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Resolved: Modern American Feminism is Both Correct and Needed

Since I am arguing against the motion. I am simply going to respond to Pro's points. Underrepresentation of Women in Positions of Power The main first point that my opponent makes is that women are underrepresented in positions of power relative to their share of the total population. Though one can quibble with the exact figures, this is indisputably true in the larger picture. However, it is not true that discrimination against women or any sort of systematic sexism is the cause of this. Indeed, a basic fallacy underlies so much discourse over gender. This fallacy is that any field that doesn't have 50% or more women in it is simply that way due to sexism. This is a relatively ridiculous position. And, it is interesting that feminists only apply this ridiculous standard to desirable positions. For example, you very seldom here feminists mention that the most undesirable, isolated, and dangerous occupations are also overwhelmingly male. In fact, they are even more overwhelmingly male than top executive positions and other positions of power. If we look at the 5 occupations with the highest occupational fatality rates (such as logging and roofers), all five are well over 90% male [1]. This leads to over 93% of occupational fatalities being male [1]. Again, it is very seldom that anyone hears feminists talking about this gender gap. It's also odd that a society and job market supposedly set up to the advantage of men also delegates its most dangerous jobs to largely men. Of course, a more astute observer may posit that something else is at work. They would be correct. Not every gender disparity actually has much to do with sexism or discrimination at all. Once people simply observe that men and women are different (on average) in terms of both priorities and skillsets, these gender disparities start to make a lot more sense than the feminist position of patriarchal oppression being the root cause of all disparities. The reality is that humans are a sexually dimorphic species [2]. Men, on average, are physically larger than women. They're also more competitive, more violent, more likely to take risks, more likely to be leaders, and more interested in objective ideas. Women, on the other hand, are physically smaller than men on average. They're less competitive, less violent, more risk averse, less interested in leadership of large organizations, and more interested in emotional connection [3]. Beyond the biological differencs between men and women, there are also differences in social pressure. This may seem like a point in favor of feminism (as feminists often argue this), but in fact they are wrong about the nature of this as well. In fact, social pressure often merely amplifies differences between groups that already eminate from biology. It is also untrue that women face more unfair social pressure than do men. For example, traditionally, both social pressure and biological evolutionary pressure pushed men to focus more on being protectors and providers who strive for alpha male status in whatever environment they are in. This competitive drive that exists more in men than in women due to differences in reproductive capacity is a much more likely explanation for the high proporiton of men in both positions of power and dangerous occupations [4]. Women, on the other hand, had evolutionary pressure to be caretakers and focus more on preserving their own physical beauty (which is in fact, evolutionarily, a woman's main attribute). These realities did, in older societies, have the effect of limiting both genders. However, a large part of these differences is simply human nature. No matter how feminist our society becomes, they will exist even if there is no sexism whatsoever. Reproductive Fairness My opponent also says that women lack agency over their bodies. This is simply untrue. I'd like to see my opponent expand on this so I could have something to respond to. To the degree that slut shaming even exists in America, again, this goes back to the biological realities. I'm not even saying that it is fair, but feminist brainwashing isn't going to fix it. Human's evolved without paternity tests so a promiscuous woman was more likely to cuckold an unsuspecting husband or society may even be stuck with the costs. At the same time, given that women are the pickier sex when it comes to sex, there is nothing particularly impressive about a promiscuous woman. On the contrary, a promiscuous man at least has to be sexually attractive in order to get women. The same is not true for women. When it comes to abortion, it is currently legal. Even those who oppose abortion only oppose it on the grounds that they believe life begins at conception and thus abortion is ending a life. Even if you disagree with that, it is hard to argue that it has anything to do with restricting women. It is about the sanctity of life (if you are pro life). I look forward to my opponent's response. This should be a good debate. 1.) http://www.aei.org... 2.) https://en.wikipedia.org... 3.) https://www.psychologytoday.com... 4.) https://en.wikipedia.org...