Anti-Feminism on Facebook: A Rant

This story starts with Facebook—namely, its “Political Debate of the Day” which I barely noticed in my peripheral vision on the corner of my homepage:

Do you think a woman president can be as effective as a man?

I was taken aback, and immediately followed the link. This ridiculous question has me reeling for several reasons.

1. Why is this even an issue? Last time I checked, it was 2007, almost 2008. Women have worked so hard for decades to try and set the record straight: we are equal to men. Equal in all ways. There are physical differences between men and women. Yes. Duh. But this does not mean that women are unable to do important things in the world. That kind of thinking is ignorant, archaic, and irrelevant. Ask Queen Elizabeth I! Or look at the other countries who have had female leaders. Germany, for example; Britain, India, Switzerland, Ireland. Iceland. Indonesia. Norway.

And just today, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, was tragically assassinated. She devoted her life to making her country a better place, and in doing so had to break through even stronger societal barriers.

And here in America, we get, “are women as effective leaders as men?”

2. Some of the answers to this poll were inane, to say the least. The actual results were quite pleasing—as of the time of my original posting, out of 20,000, over 15,000 said “yes.” But there were still the naysayers:

a. Many men answered “no,” as a joke. If you truly believe this, we need to talk. But sarcastically saying “no, women can’t be leaders” just perpetuates the stereotypes. It’s not funny, it’s not cute. If anything, it’s insecurity manifested and completely disregardful of fellow human beings.

Are men afraid women will be better leaders, and they’re just trying to hide it?

b. Some men who answered “no” cited “hormones” and “menstrual cycles” as their reason for thinking women are ineffective politicians. This is even sadder than the ones who jokingly said “no,” because they actually believe this is an intelligent argument. Let’s not even get Freudian on this one and discuss the fear issues. We’ll leave it at the fact that this is a flimsy, ill-educated answer that is completely irrelevant. Was your mother a bad parent because of her menstrual cycle? Then shut up and go clean my kitchen for me, douchebag. I’ve had enough of you.

c. Even women answered "no," some citing "other sexist countries" (see #1), others declaring women "too sexual of creatures."

Have some respect for yourself! There are enough people who already disrespect women purely because of idiotic tradition, insecurity, and ungrounded feelings of superiority. With a statement like that, you are in essence justifying limiting yourself--something even Barbie doesn't condone.

Are women supposed to marry, “settle down” and raise a man’s kids for him while he bitches about her spending all his “hard-earned money” on making sure the family is clothed and fed? Are we supposed to all crowd around the glass ceiling and wait for those privileged with a Y chromosome to wise up (which they will refuse to as long as they’re the ones at the pinnacle of the power structure)?

Why are people afraid of feminism? I can’t see not being one in an era where people still feel the need to ask if a woman could be as effective a leader as a man.

The attitude I’ve had toward style from the beginning is it’s all about personality and dressing for yourself and not men, so it can't be argued that I’m just a frivolous fashion blogger and I’m being a hypocrite. And if anything, this post really doesn't convey my frustration nearly as much as I feel it. I strongly suggest you follow the link; reading back on it, I just feel everything I wrote there is even more relevant.