Feminism is a poisonous belief system that needs to be done away with.

Hello,I extend a very warm welcome to DDO and thank you for choosing to debate a topic that I feel very strongly about.I agree that *some* so called feminists,especially in the west, claim absurd things just to gain cheap publicity and distract people from real challenges women face around the world today.I am a feminist myself, but coming from a country like India, being a feminist means something totally different from what it has come to mean in the west.Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women.You claim in your opening statement that feminism itself should be done away with.Since you did not specify any particular region, I simply assumed that it meant from the entire world.This is where I disagree,because I believe that actual feminism is something that is a vital need in today's society. I will only give my opening statement explaining my stance in this round and will be providing rebuttals only in the second round.I claim that feminism is necessary because:1.In most parts of the world Patriarchy is still followedFeminism is needed in the world today simply because in most parts of the world women are not even given basic rights.In Saudi Arabia for example, the testimony of one man is equal to the testimony of 3 women in a court of Law.Women can't even drive or go out without being accompanied by a Mahhram(A male relative who cannot marry the woman) or her husband.While this may seem like an isolated,extreme example, women actually face a lot of discrimination for not just education and freedom, but even for basic needs like nutrition and medical care in most parts of the world, especially in Asia and Africa.This is simply because there is a cultural bias against women in these societies that assigns traditional gender roles to women and requires them to stay inside their homes.Women are considered to be just the property of their husbands and there are a variety of practices that encourage violence against themI will just list 2 of the most barbaric practices that the Partiarchial culture of these countries dictates on women:a.Female Genital MutillationThis is a practice that is widely prevalent in many parts of the Muslim world which involves the removal of a woman's clitoris and the external genitals.It has absolutely no health benefits whatsoever and many rationalists in these countries claim that it is to prevent women from enjoying pleasure during sex.According to a 2013 UNICEF report, 125 million women and girls in Africa and the Middle East have experienced female genital mutilation.According to the same UNICEF report, the top rates for female genital mutilation are in Somalia (with 98 percent of women affected), Guinea (96 percent), Djibouti (93 percent), Egypt (91 percent), Eritrea (89 percent), Mali (89 percent), Sierra Leone (88 percent), Sudan (88 percent).To think that over 80% of all women in these countries actually have their own privates mutilated must give you an idea about how patriarchially biased these societies must be.b.Bride Burning and Dowry ViolenceIn most parts of India(my own country), the second most populous country in the world a weird custom is followed by almost everyone, where the bride's family is expected to pay exorbitant amounts of mmoney to the groom simply for agreeing to marry her.Many men keep demanding their dowry well after marriage is over and often, women are killed by the husband or his family if they are not satisfied with the dowry. In India, in 2011 alone, the National Crime Records Bureau reported 8,618 dowry deaths, while unofficial figures suggest the numbers to be at least three times higher.You must realise that this is greatly under-reported because of the state of society here.While this practice has been outlawed,and strict punishments are awarded to those who get convicted, most families are unwilling to bear the shame of being unable to pay dowry and do not even report cases until the bride commits suicide or is murdered. Any movement that aims to end this widespread and barbaric violence should necessarily be good for the World as a whole today.2.Women are extremely under-represented even in most modern democraciesWomen constitute roughly 50% of the population of most countries.Yet they continue to be under-represented in most modern democracies.The United States currently has only 20 women senators and 82 women in the house of Representatives out of 435.The US is yet to see even a single woman elected as the president, while many Muslim countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan already have a woman Head of state.On October 2013, the global average of women in national assemblies was a mere 21.5%While one may argue that the laws are fair and that there is nothing that prevents women from contesting in elections, one cannot simply ignore the invisible glass ceiling of the personal prejudices that many voters will have about voting for a woman. 3.Violence against women is prevalent even in Western and 'modern' countriesYou had agreed in your opening statement that most men were physically stronger than women and hence women get injured more during domeastic fights.However, you ignore the fact that a lot of them tend to be victimised by people who they know intimately and are regularly forced into abusive relationships due to various reasons.I will be refuting some of the statistics and arguments you gave and will demonstrate how widespread in even Western society.I would like to add that women are much more likely than men to be murdered by an intimate partner according to a number of trusted sources. In the United States, in 2005, 1181 women, in comparison with 329 men, were killed by their intimate partners. In England and Wales about 100 women are killed by partners or former partners each year while 21 men were killed in 2010. In 2008, in France, 156 women in comparison with 27 men were killed by their intimate partner.Most cases of abuse go unreported even in these countries and the number of women with abusive partners can never be known. ConclusionI hope these reasons alone show how far behind we are from achieveing true gender equality in the world.To declare feminism itself as wrong just because a few silly women trying to sound political claim absurd and irrational things is to completely ignore the pressing need for gender equality that is denied to women in most parts of the world today.With the mass immigration of Muslims into many parts of Europe and the growing demands of these immigrants to implement Sharia'a law,the future actually looks bleak for women.All these reasons make a belief that women need to be treated as equal extremely relavant in today's world.A political movement or ideology to overcome this bias against women that has existed probably since the beginning of time cannot be a 'poisonous belief system that needs to be done away with.' Hence I assert that Feminism is neccessary in today's world.Regards,CynicalDiogenesSources:1."Feminism – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary".2.http://www.unwomen.org...3."Intimate Partner Violence: Overview". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-04.4.CDC – Consequences – Intimate Partner Violence – Violence Prevention – Injury. Cdc.gov.5.http://www.who.int...6.http://www.unicef.org...7.http://en.wikipedia.org...'s_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia