Dear Gina,
We have never met and we most likely never will. As far as I know, all we have in common is that we are both writers on Odyssey and that we are both female. As for our views, your most popular article on the website clearly proves to me that we disagree on something that is a major part of my life: feminism.
I have seen thousands of articles like the one I am about to write. Thousands saying how women who write articles like you are morons, privileged, uneducated, or any matter of negative names. Articles like that do not help prove the validity of feminism, or make people believe in our movement, so this time around I would like to calmly discuss with you the holes I found in your argument against feminism. I hope you’ll give this article a chance, and maybe consider feminism in a new light when you're done.
In this first part of your article, you talk about how your inspiration for being against feminism came from your boyfriend’s classroom discussion because his female classmates believe respect for the female population is declining. You seem to think this point is “a load of bull,” and that women have never been more highly respected. However, have you really looked at the recent issues involving females? Because if you have read anything about reproductive rights, you’d quickly see how “respected” females are in the United States.
President Donald Trump recently signed a ban on any federal money going to international groups that perform abortions or even just give information on abortions. Known as the Mexico City Policy, this law is taking away $600 million a year to international organizations that help over 27 million women and couples get access to contraception, according to the Huffington Post, just because they promote safe abortions from a doctor. Fun fact: the Helms Amendment prevents us from funding oversea abortions, so basically we just cut $600 million worth of healthcare for women. So are we truly respecting women abroad?
Trump also is planning on defunding Planned Parenthood, despite admitting that the organization helps millions of women. For our president, it is just enough that the organization performs abortions. If Congress approves this bill, Planned Parenthood, and any women who relies on its services, are screwed.
If you think women are respected, then why does the US government, more specifically our president, believe that we do not have the right to a safe abortion? Or that organizations that help millions of women with reproductive health do not deserve US funding? Why are we not entitled to full reproductive rights? If we are truly respected, then why do we have limited say over our own uterus?
Furthermore, I strongly disagree with your point that just because women “recently” entered the workforce in the 80’s we are not entitled to equal pay. For one thing, women have been working long before the 80’s, and have been actively involved in breaking the glass ceiling for much longer. Women worked in factories during World War I but were forced to give up their jobs when their husbands came back from war. Working actually became more popular in the 1960’s when the feminist movement really took off, so we’ve been in the workforce for much longer than 30 years and you can thank feminists for that.
As for the wage gap, according to the most recent data I could find on the wage gap said we are still making only 81.1% of what men make every week, which is an improvement from 62% in 1979 (Thanks feminists!) but still means we have a long way to go. Considering this happens no matter what our education level is in comparison, and is even worse when you look by ethnicity. Considering that we have been in the workforce on and off since World War I, I think it’s time that we get payed equally.
I am a proud feminist, and will fight for this movement for the rest of my life because to me, feminism is not about “shoving” girl power down people’s throats. For me, feminism is the reason that I can go to college, get a job, and even vote. Feminism has done so many amazing things for women, and it is the reason you even have the ability to speak your mind freely and be educated at any college of your choice. We may not have chivalry any more, but when chivalry was at its peak, we were considered to be our husband's or father's property rather than an actual human being, so I'm alright with it being gone. While I agree with you that not everything is men's fault, that's not what feminism is trying to say. Although we will never be completely equal (as you stated, we have different bodies and minds), we deserve to be treated equally in the workplace, as well as our own society. You deserve to be payed equally to any man and not have to worry how your gender will affect your role in society.
I hope this article will help you reconsider feminism, or at least continue the discussion you started. If it doesn’t, don’t worry: us man-hating feminists will fight for the rest of our lives to make sure you get and maintain all the rights you deserve.
