Woman face more challenges in Western society than men do

This has been a fun exercise. I’ll give a few final rebuttals before my closing argument. Con pointed out that men are murdered far more often than women; later, Con criticized my conclusions about the pay gap, claiming that the differences in salary between men and women are due primarily to choices that women make, namely raising children, which “is a self imposed challenge which negates it's placement as a true challenge being that it is easy to overcome. ” I find it curious that Con has not applied this standard to the statistic about men and murder; it is undeniable that men are more inclined to violent and dangerous behavior [1], which puts men at greater risk of being killed by violence. If choosing to raise children negates the “challenge” of the gender pay gap, then choosing to engage in violent behavior [2] (i. e. join a gang, commit terrorism, etc. ) should negate the “challenge” of the increased murder rate among men. In any case, the topic of this debate was whether Western women face more challenges than men. A woman making less money than a man, in general, is indeed a challenge in a capitalist society, regardless of whether it’s because of a personal choice or discrimination. Round Three is no place for Con to suddenly redefine the term “challenge. ” Con says “[a]rbitrarily paying woman more for degrees with little economic value is insane,” but I have not argued this, nor is it the case. As, I said in my earlier remarks, women out of college with the same degrees as men earn less than their male counterparts, and even female executives make less than male executives. There are minor subcategories where the opposite is true, but this is not represented in the overall trends for Western women, which is what this debate is about. Con says “You have to have a physical disorder to get Viagra,” but we aren’t talking about multiple sclerosis, we’re talking about a condition that impedes a man’s ability to have sex and/or procreate, which is related to reproductive rights, but also to sexual freedom – and many private employers’ health insurance will cover this. And yet, a woman who wants to enjoy the same sexual freedom a man does, without getting pregnant – a condition far more difficult than erectile dysfunction – must pay out of her own pocket if her religious employer refuses to cover birth control. And it is not true that these women will have “readily available access to birth control and other contraceptives” – I already showed how restrictive anti-abortion laws across the country have made it more difficult for women to get the contraceptives they need (not to mention many women’s clinics like Planned Parenthood are being forced to close). I think the double standard in how society views sexual activity for men and women is pretty obvious here. Con stated that men “are more likely to be sexually assaulted” – this is a misrepresentation of the facts. Men are more likely to be sexually assaulted in prison, which makes sense if you consider that men make up 93% of the prison population [3] and 99% of the perpetrators in all rape convictions, according to Con’s sources. Even taking prison rape into the equation, the rate of rape among men overall is still lower than the rate of rape among women [4]. Con says the statistics that report rape among women at around 20% are based on “very flawed studies” but has not demonstrated this, nor given us a reason to think they should be discounted. Con believes that the “definition of sexual harassment is so vague and includes so much that almost any conversation between two member of the opposing sex could be sexual harassment” - but without any statistics or facts, we can dismiss this as nothing more than conjecture. The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states that “[h]arassment can include ‘sexual harassment’ or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature” [5]. I don’t see how this definition includes “any conversation between two member[s] of the opposing sex,” unless most of Con’s conversations with women include requests for sexual favors. And the only reference I could find for “switch rape” is a single blog on the Internet – Con has not demonstrated that this is a widespread phenomenon that “proves” anything. Even going by the generous estimates of 8 percent for false rape accusations [6], that still means that about 92% of rape accusations are found to be true – hardly evidence of some conspiracy against men. Men are not overly burdened by false rape or sexual assault accusations – it is women who are overwhelming the victims of actual sexual assault, as my statistics have showed. In closing, I must draw attention to the straw man my opponent has set up. Con has made many criticisms about 3rd wave feminism (which is not an organization), saying that men are told to “shut up,” and argued against the myth that men live “privileged, easy going lives. ” I’ve made none of those arguments here and Con has not demonstrated that these things are widespread or legally enforced. Men do face unique challenges – I’m a man myself, so I know – but issues like dealing with rejection by a woman are much less compared to what women go through. Women are paid less than men – often for doing the same jobs or having the same educational background. Women’s reproductive and sexual freedom are limited in ways that men do not experience. Women must endure harassment of all kinds – street harassment, workplace harassment, etc. – at much higher rates than men. Women are also sexually assaulted at much higher rates than men. This paints a picture of a society where women must overcome more and greater challenges and difficulties than men in general. Addressing those issues and taking them seriously should not be viewed as some form of reverse discrimination against men, but as a worthy and vital endeavor to create a more fair and equal society. Thank you for reading. SOURCES: [1] . https://www.researchgate.net... [2] . http://science.howstuffworks.com... [3] . https://www.bop.gov... [4] . https://en.wikipedia.org... [5] . https://www.eeoc.gov... [6] . https://ucr.fbi.gov...