Tornado Times

            I am a female who believes in equal rights for women. However, I am extremely reluctant to call myself a feminist. Sad? Maybe. Because of the insane man-hating-ironically-female-misogynistic way in which extreme feminists choose to display themselves? Definitely.

            You see, modern feminists have earned a very bad name in my (and quite possibly your) book. In what has been a crazy series of events since they got the vote in 1920, women have become their own worst enemies and harshest critics, in turn halting their own progress.

            While advocating equality, it has been women who say that promiscuity is degrading to women but natural for men. It has been women who criticize other women, telling them that they will never get respect if their bodies are not covered up, never commenting on men’s attire with regard to what is “respectful.”

            In high school, we can see this every day. How often have we heard girls calling each other “sluts” and “whores” for wearing shorts, instead of defending the choice to dress as one pleases, and the bravery of breaking away from the mold of “female expectations?”

            Human beings are sexual creatures. The choice to express that sexuality (or not to express it) should be not only tolerated, but respected.

            Otherwise, where is the equality here? Because it seems like modern feminism’s aim is not to promote equality for all women, but to fit all women into one neatly shrunken box (I am sure the royal family in Saudi Arabia is lining up behind this concept in the Western world as we speak). I may be wrong, but isn’t the point, shall we say, of feminism to grant women the choice to live as they please? Or is choice only advocated if it is the one supported by radical feminists?

            Then comes the idea of women victimizing themselves. We all know the statistic: women make about 70 cents on every dollar that men get paid. At first glance, this sounds like nothing but blatant gender discrimination. However, it is truly only a manipulation of facts and data. Because of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, it is “illegal to pay men and women different wage rates for equal work on jobs that require equal skill, effort, and responsibility.”

            However, equal working conditions are not always the case. For example, men tend to work longer hours than women. Also, women more often tend to be the caretakers of their families as opposed to men. For most people, it is impossible to maintain a demanding career while raising a family of possibly multiple children, giving each the full time and attention deserved and called for (which is why women without families make a lot more money than do women with families).

            This type of victimization is not going to get women anywhere. What we must do is embrace our choices (whether it is a family, a career, neither, or both) and work on them avidly, proud that we are women who can handle the challenges we are dealt without succumbing to them. 

            Woman’s rights should not be about short shorts and tank tops. It should be about safety and justice for the captive long-necked women in the Philippines who are forced to live like circus attractions, or for the women in the Middle East who are at the mercy of their husbands with no laws protecting them, or for those in the sex slave trade. Looking at these women, am I wrong for not feeling like a victim? I do not think so. I think that my sights are simply clear on what actually matters, instead of what is easy.