational poverty cycle that many ethnic minorities are stuck in. Ethnic minorities are statistically less wealthy and therefore have fewer opportunities for quality education and extracurricular activities. Thus, universities are giving them a preference when it comes to choosing between two candidates of a very similar level. It’s not like they will pick someone with a 2.0 GPA over someone with a 3.8 GPA “just because he’s black”. And besides, affirmative action is not meant to be a long-term thing. Affirmative action will end once this generation of young people of colour breaks the generational poverty cycle. I really had to say this because the way I see people talking about affirmative action on social media is honestly embarrassing at this point.
And the same goes for women in traditionally male-dominated jobs. The reason why some companies prefer hiring women is because it’s a process. It’s a process to close the gender pay gap. It’s a process to get more women into leadership or management positions. It’s a process towards gender equality.
Men and women have different roles.
Physically, yes. I wouldn’t deny that women are physically weaker than men. It’s just biology. But on the other hand, they have other physical advantages over men. For example, they could bear children, breastfeed, and more. So you’re right. Men and women have different physical attributes that could give them different roles.
Mentally, no. Men and women have the same capabilities when it comes to our brains. Men can be gentle and observant, women can be assertive and bold. Society just conditions us to believe that men are more likely to be good leaders and that women are more likely to be carers. And sure, in the ancient world, physical attributes were very important in deciding someone’s roles and tasks. For example, more men hunted because they were physically stronger (but even then, there were loads of female hunters).
But in the modern world, there is no need for this. We are no longer hunters and we no longer need to dig caves. Instead, we have wonderful machines to help us build things, which makes manual labour way less physically demanding than it used to be. Manual labour jobs can be done equally as well by most if not all, able-bodied men and women.
Moreover, with the advancement of technology, there is a much greater emphasis on our intrinsic capabilities (like intelligence, leadership, etc), which are not affected by gender at all. Men and women are capable of doing an office job with the same level of competency.
But women are still being placed at a disadvantage! They’re still considered “weaker”, “less logical” and “less productive” because misogyny is just entrenched that deeply in society.
So, to answer your question (tl;dr): yes, men and women have different tasks, but in the modern world, this distinction is no longer needed as biology no longer restricts women in any way.
Well, those are all the arguments I’ll be debunking today. I really hope you enjoyed this post and gained some new insight; if you did, feel free to clap 50 times! If you have any other arguments I haven’t discussed today, feel free to leave a comment. Also, if you have any suggestions, please leave a comment; I would love to learn something new!
