Modern Day Feminism Has No Legitimacy.

Much thanks to marxian_ginger for agreeing to this debate. Best of luck to him/her. Let me start by clarifying that I am not a "men's rights activist". I do not believe men or women are oppressed in today's society, contrary to the claims of feminists and anti-feminists. I am just a rational person who looks at the ridiculous claims of modern feminism as grossly over exaggerated. How does hyperbole help women? As of today, there are no laws in the US that unfairly benefit men over women, there is no culture of sexual harassment that supports the harm of women, and, of course, women do not earn less money than men for the same work. Therefore, any debate over feminism will have to revolve around the societal benefits men have over women, and vice versa. I keep hearing this figure that one in five women in college have been raped, even though this claim has been decisively debunked for years. The flawed survey that produced this statistic is the "Campus Sexual Assault Study" commissioned by the DOJ in 2005. The troubles with this study are threefold: it focused on two (that's right, two) four year universities; it had an extraordinarily low turnout rate (about 42%); and it's definition of sexual assault was overly broad- including things like unwanted kissing on a first date. And yet my professors still teach it like it's true! This lie is hurting our capacity to find real statistics. I'd like to know whether or not my opponent believes that a lack of evidence for something means that you can fabricate your own evidence, as this seems to be the case with modern feminism. How about the claim that our nation is run by men? Yes, I will admit that a large number of our politicians, scientists, and business executives are male. I'd like to put forward the radical notion that this does not mean women are oppressed by society. Male politicians were the ones who gave women the right to vote, the right to have a job, the right to attend college, and the right to an abortion. Are you saying that we, as a nation, are more sexist than a bunch of old white guys in the 60s and 70s? Male scientists and doctors provide health services that everyone enjoys, especially women. Are you going to argue that because every gynecologist and obstetrician at your hospital is a man, that means medical employment is sexist? Business executives employ millions of women in this country (many times, simply because they are a woman). Unless my opponent can offer concrete evidence of sexism occurring in these fields, I fail to see how this is any different from saying: "they're all men, so they must be sexist!"; isn't this assuming something without evidence? And even if my opponent could offer said evidence, that wouldn't mean that the system was rigged to disadvantage women! All it would show is one old man in that field happens to be sexist. And really, this doesn't matter, because there are currently more women enrolled in college than men. By the time most of these feminists graduate, these men will be retired or dead, and their jobs will be open for the taking. The claimed objectification of women in the media. I think this one is my favorite. The people who complain about the sexualization of female characters in movies are the same people who go to see an action flick with overly aggressive male characters and say nothing. Isn't feminism about equality? Why don't they protest the objectification of all people in movies? Because it doesn't fit the narrative of oppression. Feminists moan about how Barbie dolls teach girls that skinny means beautiful, but do they care that He-man and GI Joes tell boys that violence makes you "manly"? Not in the least, not even when we know that men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women. Could it be because our culture tells boys that emotions make you weak? How much more psychologically damaging can you get? Where's "gender equality" on that one? At the end of the day, we need to recognize the society in which we live. A society that tells little boys "ladies first" isn't a patriarchy. A society where a woman wins the custody of her children in 84% of divorce cases can't be sexist, nor a society where women can vote without entering the draft. In this country, women are vastly more likely to avoid incarceration than men, and even then, they usually get lower sentences. I'd like to know whether or not my opponent thinks the fact that the vast majority of American prisoners are men is sexist. Men greatly outnumber women in combat and workplace deaths, mental illness per capita, and murders. Is this a part of the "male privilege" I keep hearing about? How about the fact that domestic violence victims are nearly 40% male, and yet they are denied service at most taxpayer funded shelters? Women and girls in the Middle East and Africa are being murdered, raped, and tortured in the name of Islam, and feminists have the arrogance to protest bras and catcalling? Seriously? Thank you.