Against feminist sexism:
A balanced view of male and female power
This site deals with sexual politics, but one of the key reference issues is the dominance of feminism today. Therefore one of the main themes of the site is an engagement with this ideology.
Below is the argument that our dominant feminist view of sexual power today is wrong.
There are a variety of different types, degrees and definitions of feminism, but on the whole, feminists all claim that we live in a patriarchal society: a society of men, ruled by and for men. In this culture women earn less, have less rights, and are in many ways second class citizens. Women's contributions to work, in the arts or literature and science are all undervalued. At least that is the official version of social power.
THINKBOMB suggests that feminists have created a vast myth about a wholesale female oppression that now dominates popular perception. Most men actually highly esteem women and generally treat them with great honour. 'Women and children first' as the saying goes. Women don't earn less income than men either. Some women earn much more than many men. Most women earn about the same wages as men and if men earn more it can usually be explained by their greater qualifications, long hours or the difficulties and dangers of the job. Men do the hardest and most dangerous work in society. How often is that acknowledged today? When women get married they often rely on their husband's wages, and the man must then try to stoically provide for the whole family.
In courts female murderers can sometimes use the argument of 'battered wife syndrome' to walk free. Yet in some of these cases the women were themselves actively violent. Also in divorce cases it has now been acknowledged that decisions on the custody of children favour the female. The ex-husband is often forced to pay alimony to his wife in order to support his children. Yet the women are notorious for denying men access to their own children. The alienation experienced by men, who see their own children turned against them, has sometimes led them to commit bizarre crimes of retribution.
Women do have power both in the private realm and in public life. In the private realm of the home women usually 'run the show' and men are often virtually visitors in their own home. In public life women have gained increasing formal recognition. But they have always wielded power behind the curtain.
There is a strong case for saying that there really is no patriarchy. In addition feminists have unfairly vilified men to a rampant degree.
But have your say. Do you think women earn less than men as you have experienced it? Do women have less of a voice in society?
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