• PRO

    First Wave feminism focused on legal issues like the...

    Third Wave Feminism is unnecessary

    So, I think that Third Wave Feminism is unnecessary. First of all, Let's define third wave feminism. First Wave feminism focused on legal issues like the right to vote, Necessary to start second wave feminism, Which was focused on domestic issues. These are of course necessary but I don't feel that we need further reform when women have equal rights brought from these 2 waves of feminism.

  • PRO

    In one of Emma Watson's speeches to the United Nations,...

    Feminism

    In one of Emma Watson's speeches to the United Nations, she makes it very clear that feminism is not just a problem for women, it is also a problem for men. Many feminists don't just focus on the problems that women face, they also focus on the problems that men face. And many try to fix those problems for both genders.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Feminism/12/
  • CON

    Well, one of Women Against Feminism"s harshest critics,...

    Feminism

    Well, one of Women Against Feminism"s harshest critics, leading feminist pundit Jessica Valenti, makes it clear that being a feminist means believing that women in America and other modern liberal democracies are "a victimized class." They are "systematically discriminated against in school, work, and politics," "objectified," and "harassed, attacked, and sexually assaulted." This, Valenti asserts, is "not a matter of politics, but of truth."

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Feminism/12/
  • PRO

    I keep trying not to take debates, and then I see one...

