I Am Not Crazy

I'm tired of indulgent looks and whacked-out stares every time I mention gender equality. The former says, "Oh, look at her, going on about her crazy feminist things again. Smile and nod and maybe she'll shut up soon and realize just how good women really have it." The latter simply screams, "You're a crazy man-hating feminist. I'm going to go cover my balls now in case you try to cut them off because of your man-hating."

And since today is Blog for Fair Pay Day, and I'm a teenage girl looking for a summer job and trying to wait out one of the worst economies we've had in a long time in the Ivory Tower of educational institutions, I'm going to address one of my soapbox points. Because I'm not crazy, and I'm not a man-hater, but I damn well am a feminist.

See, about 45 years ago -- wow, that's a long time; my mom would've been, let me see, twelve years old -- Congress passed something called the Fair Pay Act. It basically says that people that do the same work should get paid the same. Specifically, it addressed gender inequality. Sounds like a good deal, right? You know, fair?

Well, it still hasn't happened. In 1970, seven years after the act was passed, women working full-time received an average of 63 cents for every dollar their male counterparts made.

In the 38 years since then, women have gotten a pay increase of 14 cents. That is to say, women working full-time now receive an average of 77 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. To give you an idea of other advances made in those 38 years:

Since 1970, the life expectancies of women in developing countries have been increased by 15 to 20 years.

In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court.

In 1990, a woman named Sue Hendrickson discovered the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton to date.

Starting around 1970, mortality rates of all cancers (except lung) began declining slightly. Since 1990, all cancer mortality rates have gone down even more steadily.

In 2006, Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House.

Women currently comprise 56 percent of college attendees. This number is expected to rise.

We have a woman running for president of the United States -- and she actually has a chance.

And yet we still aren't paid as much. We're just as competent. We do the same jobs as men, work the same hours, put forth the same effort. And still, we're shut out of upper-management positions and promotions; we still make about 75 percent as much as men.

So, guys, don't fucking tell me I'm being crazy. You know what? When you've experienced what it's like to grow up female in a society that treats you as intrinsically inferior to the men around you just because of your gender, when you've had to felt the effects of that sexism even with all your other advantages in life - being born white, middle-class, with an intelligent and inquisitive parent who actively participates in your education - and still known that you'd make less money than men around you, when you've faced condescending attititudes and conflicting media messages and objectification just because you have body parts guys think they're entitled to, and been expected to just accept it because you're so much better off than women in fucking Syria or the Sudan, then you can talk. Until then, just put up and shut up, because I'm not going to until equal pay for equal work is reality.

I don't hate men in general. But I'm really tired of the deniers out there, male AND female. Because these inequalities exist. Statistically, realistically, they exist. And until everyone acknowledges them and agrees that we all need to do something about them, the human race is screwed, because a good half of it is viewed by a sizeable portion of the whole as inferior to the other half. And that's not a healthy status quo.