When women ask me if I'm a feminist and I respond with a confident "no" nine times out of ten I'll get a look of distaste, disgust or just plain confusion. Then comes the inevitable 'why? And after ten times of explaining why I don't march through the streets with feminist banners, or complain about the representation of women in just about anything, the explanation starts getting shorter and shorter until all you can be bothered to say is "because." One thing I would like to ask is: "Is equality still enough?"
Is it still enough to be on the same platform as the modern day man? Is it still enough to have the right to vote? The right to choose whom you are to marry? Is it still enough to have the right to be educated, and even the right to run for congress or parliament? If you can say yes to these basic rights which western women are so privileged of having then I follow with a simple "then why are you still fighting?"
Don't get me wrong; feminism isn't a totally bad thing. It's known that women of certain cultures and religions endure misogynistic attitudes on a daily basis, whether that is verbal, physical or sexual torment. These women have no rights and so in that respect I say fight for those women and give them the freedoms us western women take for granted. Maybe we should swap lives for one day and open our eyes to just how lucky we all are as we sit in our office chairs, sipping our Starbucks coffees, moaning that the man who sits in the desk opposite is looking at you a little too much. Maybe he's undressing you in his mind? Surely that's sexual harassment? And with that you slam down your coffee cup and sue that man who was simply looking at you. Not once does the thought cross that woman's mind that maybe he simply didn't realise that his actions made you uncomfortable and so you sued him on a simple misinterpretation, and your own perception, of what he was doing. Did he attack you? Did he say anything inappropriate to you? No? Then why ruin someone's life?
Dr. Janice Fiamengo gave a speech at an event about men's rights earlier this year at the University of Ottawa, only to be interrupted by feminists who were blasting horns and shouting. If it were a lecture about feminism then I believe it would have probably been given with no fuss, no interruptions. If any men were to interrupt the lecture on feminism then the view would have been very different. They would have been women haters, or misogynists, or maybe even as far as rapists? Equality simply isn't enough now, women have to be above and beyond.
Or do they? If we were to put a woman on a pedestal, as the saying goes, would they then complain that we were being sexist? That the woman being placed on said pedestal was put there because she is too feeble to simply get there herself? Can the modern day man actually win in today's society? This is highlighted in things like action films and comic books. If the hero in either of these things is a man, and he has to save a woman, then apparently that is sexist and feminists get very angry. It doesn't matter if that hero has saved ten times as many men, that woman was made to look weak and so it's sexist. If we put a female super hero or action hero then she is simply there for voyeuristic purposes. Again, we can't win.
PIV is something that confuses me. It's the concept that no matter what the situation or the circumstance penetrative sexual intercourse is rape. Two consenting adults don't matter, being of age doesn't matter because the woman in that situation has been or is being raped. The idea of a man being in control of a woman in a dominating manner can be uneasy for some, but if it's consensual then that's OK right? Wrong. That man has overpowered you by doing that deed, so you've been raped. Plain and simple. And it's not just that form of rape anymore; it's more than that. We now have a new term: "Grey Rape." The act of consenting to some acts but not others. This sounds fair to me until we start getting into the tricky bits. If you don't ask your partner's consent every time you do something else, if you kiss them a different way etc then is that grey rape? Surely things can't get more over-the-top?
So I simply ask the modern day feminists of western society: What are you fighting for? You have the right to vote, you have the right to education, and you even have the right to voice these opinions. If anything you have it made. No one beats you if you show too much skin, and no one thinks wrong of you if you decide to wear a little too much make up. We're not perfect however, but if people were to judge you on these simple things then it would be no more than how society would judge the looks of a man. Sit back and look at the world around you and stop trying to change the meaning of feminism. If it's really equality that you want then in the west you have it.