the admins deleated some of my post.  sorry if it doesnt make much sense.  

I myself am a feminist and believe that the movement is of necessary importance. However, it often gets misrepresented by people who take the ideals to ridiculous extremes. Most feminists, myself included, do not support nor agree with their claims of female superiority. The goal of feminism is equality.

Even if women are legally on par with men (which they are not— there are many laws still in action today that promote discrimination, which I describe in more detail below), SOCIAL inequality is just as insidious and prevalent. The institutionalized sexism which is ingrained in the very base functions of our society and our thought processes needs to be abolished if true equality is to ever be achieved.

The gender wage gap; the depressing few movies that pass the Bechdel test; the fact that in books, TV shows, and movies male characters outnumber female ones on an average of 3 to one; and the sad truth that female workers with the same credentials as their male coworkers are less likely to be hired, and when they are, are often treated by clients with less respect, are all examples of this.

Regarding the discussion about the wage gap, I wrote an essay on workplace discrimination last year. Here are a few passages (that I wrote, just to be clear) which pretty concisely express my opinions on the matter, with plenty of statistics from reputable sources. I have a full bibliography if anyone is interested.

Sorry for the long post!

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"According to data collected by Census Bureau, a federal agency responsible for procuring data about American citizens, business, and economy, women make 80 cents for every dollar a man makes. African-American and Hispanic women are even more disproportionately shortchanged, making only 63 and 54 cents, respectively. This data displays the startling truth: equal pay for equal work is only fair, but unfortunately not a reality. Some workplaces have rules that prevent employees from discussing their salaries, which serve to keep women unaware that they are being paid unequally.

"Unfair measures such as this enable companies to discriminate without protest. Though some argue that this is because women choose to work in lower-paying fields, there is an imbalance even within the same profession, as proved by Census Bureau, whose data shows that female doctors take home 71% of what men are paid, and female financial specialists make 66% of what their male colleagues do. Achieving income equality will take not only legislative effort, but also societal modification. The population’s way of thinking needs to be altered if there is any hope of eliminating sexism, and creating laws with more resilience would be an effective first step. [...]

"Action needs to be taken to prevent women from being forced into difficult financial decisions. Over half of working first-time mothers receive no paid leave to have their babies, as stated in a study by Census Bureau. Pregnant women trying to support themselves and their families are assigned to solve an inescapable paradox: They must choose between being unable to provide for their families and possibly jeopardizing their personal safety. [...]

"Working a job that involves manual labor while pregnant is dangerous, and it is insane that some are put into a position where doing so would be considered a viable option. Without a guarantee of a paid maternity leave, this potentially puts the lives of both the mother and her progeny at risk. Also, women are much more likely to have career interruptions because of childcare being pricy or unavailable. Because of societal expectation and biological differences, they are usually saddled with the burden of raising infants, and therefore the high cost. As discovered by the Department of Agriculture, it takes $233,610 to raise a child from birth to age seventeen, on a national average. For parents rearing offspring with medical issues or special needs, the price tag is even greater. Women are paid less than men and yet often burdened with this expense. 

"In 1986, the Supreme Court recognized harassment as a form of discrimination, and since then, it has been shrouded in constant controversy. Minna J. Kotkin, a law professor who has spent many years studying this subject, states, “Employers and their attorneys have generally insisted that victims who receive financial settlements as a result of harassment allegations sign confidentiality agreements.” A confidentiality agreement is a legal contract that prevents those who sign it from disclosing the information specified with any outside party.

"The fact that they are almost always required in cases such as this help protect serial harassers by preventing those harassed from warning other potential victims about working or interacting with their abuser. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (or, the EEOC), is responsible for dealing with human rights cases, and decide whether and how harassment claims from all over the country are to be dealt with.

For an organization focusing on such an important topic, is not very efficient. In 2016, the EEOC received almost 13,000 claims for review, but by the end of the same year, there were “more than 73,000 cases in the agency’s backlog”, Kotkin explains, which included many discrimination cases. This startling fact displays that many incidents are not dealt with until long after they are filed. Both of these factors contribute to allowing harassers to continue to perpetrate their crimes without consequence. The government needs make laws that stop the silencing of employees and protection of abusers."

Hi, posting again here :>

Off the top of my head, I can list several examples as to how feminism relates to pretty much every problem, with some credit to my kick-butt aunt who brough a few to light to me.

First off, I feel, from my own experience, that not only should people not feel that they have to wear make up, but they should also feel free to do it too, and however they want. I'm pretty sick of hearing the idea that makeup exists soley for covering up the flaws, because it's also an art form and I think people should be welcome to treat it as such, for example using it to break free from expectations. Like painting your lips bright green or something like that. And I think we should let people do that if they want, without someone shaming him or her that, in his case, makes him less masculine, and in her place, makes her a bad girl who needs to get back in her place. And I should probably explain why feminism relates to men wearing bright green lipstick. So here we go: society has lumped makeup, as a category (not counting stage makeup so you don't look ghostly on camera) with women. And society has lumped woman-ness with weakness. So that would be why you have grade school boys not wanting the purple hula hoop during recess because it's girly and sissy. Relatedly, I think that society finds the idea of a woman standing out as masculine, even if they are doing so in a feminine way (such as wearing bright pink and tutu skirts past the age of 10 and outside of a prom or party) and thus bashes them for not being in their place.

So I suppose the best thing we can do at the moment, outside of going to rallies, is standing out and being ourselves, because there's no such thing as a 100% manly man or girly girl. And there aren't just two genders. 

I am 100% fighting for equal rights every day, and I love and agree with most everything you all have said on this thread so far, but I wanted to add a point. I skimmed through a couple of pages, so if someone has already said this, my apologies.

I want equal rights for all genders, races, religions, everyone. That doesn't just apply to me. I want equal rights for women in countries where they can't go to school. I am a feminist for those girls, not just for myself. I am a feminist for African-American girls who are having racist comments said to them before they can even fully understand what's being said to them. I want equal rights for people who can't love who they love. And finally, I respect everyone's opinion. I won't pick a fight with you over your beliefs, unless you are a rude and despicable human being. Then I'll pull you aside and try to talk with you. But if you don't support equal rights for all think about it this way. 

Your opinion disrespects someones existence.

Again, I love you all!