Robert Cross

Dr Trogan
Enc 1102
October 11, 2015

Thou Shalt Not Tell a Woman What Is Best for Her

(Unless its Feminism)
Although the title of the article is Why We Need Feminism! Casey Cavanagh does very
little to provide concrete reasons that feminism will actually help us. She goes on to make the
same wild accusations that have been disproven over and over and over again. She claims
that false assumptions lead to people who dont support their cause, while not even
considering the fact that generally people form their own opinions based on what they
experience, as opposed to blindly believing some caricature of feminism they Cavanagh
claims the media portrays. She also cites the extremely overused (and debunked) wage gap
myth. She claims that we need feminism because we use words like bitch and pussy to
imply weakness. These are just words, and we certainly dont need a political movement to
fix that. She says that we need feminism because Female Genital Mutilation is still practiced
in 29 countries, while ignoring the fact that circumcision is practiced all over the world. If
youre pushing a movement that is about equality (it isnt) then you should truly consider
every side of the argument, not just the ones relevant to you.
Cavanagh is clearly frustrated with the bad reputation that feminists get, but doesnt show
any signs of thinking about what feminists could have done to build that bad reputation. Instead,
as is usually the case, she points fingers. According to her, the media sensationalizes things,
trying to pass the most radical and extreme versions as the standard which, in this case, depicts a
feminist as a man hater who hates lipstick, crinkles her nose at stay at home moms, and
unapologetically supports abortions on demand I must say, Im not familiar with this depiction.
I have yet to see a television show or movie where feminists are portrayed that way, and even if
they were, I think its safe to assume that most people arent going to become an anti-feminist
just from a less than flattering portrayal. The offensive thing here is that Cavanagh thinks that
theres no possible way that (as with the Women Against Feminism campaign) women could
form an opinion on their own. No, theyve clearly been manipulated into disagreeing with
feminists. The truth is that there are many third wave feminists that harass, criticize, silence, and
censor anybody that doesnt agree with them.
Women earn 70 cents to every dollar a man makes. Or, at least thats what feminists have
been saying for years, ignoring the many, many, many times that this myth has been debunked.
Unfortunately, Cavanagh, just like so many of her peers, are confusing earning with being
payed. On averages, yes, women DO earn less than men. However, theres very simple

explanations for this. According to Forbes Top 10 Majors for Women, women are more likely
to go into lower paying fields such as education, psychology, or visual/performing arts. Compare
that to one of the highest paying majors, petroleum engineering, which is a much more male
dominated field. The fact of the matter is that in 2015, anybody can do anything, regardless of
their background, race, gender, or orientation. The only thing that can hold somebody back is
themselves. If a woman wants to make money, she can study in a field that would make her more
money, but Im sure Ms. Cavanagh knows all about that as a freelance writer. The other obvious
explanation is a biological one. Women can do one thing that no man on earth can do: have
children! Maternity leave, not surprisingly, tips the workplace scale a bit in terms of hours spent
in the office.
Pardon my French for this, but I must remind you that these are Cavanaghs words, not
mine! According to her, we need feminism because even today, the words bitch and pussy
are used to describe weakness or insult people. Thats true; they are. However I can guarantee
that every English speaking single person has called somebody they know a dick. Where are
the Male Rights Activists, and why arent they up in arms over this gross outrage? As I said
before, its typical for this particular branch of feminism to censor anything they dont agree
with, and heres a prime example of that. However, Im willing to play the devils advocate. Lets
say that yes, this is the most offensive thing in the entire world, and it should be stopped. How
can feminism fix it? How can a ubiquitous movement be equipped to get the entire population to
stop saying a word? Is it worth giving up free speech just so that a few less people are offended?
Finally, Cavanagh hits on a genuine issue: female genital mutilation. FGM is a gruesome,
deplorable thing to do and youd be hard pressed to find anybody in a first world country who
agrees with it. However, when the roles are reversed and mutilation is given a different name,
circumcision, things seem to change a bit. Circumcision is practiced all over the world, and its
purely for aesthetic reasons, but often times can lead to complications. According to
circumcisiondecisionmaker.com, over 100 male children die each year in the United States alone
from the surgery. If this were a practice that was traditional for women, it would have died out
years ago, and it certainly wouldnt have taken 100 dead children a year to do it.
Although Casey Cavanaghs words scream EQUALITY! her actions and writing say
something else entirely. Blaming media for hate against the movement, instead of taking
responsibility. Citing skewed statistics as truth, without bothering to fact check. Complaining
about simple words, instead of picking her battles, and of course, only focusing on one side of a
huge problem: genital mutilation. Theres a lot of work to be done before every human can view
every other human as their equal; before we truly reach equality. What many feminists tend to
miss, however, is that much of that work isnt needed in first world countries. Another thing to
consider is how ill-equipped an equality movement is to fix very real problems: its just not that
black and white, and in general, most women in third world countries dont need or want an
American woman fighting their battles for them. They are not children, nor are they damsels in
distress.

Works Cited
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/casey-cavanagh/why-we-still-need-feminism_b_5837366.html
http://circumcisiondecisionmaker.com/circumcision-facts/
http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/02/top-10-college-majors-women-forbes-woman-leadershipeducation.html