Modern feminism has been alive and kicking, in one form or another, in the Unites States since those first bold few began to fought for -- and won -- womens' right to vote in the early part of the 20th century. Since then, there has been one milestone after another, each one seen as either victory or defeat for the cause of feminine equality. These days, "gender" is a protected class under the nation's many anti-discrimination laws, giving women of my generation access to opportunities that my grandmothers and their mothers probably could not have even imagined.
But have we gone too far?
I know I may receive some odd looks from my fellow women as a result of this post, but it's my blog, and I'll post whatever of my personal views I choose.
Let's face it: men and women are not the same. This, of course, is not to say that either gender is any better, or worse, than the other. It is just a simple biological fact. Our bodies are built differently, and designed to perform different functions. Our body chemistries are different. Our brains work in different ways. We have different strengths and weaknesses, that allow us to nicely compliment one another and create a diverse and productive society.
In general, men are physically stronger than women. They are taller, hairier. Historically, their physical dominance has put men into the roles of war-maker, conquerer, bread-winner, and head-of-household. Men have gone millenia with rarely-challenged authority. They have built nations, cities, and homes. They created democracy and other forms of government. They have founded religions, political parties, and universities. They have made many of the world's most profound discoveries.
Women have traditionally been the home-makers, the child-bearers, the nurturers. While men have been out running the world, women have been home caring for the next generation. Women are primarily responsible for the continuance of humanity. And while a woman does require the help of a man to give life to her children, that man was once the child born to another woman. Women have founded charities, nurses armies of wounded soldiers back to health, and fed and clothed their neighbors in need, and taken in orphans.
If we are honest with ourselves, we see the evidence that even society realizes and acts upon the differences in men and women, sometimes even to the detriment of one group or the other. Our military tries to keep women away from the "front lines" in war zones and they cannot serve on submarines. Boys are often taught that showing emotions is "girly," and girls are labeled "tom boys" if they're more interested in sports than make-up. We devote the entire month of October to Breast Cancer Awareness, but you'll rarely hear anyone mention the fact that men can be stricken with breast cancer, too! There are numerous organizations dedicated to protecting women from rape, but men -- especially heterosexual men -- who report being raped are often ridiculed or thought to be liars. News and society spend lots of time talking about the abundance of "deadbeat dads" without ever bringing up the numbers of women who abandon their children without support.
