Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings

Oh would you just shut up, Ms. Cheris Kramarae. Don't be so melodramatic. Seriously.

The quote from Ms. Kramarae is exactly why I hate feminism. Well, technically I don't, but I suppose our culture's view of feminism is a bit distorted. The feminism I hate is probably more considered "radical feminism." These women seem to still think women are as suppressed as they were in times when it was okay to beat your wife.

Ms. Kramarae, a professor at the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon, is the main theorist of something called the "muted group theory." And while the facts behind it are genuine, the way those facts are used infuriate me. It is essentially stating that women (and minorities) have less voice in the world. Ms. Kramarae essentially says that since men created language, they have more control over language and thus women. I find this a very medieval ideal.

Sure, you may argue that women are still repressed in today's day. But are they really?

One argument is the pay difference between the average man and woman. A CNN article states that women on average make 82 cents for every dollar earned by a man. But let's think about this logically. Is this unjust treatment? Or should we actually look at the statistics behind the facts? Firstly, you can simply look at the careers women choose to go into. Not many women go into engineering nowadays, (though that is slowly changing,) and the jobs women tend to go toward are generally lower paying. Are they lower paying because females usually fill those positions? Um, no. Females kind of generally tend to do this thing called "having babies." And that generally requires taking time off. Sure, there's maternity leave, but women often want to spend longer with their children. So thus they take more days off. Women also tend to work less hours than men, as stated in the CNN article. Overall, that argument falls a little flat. 

Madonna has a quote that can help explain the next argument. She said, "I'm tough, I'm ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.” With this mentality, the idea is professed that women are not allowed to voice their opinions without criticism. Okay, seriously. For every woman that's true for, there's another man in the exact same position. Men can be called "assholes," "dicks," or "douchebags" for stating their own opinions. This is a two way street, sweetheart.

Largely, what bugs me about the feminism we hear about these days is their extreme anti-men stance. They often portray men as evil, which as a whole, they are not. Their main goal in life is not to oppress women, believe it or not. Just as there are men who do horrible things, there are also women who do horrible things. The scale does not tip largely in favor of one gender in this case. One quote that demonstrates that brings us down to earth on that is from a male himself. Timothy Leary said, "Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition." And honestly, why should you even try to match up to a male if a female? We are very different creatures, despite being the same species. We have different limitations, strengths, and tendencies. We should not hold ourselves to the same standards.

So I get feminism. Women should be proud of who they are, and should embrace their womanly-ness, and should want equality with men. But aren't we already there? Generally, a woman just needs to be determined and have the drive to reach her goal and she can do it. As Roseanne Barr said, "The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You have to take it."