    Feminism

    I keep trying not to take debates, and then I see one like this and I have to. So by the Topic of this we can clearly see that Con is against feminism. It is on him to meet the BOP, and show that feminism is in fact bad. It is my job to undermine him and show that it can be good, and the purpose of it as a whole. Feminism - the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes http://www.merriam-webster.com... I will offer some contentions. Contention 1 The purpose of the feminism movement. My adversary says this and it ties in with the point I will be making. "It's truly incredibly, how feminists believe that you can create gender equality by focusing on the plights of one gender." That is the entire essence of this movement, and it is a necessity. You could very well change his quote to support slavery and say something like " It's truly incredible, how slaves believe you can create social equality by focusing on the plights of one race". The essence behind the feminist movement is equality within itself. It asks for equal treatment among men and women in regards to salary, job positions, and anything else that can fit into this category. The entire directive behind this movement, is that women should be treated and granted the same opportunities as men. This should be a self evident truth. Contention 2 Women compared to Men with Job opportunities. Granted we have made a huge step with this, it was not always the case. My cause is to show how feminism could have helped or will continue to help support this. Since we sunk into recession quite a few years back women are actually starting to outpace men in job hunts. This was not always the case. The Department of Labor has statistics that says this. "In 2010, women represented 46.7 percent of the United States labor force, a slightly larger share than at the start of the recession in 2007. Overall 71.9 million women were employed or looking for work, representing 58.6 percent of all women aged 16 and over." then also goes on to say this "Women surpass men in educational attainment. Among the employed ages 25 and over, 37.1 percent of women have at least a bachelor's degree compared to 34.9 percent of men. Because women are less likely than men to be in the workforce, female college graduates are still outnumbered by male college graduates in the labor force. However, women with a bachelor's degree outnumber men by 1.6 million in the population as a whole and women are a growing share of college graduates. As such, women college graduates are likely to outnumber male college graduates in the labor force in the near future." This is just recent studies and also mainly after the recession. Now if you look at this data below, we can also see this is clearly supported and men have far more job opportunities than women. Feminism can help keep this in check , and help to assure women have the same rights as men. http://www.dol.gov... Contention 3 Pay-scale Men Vs Women. This is a huge topic and probably one of the main reasons and issues surrounding the feminist movement. While actually receiving the job is a huge deal itself, more often than not women are paid far less than men. This also would make no logical sense due to the fact women have a higher chance of actually finishing a degree than most men(I have shown this through earlier stats and sources). Recent studies show this "This date symbolizes how far into 2012 the average woman must work to earn what the average man earned in 2011. While the wage gap has certainly narrowed with the past generation of working womenâ€"in 1967 women only earned about 58 cents to a man’s dollarâ€"progress has stalled in recent years. If progress continues at its current rate, it will take 45 years to eradicate the wage gap." "In 2010 women who worked full time, year round, still only earned 77 percent of what men earned. The median earnings for women were $36,931 compared to $47,715 for men, and neither real median earnings nor the female-to-male earnings ratio have increased since 2009." "The American Association of University Women tackled the pay gap question by looking at workers of the same educational attainmentâ€"same kind of college, same gradesâ€"holding the same kinds of jobs, and having made the same choices about marriage and number of kids. They found that college-educated women earn 5 percent less the first year out of school than their male peers. Ten years later, even if they keep working on par with those men, the women earn 12 percent less." It is quite obvious through multiple studies and statistics that women make less than men. Also bear in mind that women also have a higher graduation rate from college than men as well. Even with women having the same qualifications as a man, the usually tend to make 10-20 less than if a man were to receive the same job. This is not equality by any means, and is defiantly a reason for the feminist movement to stick up and fight for. http://www.americanprogress.org... http://www.payscale.com... Now for rebuttals. Since I focused more on the social side of this. I am just going to go through some of the points he made and offer rebuttals to what he said directly. This is different than how I normally do this, but to defend feminism I focused more on equality in the work place rather than specifically targeting how women are treated for being women(gender equality) (1A)"I've always been amazed with feminism. While there is an inarguable gender gap, I don't understand how focusing on one gender is supposed to, in anyway, bring out "equality". (2A)Well this is pretty self evident, if you don't focus on the issues that a specific "gender" is facing, they will never be resolved. Without making an effort to tackle some of the adversities they are facing nothing would change. Especially most of the facts that I mentioned in my contentions. (1B)"While it's true that women in the Middle East are treated absolutely disgusting, the men don't have it all that much better" (2B)This is just utterly incorrect and a failure to do proper research. Women can be killed or even have their face burned off with battery acid for trying to read. They must also cover their face at all times, due to religious reasons. Men have it far better than women in comparison to middle east standards. (1C)"It's true that being an attractive woman, walking around in a bad area, you could get raped. That's a fear I will always understand. However, if a man finds himself in a bad area wearing the wrong color, he may find himself being the victim of a drive by" (2C)This is a plausible statement, but it is also statistically shown that women are targeted for crimes far more than men because of their inability to defend themselves. (1D)"Feminists really like to point to double standards that favor men, yet most of these double standards they mention, are in no way true. When is the last time you congratulated a man for sleeping around a lot? My friends and I, always refer to men who sleep around a lot as "man whores." That is in no way, a term of endearment" (2D)Again this could be considered plausible, but fails to address the actual intent behind the movement itself. Thus ruling this point invalid or pointless. (1E)"I find that my issue with feminism is mostly rooted in the fact that they believe women are the victims, because they are women. When a woman is beaten, raped, or has her rights stolen, it's not a feminist issue. It's a humanitarian issue" (2E)This is defiantly a feminist issue. Where as it could be considered humanitarian in regards to issues like rape, when they are being paid less than men because of what gender they are, there is a proper cause to defend this. The movement itself takes a stand for discrimination they face as a whole, and try to make a level playing field. (1F)"All of my life, I have heard one feminist that I deeply agreed with. I can't seem to remember her name, she was big on YouTube. She managed to speak of women's issues, without blaming men" (2F)I would imagine that most feminist don't hate men. They may resent them because they are paid more and receive more benefits. This is inevitable if we look at psychology. This would more often than not draw some resentment. I would also venture to say that most women do not feel this way though. They want to tackle the social issues behind this and make a level playing field so they receive equal opportunities, not use the movement as a "hate on men" thing. That is why pay grades among women are starting to rise in comparison to men because of the work certain groups have put into resolving this issue. (1G)"That is what gender equality should be about. It should be about looking at the gap between men and women, and asking how we can close that and be as equal as possible" (2G)Then you support feminism at its core. This almost matches the definition I gave at the beginning and is the driving force behind women's rights. In Closing My adversary has not met his BOP nor shown why feminism is in fact bad. He gave reasons that he dislikes it, but I have shown the movement at its core aims to produce social equality and offer women the same rights as men. This is something we need to embrace as a society. Everyone deserves a chance at equality.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Feminism/2/
  • PRO

    What is the problem with feminism? Why do we have to keep...

    Feminism

    What is the problem with feminism? Why do we have to keep this word alive, just so women can have same rights as men? Talking about the mans intelligence or strength, is that really an argument? A lot of successful women do better than some men. Is this because they are the term "Butt-hurt", because they feel threatened upon being masculine?

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Feminism/8/
  • CON

    I've always been amazed with feminism. While there is an...

