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Feminism

I accept this debate. My goal is to provide evidence that feminism is a logical and correct argument. Feminism can be defined as "a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. A feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women." [1] In a society where both men and women are required to reproduce life and keep our species existing, it should only be logical to think that both genders should be granted equal rights. Of course there are biological differences that result in certain inequalities, but having different biological make up should not be grounds for unequal rights. Throughout human history, males have maintained a level of dominance over females more often than not. This is largely due to the biological make up. Men have a higher rate of basal metabolism than women, meaning they have a greater capacity to expend energy. Men are also 50% stronger than women in terms of brute strength and the lung capacity for women is 30% less than that of men [2]. All of these biological traits helped lead to men being more dominant in societies where physical strength and ability was the key to survival; when hunting for food and fighting in hand to hand combat were necessary for survival. But the female biology, while very different, should not be viewed as subordinate. Though a female body generally posses less brute force than a male, it serves other functions that males cannot; functions necessary for the continuation of our species. Thus it should be logical that both sexes deserve to have equal rights in a society, even if they serve different roles at times. Also, as our societies continue to experience technological advancements in various fields, certain factors that used to cause a greater division between the sexes, such as child birth, are becoming less significant. As we understand more about pregnancy and child birth, the risks involved with child birth have decreased and doctors understand far more about what the female body goes through during the process, so they are far more capable of aiding in the recovery following birth than in the past [3]. This all boils down to the fact that equal rights for the sexes is the logical way. This does not mean that we should not acknowledge or celebrate the differences between the sexes, but in terms of political, economic, social and cultural rights, both sexes should be on equal footing, since both sexes are required for us to continue existing on this planet. Finally, I just want to clarify that we are dealing with Feminism here, which is as I defined in my opening statement, and not radical feminism. Many see feminism as a group of man-hating women who want to take the power away from men and have the women as the dominant group. "Radical feminism aims to challenge and overthrow patriarchy by opposing standard gender roles and oppression of women and calls for a radical reordering of society" [4]. Too often people think of this when they think of feminism, but such is not the case in the same sense that Muslim extremists who commit international acts of terror do not represent the entirety of the Islamic faith. The bottom line is that females should have every right to vote, they should be paid based on their professional skills and they should be given equal opportunity to work a job, so long as they are qualified to do so. I believe that equality in gender rights is the logical and correct path. I await my opponent's opening arguments. Thank you. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org... [2]http://www.drjamesdobson.org... [3]http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu... [4]http://en.wikipedia.org...