Feminism is pointless. Women have the upper-hand in society. They are more likely to graduate from college, they are way less likely to have workplace injuries and they get away with all sorts of horrible crimes by virtue of being female.
Men are ridiculed if abused by their partners, they are more likely to lose custody of their children, men are weaker if they are thought of as feminine while women are stronger if they are thought of as masculine.
The reasons why "feminism is dead" are repeated over and over when someone expresses his or her views on the topic. The Merriam Dictionary's definition of Feminism simply as "The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes."
So then why do people assume that Feminism would not seek to balance the inequality that men feel?
The truth is, Feminism fights for men just as it fights for women. The reason the lists above ring true is because our culture continually values masculinity over femininity. Phrases like "man-up," "fight like a man" or "grow a pair" prove that, for men and boys, there is nothing worse than being feminine.
One heart-breaking proof of these gender assumptions is the story of Michael Morones. Michael is a fan of the show "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic." This show teaches values of empathy, love and kindness (all values we tend to associate with femininity, whether we realize it or not.)
Michael is a kind boy who is supported by his family but relentlessly bullied by his peers. When he was in school, he often came home with stories of name-calling and hearing his favorite show classified as "gay" by his classmates.
When Michael was only 11 years old, he took his belt, wrapped it around his neck and tried to hang himself from the top bunk in his room.
Michael survived, but that is not the point. He tried to kill himself because his peers implicitly told him that it is better to be dead than to be thought of as a "girly boy."
The ridiculing doesn't stop with young boys. In December of 2012, President Obama addressed the nation after 20 first graders were shot to death in classroom. During his speech, as he said, "For every family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun..." and he began to tear up.
Those who criticized the president mocked Obama just as Michael's peers mocked Michael. He was called weak, unpresidential and unbelievable. Our society is one in which men are supposed to be numb while talking about six-year old victims of gun-violence.
Feminism tries to tell society that things like this continue to happen and yet society turns its head. It encourages men to hold their emotions inside and to express them only through anger. Men are angry and women are loving. Women are better parents and men are bread-winners.
These gender stereotypes do far more harm to our society than we think. Gender-based assumptions actually directly link to something anti-feminists like to give as an example against their Feminist counter-parts. Women are less likely to be given harsh sentences in a court, if they are convicted at all. This is because we, as a society assume women are more innocent, more compassionate, than men.
Men do face inequality in our society, and it's because our society only values emotionless men. Men and boys who are suspected of being feminine are called "gay" and slurs associated with the LGBTQ+ community. This leads to large amounts of sexism and homophobia running rampant within our young people, who grow up to put these values into place in the real world.
Boys are constantly singled out and bullied for femininity and this leads to suicide and issues of mental health. It is even presumed that this type of sexist and homophobic bullying can lead to the epidemic of mass shootings that boys carry out in High Schools and other places they are bullied.
Our culture genders everything such as colors, movies, interests and emotions. Men are meant to demean women. They are supposed to be adored by girls and to be thought of as a "playboy." They aren't allowed to have male friends without saying the phrase, "no homo."
Opposite to men having to suppress sadness, women are made to suppress anger. If a woman is angry, they are less attractive. They are more pushy. They are called a "bitch." Women can't be angry and men can't be sad. This is because of how our society thinks about the two genders and their roles in the world.
Feminism is the fight to show that femaleness is equal to, not better than maleness. We should give both men and women, boys and girls, the right to feel their emotions. Hyper-feminizing society leads to a culture of violence. It leads to the rape culture we see on campuses, it leads to frustration that men let out by hurting others or themselves.
Feminism doesn't discriminate against men. It seeks to equalize the pain and suppression they feel in our society. Perhaps if it feels more comfortable, use words like "Equalism" instead. But the truth is, "Equalism" and Feminism are the same thing.
