Any anti-feminists? Any feminists?

[TaraJo]

I've had a lot of internal conflict over this issue over the years. In the end, I find that there's one specific f-word that it's more helpful to avoid and have discussions without it.

Do I believe in gender equality? Yes, absolutely, I do. But I also believe that there are a lot of people who use a lot of progressive sounding buzzwords to make themselves sound like they've got the moral high ground, but their actions show otherwise.

Do I think there's a rape culture? Sometimes. Sometimes, hyperbole is used to turn innocent actions into the equalivant of rape while legitimate rape is actually ignored.

Do I think male privilege exists? In some ways, certainly. Men do have most of the positions of political or financial power. In other ways, men also make up the majority of suicides and prison population as well (and don't even get me started on family courts).

Do I think the wage gap is real? It's there, no doubt about that, but the majority of the wage gap comes from choice. Women choose to go into lower paying jobs, to work part time or to get jobs with more convienent hours. After you take that into consideration, the wage gap is still there, but it's been shrunk into the single digits.

Personally, I think the biggest obsticle to gender equality are people on both sides who adamantly refuse to listen to each other. It's frustrating that we're all so adamant that we be heard, but nobody is willing to listen to someone else. I mean, I still remember the first rule to my communication class: if you can't see someone else's perspective, you're failing at communication. And in regards to feminism, a lot of people, both feminists and anti-feminists, are failing HARD.