So first, I'll start off with a disclaimer. When I say "I'm not a feminist," that doesn't mean that I'm sexist or idiotic just because I happen to be male and disagree with feminism. However, I will say that I disagree with feminism, and I think it is ultimately a sexist organization. So let's look at the reasons why I'm not a feminist.
1. The Words
We've heard it said one thousand times, "Feminism literally means equality." But that's not quite true, according to the meaning of the root words. "Femin" or "femina" means "of the female sex or women" and "ism" means "the doctrine, practice, system of." Put those together, and you have feminism—the doctrine/practice/system of women. That doesn't sound too equal to me.
2. The Wage Gap
The wage gap is commonly spoken of and believed by many, but does it really exist as reported by feminism organizations? When someone mentions the wage gap, they mean that, on average, women earn approximately 78 cents for every dollar a man earns "for the same work." There are too many factors that go into it, however, for these statistics to be spoken so simply. Some of those factors include experience, education, skills, time on the job, and taxes ( including personal savings plans). Also, the statistic represents an average of earnings, a fact that commonly flies under the radar. This means that all women combined tended to make 22 cents less than men did, averaging all the salaries. It doesn't mean that the women were paid less for the same work. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 made this illegal. If women could legally be paid less for the same output as a man, no men would be hired. Why hire a man if he costs more to employ, especially when women produce the same results?
3. Inconsistencies
Feminist groups tend to promote equality, but I have never seen them do anything to really help the male population. Contrary to the common belief, men can be victims of the same types of atrocities as women, yet women have more aid. Just like women, men are common victims of domestic abuse, but did you know that there are few domestic violence shelters for men? The lack of awareness for these inequalities shows obvious unequal treatment between women's rights and men's rights. For an "equality movement," feminism only appears to promote equality when it benefits women.
4. Manipulating Children
A certain organization (whose name I won't type because of its inherent vulgarity) has used children to support its platform of feminism and, to my knowledge, has received little criticism. The children in these videos were cursing, making vulgar hand gestures, and talking (and screaming) about sexism and adult topics. I don't think encouraging young girls in princess costumes to drop "f-bombs" is the right way to expose the inequality.
5. The (In)Justice System
Women are heavily favored in the criminal justice system, which is unequal. Women tend to receive lighter sentences than men do for the same crime—talk about a gap. And women are preferred in custody battles. For example, in custody cases, mothers tend to get custody. In the most extreme examples, courts have tended to favor giving the mother either full or partial custody of children, even if the mother is proven unfit. Sometimes custody has been taken away from both parents, even if the father himself is capable of supporting the children but the mother isn't.
Men can be just as capable at supporting children as women. And sometimes women can be incapable caregivers. It depends on the person, not his or her gender.
6. Women cannot be drafted
I'm not opposed to women joining the military of their own free-will, but I don't think that requirements should be lessened for them. And, personally, I don't think women should be forced to participate in a draft. As of right now, they can't be. Whether or not feminist organizations are fighting to achieve this, I don't know.
*Not this type of draft*
But I do know that they are trying to force different branches of the military, such as the marines, to allow women involvement in areas such as infantry, but these organizations are attempting to coerce the military to lessen the physical requirements that the women would have to meet without lessening the physical requirements that the men must meet. Essentially, feminist organizations are trying to lower the bar for women. And that begs an important question. Do feminist organizations not think that women are as capable as men? And if that's true, feminism can't be about equality.
7. Effects on Society
Apparently, if you are a man and happen to disagree with a woman, for a reason unrelated to gender, or disagree anything feminism represents, you're sexist. That's a completely illogical notion! This type of media men-shaming has helped perpetuate a stereotype that the majority of men are large, abusive monsters.
There are many other examples and points, but I won't turn this into a novel. For the record, I'm an egalitarian. I believe in treating all people equally, regardless of gender, but at the same time I recognize gender differences. If that's "sexist," oh well.
