I Don't Need Feminism

Feminism has been a huge topic of public debate in the past year, and because it is such a complicated and divisive issue, it is something I never imagined I would write about here on my blog. Nearly everyone has an opinion they feel strongly about, and because the same words are used to mean so many different things, it is hard for people of opposing views to have a meaningful discussion. However, I have come to a point where I would like to address the general flaws I see in the public view of feminism. It is not my goal to attack any individual's beliefs, but to address the ideology and show why it is not something I find at all compelling.

Although there are many radical forms of feminism, the most common view right now is one of equal rights, not about women being superior to men. However, because men and women are not the same, even if a feminist is completely consistent in the belief that feminism is all about fairness, it is hard to determine what equality actually is. Yes, everyone should be treated with respect and dignity, but people's idea of fairness is much broader than that concept, differs from person to person, and is often entirely subjective. People feel great anger towards perceived oppression in America, and this makes me skeptical, because few people have verifiable examples; it seems like everyone is just telling the same generalized stories and promoting ideas of what inequality would and must be, instead of presenting actual facts.

For example, people fulminate about a gender wage gap, but women often choose not to make as much money as men, simply because they are not interested in as risky or time-consuming jobs. I do not deny that there may be many situations where a woman is offered less money than a man for the same job, but overall, the wage gap is a hyped-up grievance that depends largely on untrustworthy statistics and the public's imagination. It is possible that there has been some aboveboard study that proves that women are discriminated against in many workplaces and paid less than men to do the same jobs, but all statistics I have seen have made me extremely skeptical, because there are too many logical holes and unanswered questions for me to believe that it's objectively true and not just skewed to promote an ideology.

Men and women should be treated with equal respect, and many feminists acknowledge and live this out, but another serious issue I have with the ideology is that it focuses too much on women. Feminism fundamentally assumes that in every situation, women are the ones who are being oppressed, and this is not necessarily true, much less helpful. Although there are many self-proclaimed feminists who have healthy and sensible views of the opposite sex, a vast number of feministic women are very disrespectful of men and do not treat them with the dignity they say is their own right. None of them want to be stereotyped as man-haters, but they go from objecting to this stigma at one moment to proving it the next, raging about what idiots men are and acting as if this whole part of society should either be eradicated or become exactly like them.

When someone says that feminism often disrespects men, they can expect a scornful reaction, and thus I want to make something very clear: I don't mean that it gives them inadequate power or that it hurts their feelings by denying superiority. I mean that it mocks and dehumanizes them. I can count on my fingers the instances where I have witnessed women being made fun of because they're female. Counting situations where I've seen men degraded for being male would be like trying to find out how many times I've sneezed in my lifetime. It would be impossible to imagine an estimate. It bothers me that feminists spend less time actually fighting for abused women than they do mocking men on the Internet. If you are concerned about social justice, do something to fight slave trafficking, don't complain about something rude you overheard some guy say at the grocery store. You do not progress in equality by tearing down the other side, and nor do you solve real life issues by raging about views contrary to yours.

This kind of feminism, by nature, also makes it difficult for any male to contribute to a meaningful, civil discussion of gender roles and justice in our culture. Although there are many men who consider themselves feminists because they are genuinely concerned for equal rights, many others only see the way their gender is brutally mocked, yet cannot express any objection, because then they would be classed as another stupid, oppressive guy who doesn't have a clue. There is no way to include men in a conversation about gender roles when everything they say will be twisted to work against them. 

We can all fundamentally agree with one thing: women should be treated with respect. However, I do not feel that feminism provides a useful framework for promoting this belief in an effective way. Every human should be treated with dignity regardless of their gender, beliefs, circumstances, and problems, and by often myopically focusing on women's rights, feminism is not the global savior that some people act like it is. It seems that people point at any problem in the world and say, "This is why we need feminism." Everyone is supposed to need feminism; it is supposed to be something that reaches everyone, changes us, and leaves us better equipped to live rightly. Basically, it's a form of substitute religion.

This, ultimately, is what I find wrong with the mindset. Feminism will not save you, change the world, or eradicate deep-seated cultural issues. Although many people have carefully, intelligently outlined their beliefs in this ideology and what parts they do or do not buy into, there is no collective mindset to propel redemption. No sketchily outlined feministic worldview can enact real change, because even though there are individuals who will act on their convictions and might make the world a better place with feminism driving their efforts, feminism as an ideological entity has no power.

I don't need feminism. As a female growing up in modern America, I have never felt marginalized or oppressed because of my gender, and have always been treated as a capable, intelligent member of society. Because I grew up reading lots of biographies, I recognized that there was once a great need for women to be treated as equal, but now they do have more rights in America, and I am thankful for it. Elsewhere in the world, women do not have basic human rights, and this should move us to compassion and make us want to do something, but feminism is not the answer.

Feminism cannot save anyone. It can be a motivating factor that leads people into making an effort to improve the living conditions of others, but it doesn't change people's hearts or redeem anyone. No matter how loud and outspoken someone is about their feministic principles, they will not change anyone's heart. Men who treat women with justness will be unfairly marginalized, and men who are abusers will not change. An ideology cannot fix anything. No matter how loud you are, you can never fix societal problems by expressing a political agenda or feministic ideal.

There are horrible atrocities committed in the world, and they cannot be solved by enlightenment. The world needs a savior. You cannot just tell someone that women deserve equal rights and expect that the world will slowly change into a place where sex trafficking disappears and women in all countries can get a good job. We don't clean up our lives or the earth by ascribing to some ideological vision and trying to get others to do the same, but by experiencing the grace of God as expressed through Jesus Christ. 

We cannot fix our lives. Humans are not fundamentally good people whom society has ruined, and we cannot clean up society's problems by returning to the goodness within us, because we are not fundamentally good or divine. As image-bearers of God, there are parts of ourselves that still reflect His nature in broken ways, and we can do good, but we cannot be good, and feminism cannot change the world. I don't "need feminism," and neither does Earth, because feminism does not speak to our brokenness and offer a plan of redemption. Well-meaning people can do good in the name of feminism, but it is not a comprehensive, active vision that can save the world and bring us back into goodness and proper relations towards each other. The only thing that can save us is Jesus, and since feminism does not lead us to that one solution, I don't need it.