Hey Women; You Are Not Oppressed!

Yes, I know all the standard rhetoric spewed by feminists and liberal politicians.

“it's a fact, there are more sexual assaults now than ever before!”
“it's been proven that women are paid less than men!”
“women have a right to affordable healthcare and abortions!”

Well ladies (and gentlemen who have put your testicles away for safe keeping), at the risk of surely being labeled a sexist and misogynist, I'm just going to say what everyone else is afraid to say to you; you are not being oppressed. In fact, you live in a country that caters to you, purely because there was a time that you actually were oppressed.

Sexual assaults have not increased. In fact, even though the criteria for something to be labeled as “sexual assault” has been significantly broadened, I would argue that actual legitimate occurrences have decreased. What has increased, are false allegations of sexual assault. These illegitimate cases have increased because it's become a silver bullet in divorce and custody battles. I know this from personal experience - it was used against me in an attempt to take my child from me.

Because of women's privilege and the Violence Against Women Act, a woman can make a claim of sexual assault or domestic violence with NO evidence and the man is automatically assumed guilty until proven innocent. The “alleged victim” is then quickly granted a restraining order against the man, without that man even having an opportunity to defend himself to the judge, and he is immediately robbed of his rights of access to his children until he can prove his innocence.

Assuming that woman chooses to use VAWA to its full potential, she is then given access to women's shelters, financial assistance, and legal assistance (with an emphasis on “getting her story straight” in order to ensure that she gets primary/sole custody of the children, full child support, and as much of the marital assets as possible). The woman is then coached on what to say and what not to say in order to increase the odds of a “positive” outcome in court. For instance, recommending that when she tells the judge about her ex pushing her, she should leave out the part of the story where she was punching him repeatedly in the face before he pushed her away. After all, I'm sure “he deserved it.” Yes, this actually does happen.

Assuming the man is ABLE to prove his innocence, since proving a negative is fairly difficult, there are absolutely no repercussions for the woman having made the false allegations and in some instances literally ruining the man's life. In fact, many times, even after the man has proven his innocence, he is still judged and condemned for the mere accusation that was made against him. After all, “why would the woman lie?”

The common misconception is that if a man is accused of these acts and he is found to be innocent, he must have just cheated the system, or he got away with it because of his “male privilege.” In my case, even though I was eventually able to prove my innocence, I lost friends and lost a job opportunity because they chose to “err on the side of caution” and believe that there was still a chance I might be guilty. And even though I proved my innocence, the court papers never said that I was innocent. Instead, they stated that there was “insufficient evidence” to prove my guilt.

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The unfounded claims of unequal pay for women has been disproven MANY times. It simply is not true. Men work more hours and are more likely to take the most dangerous (and higher paying) jobs. Also, women are more likely to get bullshit college degrees like "gender studies" and sociology, while men are more likely to get degrees in engineering and business. Women are more likely to graduate from college than men, but the higher paying (more difficult) degree fields, like engineering, are dominated by men.

In my personal experience, women are actually more likely to be paid more and given jobs for which they are not qualified. This is partially because of Affirmative Action laws, which require that women and minorities be given preferential consideration when hiring for a position. What I have seen more commonly in my professional career, however, is women being offered more for the same job, only because the male hiring manager wanted some eye candy. Then once they are hired, when a promotion becomes available, men who happen to be more qualified for the role are passed over while that same woman receives the contested position.

Several years ago, I was hired for one of my first real “career” jobs right after I graduated from college. I was hired at the same time as a woman who had very similar education and work experience to me. We were both hired to do the same job, but I found out several months later that she was offered a salary of $2,325 per year more than me. Granted, this only made a difference of roughly $60 per paycheck, but the fact remains that we were equally qualified, but offered unequal pay.

After several years at this company, our manager got promoted, so his position became available. Both I and this woman expressed interest in the position. During my time with the company, I had worked hard, taken on additional tasks, and managed projects that were not my job, while excelling at everything. She on the other hand, spent the majority of her time flouncing around in her low-cut tops and short skirts to various managers offices, bending over their desks and telling them how incredibly busy and overworked she was. But in the end, I was not even given an opportunity to interview for the job, while she was promoted to be my new boss.

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Abortion and healthcare are not rights - they are privileges, and women have the same access to healthcare that men do. Many people would obviously argue that abortion should be illegal, but that debate is not one I intend to tackle today. As far as I'm aware, no woman has ever been denied access to healthcare only because of her gender. And ever since the "Affordable” Care Act became law, whether your job offers benefits or not, we have all had the same mandatory access to “un-affordable” health insurance.

The one glaring difference however, is that organizations like Planned Parenthood, actually give women more access to healthcare than men receive. I am aware of no organizations that provide sexual and reproductive healthcare services exclusively to men, and yet women feel that they are entitled to receive free birth control, sexual health screenings and low-cost abortions; all thanks primarily to government funding from the American taxpayers.

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Obviously many of you will disagree with me on a great portion of what I said in this article. And that is your right to disagree, just as it is my right to say it. That is just one of the things that makes our country great. What I have stated in this article, I know, does not necessarily apply to 100% of the cases out there. I'm certain there are women who work for sexist organizations out there and get paid less for the exact same job. But just the same, there are men who are paid less for similar reasons. Also, when was the last time you asked for a raise? While statistics show that men and women are equally likely to ask for a raise, this has not always been the case. Until recently, studies have shown that men were much more likely than women to request a raise.

Yes, sexual assault is a huge issue. Even one legitimate case is too much. But does that justify potentially ruining the lives of thousands of men who have false allegations made against them? We have created too much of a stigma that it is wrong to question the legitimacy of a woman's claims of sexual assault and domestic violence. I get it; I know, there is a possibility of discouraging reports of legitimate abuse. But the men who's lives are ruined by false allegations, are just seen as the regrettable but necessary collateral damage of protecting the actual victims. That's all good and great until you become one of those who is falsely accused.

Finally, yes, I know that Planned Parenthood does a lot of good. I know that men benefit indirectly from many of the services that are offered by Planned Parenthood, and I do not support fully de-funding them. I do however, believe that in a time where our country so obviously has a spending problem, we need to begin cutting unnecessary expenses, just as you would create a budget at home to avoid spending more than you make. This is why I support a significant reduction in the amount of government funding given to Planned Parenthood ($553.7 Million per year), at least until we are able to get back on track to not just a balanced budget, but an actual spending deficit and a steadily-decreasing national debt.