Feminism and the feminist movement are not easy topics to discuss. There are a myriad of opinions out there about women in general, their place in the home, their place in the work force, et cetera. The feminist movement was, I feel, a response to oppression. It was almost a necessity on the part of women in order to be treated as equally important human beings by society at large. I am not about to argue that the feminist movement was wrong, or bad, or should have never happened. I do however intend to argue that it was taken way too far.I should start by saying that I think that the original goal of feminism was a good one. I think that it is ridiculous to think that any human being is worth less than another based on sex, age, race, origin, or abilities. That being said I would like to point out the ways in which I feel the feminist movement went too far and the negative side effects that all people must deal with on a daily basis as a result.

The desire for women to want to be able to care for themselves and not have to rely on a man for their income was strong for many women. This lead to a mass exudes of women out of the home and into the workplace. At first, all was not equitable; women were being paid less to do the same jobs as men were. This just flared another fire within women to fight for equity in the work place. I fear that even as though it has improved women still face some inequities. Women should be able to work. That should not even be in question if a woman is qualified for the position (which many times they are not, I will get to this later) then she should have a right to apply and there is no reason she should not be able to work. However, for the bulk of American women they are married some have kids some do not but most work. Almost without fail when I speak with married women they say they are stressed and over worked and wish that they did not have to work. They claim that their stress levels have a negative effect on their mood, health, and marriage. Well it is simple then right; they should quite and devote themselves to rehabilitation.

Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Which brings me to my first complaint about the feminist movement going way too far. The economics of our nation have adjusted for two incomes. The typical married couple cannot afford to live the American dream without two incomes. Now, of course there are handful of high paying jobs that can sustain a family but I think that everyone would agree that big giant bell part of the "bell curve" are middle class, middle income jobs and these jobs are the ones that most people have. It typically takes two of those "middle of the road jobs" to sustain a family. I feel that the feminist movement going too far is to blame for this. If women had not rushed in droves to be part of the workforce then perhaps we would not be in this predicament. The problems with this situation are vast. Let me list just a few: women feeling over worked, women feeling overwhelmed, women feeling like bad mothers and wives, men feeling neglected by their spouses, men feeling emasculated when women claim "I am doing it all." Men and women both suffer in some common ways as well: suffering nutrition due to neither person having time to prepare healthful meals, men and women having to share household duties after both have worked all day at another job, the intimacy of the relationship declining.

My second complaint is about women arguing and using political buzzwords like "equality" to apply and practically demand jobs that they are not qualified for (or at least less qualified for). At some point there was a transformation in the mind of many women and some others as well that instead of the original noble goal of the feminist movement "everyone is of equal importance and should be treated as such," to "everyone should is and should be treated the same." Just because my worth is the same as my husband does not mean that I am the same as him or a capable of doing the same jobs as him. Likewise, he is not capable of doing the same jobs as me. I do not think that it is fair that they have to hire a certain percentage of women to meet "equality" quotas in fields that clearly rely on strength, constitution, and stamina such as: fire fighting, law enforcement, and military. There are many others I could go on but I think you get the point. I am not arguing that the occasional woman is not the most qualified applicant, I am sure on occasion she might be in which case more power to her. However, I would say in most cases in jobs of that sort women are not the best candidates for the position. Men and women are not the same, fundamentally and physiologically they are not and no amount of squawking on the part of angry women will change that. We cannot demand that men start sharing the load of procreation and start having half the babies can we, then why should we demand half of the jobs that we are obviously worse at than men?

Intellectually and ethically women and men are the same but not physically. When it comes to jobs which require education or a skill that is not based in strength, constitution, or stamina then I feel that those women who want jobs should be able to get them and get paid as much as any man would for the same position. However, this is not what is happening in America today. People are still people they still fall in love and get married and sometimes out of this love come children. But, divorce rates and abortion rates in our country soar and I cannot help but think it is at least in part (and in my opinion a large part) due to women taking things so far that now there is no going back.

The way things are today if women want to marry and have kids and actually be able to stay home and raise them herself (as opposed to the local daycare doing it for her). Or she wants to be a support to her husband and not in constant turmoil trying to juggle a job and a marriage and raising kids and keeping her house from falling apart she has to choose her potential mate not based on love but based on economic stability. Isn't this what Americans criticize in other cultures marriages? We have seen that basing marriage on money is not an ideal or even American way to approach one of the biggest commitments of your life yet it seems as though we have forced ourselves into this same corner. We either marry for money or we condemn ourselves to a life that perhaps if you hold faith in statistics is doomed to fail. Either way it seems like a bad choice marry someone you who may not have been your first choice for money so the marriage may fail due to a lack of love or marry someone you love and it may fail due to lack of time and resources.

This all may seem like the ravings of a bitter woman. In fact, I would not be surprised at all if you were to have been thinking that the whole way through this article. But, it could not be further from the truth. I am happily married and I (at 29 years old) for first time since I was 16 do not have to work. My husband and I are lucky enough to have been able to make the decision to start a family and for me to stay home. But, we could not have done this before our budget would not have allowed it. It is great that we were able to plan for what we wanted and make it happen. But, I don't feel as though it is fair to all the other women out there that they are so torn and unable to make their lives what they should be. If you are a woman who wants a career and does not care about marriage or children then this may not directly apply to you. But, I think everyone knows a mother and everyone knows a wife and everyone would be far happier and well off if those wives and mothers weren't always in such bad moods. So, my urging to you is that if you are a man or a woman and you feel this applies to you do everything in your power to budget and allow one of you to get out of the work force. It is scary but the more people who do the easier it will for anyone in the long run. We need economics to adjust back a bit and allow for one-income families to have success and happiness too without food stamps or government aid.

As far as the feminist movement it concerned, I hope that women and men continue to strive to promote true equality. But, I hope that all those women whining for jobs they do not qualify for would realize it is ok to be a female and you do not have to be able to do everything a man can in order to be just as important. And, for all those women who have twisted the meaning of the feminist movement around until it is unrecognizable this is what I say to you; Shut up! You're given women a bad name and harder lives.Source:

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/alamo-sociology/chapter/reading-the-womens-movement/

https://jitterymonks.com/cultural-diversity-essay-topics-about-social-justice-sociology-and-music/

https://studybreaks.com/culture/feminism-2/