feminism in the western world

When I was in college, I came across people debating whether feminism was a real movement or not. I thought it was a great movement, because how can gender equality be a wrong thing to want? and how the gender pay gap was a real problem. I thought these were all valid claims, until I began to do a little research of my own.

The first claim is " there is gender inequality, and women do not have the same rights as men do" . I find this hard to believe in the western world, because I dont believe there is any law or right that favors men over women. In the US, we all have the same rights in the eyes of the law, we can all vote, drive a car, own a house, own a business, right to an education etc.

The second claim is " there's a gender pay gap". The real question is why is there a gender pay gap, and that's a fair question to ask. I went to an university where 65% of the students where women, is it fair for me to claim there's sexism in the university registration process? there's obviously many factors why there's more women in that university, and sexism from university officials is not one of them. Going back to the pay gap discussion, this is happening because on average, women work less hours than men, work more part time jobs and take more time off ( maternity leave). I don't deny there could be some wage disparity on a case to case basis, and if that's happening you have the right to sue the company. Everyone seems to forget the pay equality of 1963, which states that there cannot be a wage disparity between genders.
I came across a blog post of a woman, who was asked why is she a feminist and she had many reasons, and I'm going to argue those reasons right now.

1.I’m a feminist because I believe in gender equality.

• Well, I believe in gender equality as well, which we already have here in the US

2.I’m a feminist because women should gain the same salary as men if they do the same work.

• I already answered this in the above paragraph

3- I’m a feminist because there are still women who are treated like slaves/sexual objects and have no rights

• In the western world everyone has rights, and if this is happening it is a grotesque violation of human rights. i'm not sure what she means by treating women like slaves, what is that mean?

4- I’m a feminist because there are still people who think women are less smarter, less important in society, less human than men

• We live a country of free speech and free thinking. Even though I don't agree with this thinking, people are allowed to think whatever they want, as long as it doesn't translate to discrimination and the impediment of the pursuit of freedom from the individual.

5- I’m a feminist because no women should feel less than men just because they’re a woman.

• well I hope women don't feel less than men cause they're not, but I cant dictate peoples feelings.

6- I’m a feminist because there are still people who think feelings are a girl thing and men can’t wear makeup
-once again, people are allowed to think what they want, are we putting men in prison for wearing make up? i don't think so. are some gay men being harassed and getting beat up cause of their sexuality? yes, but our justice system can do something about that, unlike other countries where being gay is punishable by prison.

7-I'm a feminist because there are still people who think just for a girl to wear shorts/dresses/skirt is a “slut” and a girl who wears too many clothes is a “conservative”

• people think and talk a lot.

8- I’m a feminist because people still judge women for how many men she slept with and for their way to express their sexuality

• once again, we are allow to think what we want, and choose who we want as a partner.

9- I’m a feminist because there’s still many people who think the only place women should be in is the kitchen and to take care of their kids.

• that's old school thinking that thankfully is going away.

10- I’m a feminist because if a girl gets raped they ask what she was wearing and she’s the one who provokes.

• I actually agree with this statement, we shouldn't victim blame to get to the bottom of what happened. its okay to ask what happened without victim shaming.

11- I’m a feminist because the society teaches “how to avoid getting raped” instead of “don’t rape”

• This is where the concept of "rape culture" comes from. no family in america is teaching little boys to rape women, just like they're not teaching them not to murder people and not to steal. Men that rape know is not okay to do it, but yet, they still do it. Whats wrong with teaching women how to protect themselves? if I walk into a bad neighborhood , knowing theres some change ill get robbed or killed, wouldn't i try to protect myself? or should i be going into the neighborhood confidently thinking " ill tell my aggressor that robbing me and killing me is wrong'. We are always going to have bad apples in society, and education is not the problem, because we are not teaching children to assault women or rob a bank

12- I’m a feminist because there’s still people who can’t study because society forbids them.

• not in western society

13- I’m a feminist because we still raise boys and girls differently in things that are the same for both

• some people believe we are born gender neutral, i believe we are not. this is a good debate

let me know what you think.