• CON

    The assumption made by Pro is that some negative...

    Feminism is no longer about gender equality

    The assumption made by Pro is that some negative discrimination against men is made by people who term themselves 'feminist', therefore all feminism is now about gender inequality and a female dominance in society. I challenge this on several levels. First of all, even in Western countries where discrimination against women appears on the surface to be vastly minimal, it is present. Women are underrepresented in government (http://www.independent.co.uk...) to the extent that a black man was made president before a woman was. Consider the proportions there. There are massive gaps in pay in the workplace and in vocations sought by women that cannot solely be explained by the 'women have babies and so don't concentrate on their careers' argument. Further to that, many subjects and/or vocations remain predominantly masculine-orientated (http://www.aip.org...). Further to this, I would contend that there is a deeper psychosexual discrimination at work (http://www.telegraph.co.uk...). A man is valued in society primarily based on academic and career achievements, or perhaps social achievements. A woman is valued based on her attractiveness as well, and often more so than against her intellect. Let us not forget the religious hang-over in Western society, which was until very recently predominantly Christian and unfortunately influenced by the misogynist St. Paul (http://en.wikipedia.org...). As an anecdote, I remember a highly intelligent friend of mine reminding me that 'woman should be subject to man' (http://bible.org...). I have also been told before that a decent woman should not seek knowledge, because it was Eve's curiousity that condemned humanity; all this in the last decade. The resultant psychological oppression remains relevant in the modern era. I will not go into the horrendous discrimination against women outside of Western society except through a single anecdote. Travelling in Egypt, I stayed with a Nubian family and was shown the community centre. The boys were playing on a playstation. "Where are the women?" I asked. "In the home, which is their place," I was told. (http://en.wikipedia.org...). To conclude; whilst sadly it is true that discrimination against men happens, it is by no means true that feminism is about superiority rather than aiming to reach equality. Misandry cannot be equated to feminism.