    Feminism

    I've always been amazed with feminism. While there is an inarguable gender gap, I don't understand how focusing on one gender is supposed to, in anyway, bring out "equality". Here are some examples; While it's true that women in the Middle East are treated absolutely disgusting, the men don't have it all that much better. Granted, they aren't being stoned to death for getting pregnant after being raped. However, men that live in a hostile area, are automatically seen as an enemy. So while women are being mistreated, men are being killed. Simply for being a man, in the wrong neighborhood. It's true that being an attractive woman, walking around in a bad area, you could get raped. That's a fear I will always understand. However, if a man finds himself in a bad area wearing the wrong color, he may find himself being the victim of a drive by. Living in a rather... unstable community (to say the least) I have heard stories, and seen first hand how gang violence effects men. I have not seen or heard of any stories of women being victims of this. Feminists really like to point to double standards that favor men, yet most of these double standards they mention, are in no way true. When is the last time you congratulated a man for sleeping around a lot? My friends and I, always refer to men who sleep around a lot as "man whores." That is in no way, a term of endearment. It's quite frowned upon actually. Double standards, do however exist. Some that favor men, some that favor women. Domestic violence is a big one. When women are the victims of this, it is taken EXTREMELY seriously. When men are, it's laughed at. Hell, even I have a hard time keeping a straight face when I imagine the man who is getting beaten by his wife. I find that my issue with feminism is mostly rooted in the fact that they believe women are the victims, because they are women. When a woman is beaten, raped, or has her rights stolen, it's not a feminist issue. It's a humanitarian issue. While the feminism your parents grew up with had specific goals and a powerful message, today's is all about throwing sticks and stones at men, and painting absolutely minuscule issues as major problems with society. All of my life, I have heard one feminist that I deeply agreed with. I can't seem to remember her name, she was big on YouTube. She managed to speak of women's issues, without blaming men. But most of all, what she did that truly earned my respect, was her video on the Disposable Man. She actually spoke up for a men's issue. The first time I've heard a feminist, speak of an issue pertaining to having a penis. That is what gender equality should be about. It should be about looking at the gap between men and women, and asking how we can close that and be as equal as possible. While there are genetic factors that make it truly impossible to be completely equal, I feel that society has been going the right way. While feminism does do some good at exposing the sexism against women in advertising and pop culture, it fails to expose the sexism against men. The Damsel in Distress comes to mind. Her videos on sexism in video games was intriguing. She made a good point when she said that women are always painted as the one's in need of help. However, she didn't point out the fact that it's always MEN who are painted as the one's who are expected to sacrifice themselves to save a woman. It's truly incredibly, how feminists believe that you can create gender equality by focusing on the plights of one gender.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Feminism/2/
  • PRO

    I need some clarification for round 5: Are we allowed to...

    Feminism is not sexist.

    I accept this interesting challenge. I need some clarification for round 5: Are we allowed to answer the cross examination question? If not, that means you won't be able to answer mine. My position is (obviously) : I need some clarification for round 5: Are we allowed to answer the cross examination question? If not, that means you won't be able to answer mine. My position is (obviously) : Feminism is not sexist. Since the BoP is on both of us, I will: 1) Try to demonstrate why my opponent's syllogism is flawed. 2) Try to demonstrate why, based on my opponent's definitions, feminism is not sexist. I look forward to your arguments. Good luck.

  • CON

    When I ask most modern feminist, "name one thing a male...

    Feminism

    I'm all for feminism if you're talking about the fundamentals. Which is the belief that both genders should be equal. Which sounds great and all but modern day feminism, in my opinion, is just something used to give women an advantage and antagonize men. When I ask most modern feminist, "name one thing a male can do but you can't" they can't say anything because there really isn't. (At least in the U.S.) If anything men have a disadvantage nowadays. I will list a few -Men pay 97% of Alimony -Men lose custody in 84% of divorces. -77% of homicide victims are men. -89% of men will be the victim of at least one violent crime. -Men are over twice as victimised by strangers as women. -Men are 165% more likely to be convicted than women. -Men get 63% longer sentences than women for the same crime. -Court bias against men is at least 6 times bigger than racial bias. -Males are discriminated against in school and University. -Boys face vastly more corporal punishment than girls. -60-80% of the homeless are men. -At least 10% of fathers are victims of paternity fraud. -One-third of all fathers in the USA have lost custody of children, most are expected to pay for this. -40-70% of domestic violence is against men, however, less than 1% of domestic violence shelter spaces are for men. -Men pay over 70% of income tax but the vast majority of public spending is on services for women All these statements come from a website called http://www.realsexism.com... . This website compiles all sources from various places which support each of my examples. I have looked through all of them myself. For example in my first example about alimony, the U.S. census bureau found that only 3% of men received alimony in 2010. Now if you ask me that sounds like an awful amount of disturbing disadvantages. Which you don't hear feminists talk about or protest about. But what you do hear is them talking about the wage gap. Which has actually been debunked, I could explain later if you want. So my point is that modern-day feminism is just a load of bull. As all they focus on is benefiting women. I feel that if they really cared about equality they would fly to the middle east and do something about sexism there. All I see is a bunch of women complaining about how their life is so hard and they need handouts from the government.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Feminism/25/
  • CON

