Original post by J_89Are you *really* for men-women equality though?
For someone who is, they are totally right to look at the ways in which men are sometimes unfavourably treated in society (parental custody going immediately to the mother being the main way in which men are significantly victimised).
But the thrust of your (and peoples' who are generally anti-feminist) arguments is that the injustices against men are equal to those against women which SIMPLY ISN'T TRUE.
To outline all the ways in which this has occurred, I would need to write an encyclopedia (and certainly could not condense it into a TSR post).
If you look at society from a global and historical perspective, women have undeniably been treated as and regarded as inferior throughout history and in every single country in the world.
Throughout our evolutionary history, women contributed less to the survival of the tribe (reproduction and childcare being the only significant contribution) as opposed to men who represented protection (ESSENTIAL) and resource bearing (also essential).
As we are animals our brains still largely operate with the same impulses bread into us throughout evolution and hence we all, of both genders, still regard men as superior just for being men, even though in modern society, it is arguable that women work harder and take on many more rolls which contribute to societal, family and the workplace than do men.
To deny that the world has and still does largely favour males on the whole (with some notable exceptions), you'd either have to be incredibly ignorant/uneducated, or you just don't WANT to accept it as you subconsciously aren't really for equality.
Being "MRA" is the same as being "White Lives Matter".
To say that injusticed perpertrated against whites are equal to those against blacks, in a global and historical context, SIMPLY ISN'T TRUE and almost all of the people who advocate for this are subconsciously racist.
To address your petty issues:
-"The pay gap is a myth"
I love how you just simply state this as fact with no reasoning or evidence. It's like me saying "Grass is pink".
Anyhows, women do get paid less than men for the same work across a wide variety of industries (not accounting for time off etc - exactly the same). However, I personally think this is largely due to women not asking for more and hence employers think they can get away with it.
Feminism isn't about blaming men or the "patriarchy" as the media would have us believe. Many issues facing women are the responsibility of women themselves to address - which they don't.
An excellent book on the subject is "Ask For It" - which encourages women to be more assertive and go for the pay they deserve - as men do.
-We always hear about how there aren't enough women in science/business but never that there aren't enough women in mining/construction (or any lower class job)
That's like saying "we always hear that there aren't enough black people in executive positions, but never that there aren't enough black cleaners (or any lower class job)".
Yes, you don't empower an unempowered group by putting them in horrible jobs. How dare these women have the audacity to strive to be in science and business whilst not simultaneously striving to be in horrible jobs?
Yes, women are underrepresented in construction. Men are underrepresented in cleaning.
I think it is positive now that more men are being accepted as nurses. I don't feel the need to encourage men (or anyone) into cleaning as it's not a particularly enjoyable job (like construction).
-"Women have the same rights as men"
Again, another blanket statement.
Legally, in this country, women enjoy most of the same rights as men. Legally, they should be the same under the law.
Socially, our social evolutionary brains haven't caught up and they still aren't regarded as equals socially. This needs addressing.
But that is only the West.
In most of the world, women do not enjoy the same legal rights as men.
Throughout most of history in this country, women have not enjoyed the same rights as men. Hence, women's legal rights, even in this country, are very recent and hence very fragile.
This whole "we can just rest on our laurels, women are the same as men" is just ridiculous.
- "Girls do better in school"
Academia is better suited to the nature of women (passive).
And yet, despite of this, women were not allowed to study throughout most of history.
It's excellent now that they can and are surpassing boys, inspite of being forbidden throughout most of history in the same way that Jews have massively succeeded in education in the States despite being banned from most of the Ivy League colleges until relatively recently.
My first reaction to this (even as non-Jew) should be congratulating Jews on their success despite barriers - this should be the same for women.
-"More girls are going to university than boys at present"
Same as above.
And this has been through hard work and merit. There is no evidence to suggest university admissions teams favour girls
-"The justice system hugely favours women"
This is the only point you've made which has some merit.
MRA argue that women's sentences are less harsh than men's. This could be true (I don't know enough about criminal justice stats), but overall the trend will always be more men receiving longer sentences as, due to testosterone, men commit more violent crime and crime in general.
The real (and one of the only) ways modern men are discriminated against are in the custody courts.
I totally support Fathers for Justice - and think that custody should go to the more able parent - regardless of gender, which it doesn't - it currently favours the woman.
But even with this, it was only relatively recently with the Custody of Infants Act (1839) that women were allowed ANY custody or contact with their children after a divorce.
Prior to that, custody automatically went to the father in each and every circumstance, with no way for the woman to appeal or see her children at all.
In all of the developing world, it is still the same.
So this is not some "historical way women are favoured". Quite the opposite.
So yeah, basically, do your research and educate yourself before making such blanket statements.