    I doubt if she did it on purpose, but regardless of her...

    Feminism is necessary

    Thanks Pro for the timely response. Definition Problems There is a problem with Pro's definition of "requisite"... it defines "requisite" as a noun, while the word "necessary" is used as an adjective in the debate resolution. We know this because when one diagrams the sentence "Feminism is necessary", the word "necessary" describes "feminism" and is therefore an adjective.[3] With this in mind, Pro's definition of a noun isn't interchangeable with the adjective "necessary". In other words, Pro's argument concerning the definition of "necessary" should be disregarded. Logical Fallacy Pro has engaged in a logical fallacy known as "Moving the Goalposts". I doubt if she did it on purpose, but regardless of her motivation, her argument should be disregarded nonetheless. Let me explain: Moving the goalposts: "Moving the goalposts, similar to "shifting sands" and also known as raising the bar, is an informal fallacy in which evidence presented in response to a specific claim is dismissed and some other (often greater) evidence is demanded. That is, after an attempt has been made to score a goal, the goalposts are moved to exclude the attempt. The problem with changing the rules of the game is that the meaning of the end result is changed, too." [4] Basically, once I showed Let me explain: Moving the goalposts: "Moving the goalposts, similar to "shifting sands" and also known as raising the bar, is an informal fallacy in which evidence presented in response to a specific claim is dismissed and some other (often greater) evidence is demanded. That is, after an attempt has been made to score a goal, the goalposts are moved to exclude the attempt. The problem with changing the rules of the game is that the meaning of the end result is changed, too." [4] Basically, once I showed feminism is NOT necessary, Pro tried to change the resolution from Feminism is Necessary to "Feminism is Necessary for the achievement of a specific end". That's unfair. If Pro wanted to debate that, she should have said so before I accepted the debate. It's too late to change the debate now, so I ask the voters to ignore her attempt to do so. Sources: 3. http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu... 4. https://en.m.wikipedia.org...

  • CON

    At this time, since it wasn't defined in the first or...

    Feminism is necessary

    I would like to thank my opponent for her opening arguments. At this time, since it wasn't defined in the first or second round by my opponent, I would like to offer a definition of the word "necessary". Necessary: being essential, indispensable, or requisite [1] This is a common definition, so I presume Pro will have no problem with it. Now for a little history of At this time, since it wasn't defined in the first or second round by my opponent, I would like to offer a definition of the word "necessary". Necessary: being essential, indispensable, or requisite [1] This is a common definition, so I presume Pro will have no problem with it. Now for a little history of feminism: "Charles Fourier, a Utopian Socialist and French philosopher, is credited with having coined the word "f"minisme" in 1837.[10] The words "f"minisme" ("feminisme") and "f"minist" ("feminist") first appeared in France and the Netherlands in 1872,[11] Great Britain in the 1890s, and the United States in 1910,[12][13] and the Oxford English Dictionary lists 1852 as the year of the first appearance of "feminist"[14] and 1895 for "feminism".[15]" [2] So, with this in mind, I think I can address all of my opponent's arguments with one general rebuttal: Since there was once a time when feminism didn't exist, it's clearly not necessary. It's not essential for our survival, nor is it indispensable, or a requisite. Feminism may or may not be a good thing to have, but it's NOT necessary. We have lived without it in the past, and could do so in the future. Remember, we're NOT debating if we SHOULD practice feminism. The debate resolution is about whether it's necessary. Treating women as equals is a nice thing to do, but it's not NECESSARY. I turn it back over to Pro. Sources: 1. http://dictionary.reference.com... 2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org...