I am afraid though, that my definition of this word is not the only definition so I will expound on my version here.
I feel that women are just as capable as men to own property and investments, to vote, and to be able to function well at all levels of business. Sure, there are some women who if you were to attempt an intelligent conversation on any of these subjects you would come away frustrated...but the same thing can be said of men. I'm saying you are just as likely to find an intelligent or talented woman as you are to find an intelligent or talented man. If you don't believe me, then you are either stupid or are looking in the wrong spots. There is no such thing as a better gender.
That being said, let me talk some more about the workplace. I believe that women should get a good education. Now, I need to tread carefully here. Going to school to be a teacher, or a homemaker, or as a "general studies" major may very well be a very admirable and useful thing to do (and it is getting a higher education), but I do wish that I saw more women entering fields involving high level math and the sciences. Why in the world was I only one of two women in a graduating class of hundreds in the Construction Management major? It's not because women are less capable and are not getting in, it's because women aren't even looking in that direction. I am happy that the percentage of women in engineering and other such programs is increasing.
I do understand though that there are some major problems of prejudice against women in the workplace, and it does make me a little angry. How much harder did I have to work to get a summer internship than my male counterparts? How many more end-of-college job interviews did I have to go through to get even one job offer even though my grades were strong and my resume and background made me highly qualified? The answer is an ugly truth, there is something wrong still existing in the system. Progress has been made, it is no longer acceptable (in fact, it's illegal) to ask "are you going to have children?", "if you did have children, would it affect your work?", "are you married?", and "does your husband's career come first?", but some employers just won't hire women because the answer to one or more of those questions might have been "yes". I did get the question "do you think you can get these rough and tumble subcontractors to listen to you?" and then they listened in very obvious disbelief to my answer. I even got told at my one-year review by the owner of the company that I did get hired at that "he had had some doubts that a woman could perform my job functions", but that I had proved him wrong. (Don't get me wrong, I am so not mad at him, he actually was honest and fair enough that he allowed me to be hired despite his doubts, but the fact that these doubts plague those with the best intentions is disturbing). So, women still have a little bit of a battle left. OK, that's reality and I'm up for the challenge. And I do realize that the construction industry is a little bit behind some other industries in their attitudes.
So, the previous paragraph shows that I am all gung-ho for women having a valid, satisfying career, and I especially love when I see women in positions in the top tiers of management. But, and this is a big but, I think there is something equally important. The role of a stay-at-home mom has somehow become a demeaning role in the eyes of some women, which is something that I cannot comprehend. How important is it that the children of this world be raised by strong, intelligent, and educated women? I think that it is vital. I cannot understand the decision of some women who decide to bring a precious child into this world, and then hire a nanny or hand them over to a daycare center. Yes, yes, I understand that children can hamper the progression in a career. But then, why decide to have a child if that is your priority. Seems selfish.
One last topic that I want to bring up today is the feminist movement in support of abortion. Hey, it is our body, we should be able to direct what goes on with it, right? In the case of abortion, I think this attitude is absolutely dead wrong. Fine, you have the right to do pretty much anything if it just affects you....but this doesn't. There's a child involved. And for those who say "it's not a child yet", the very serious question is: do you really know that is true? I would argue that we don't know, all we do know is that if you don't abort, that will be a living, breathing child with a soul and personality all their own. So if you do abort, you will very violently and permanently take that away. Sounds like baby murder to me. Bad shivers, yuck, gross, puke. I'll leave it at that.
I'm planning on doing a post on pornography soon, which will bring in my feminist take on that.
I feel that women are just as capable as men to own property and investments, to vote, and to be able to function well at all levels of business. Sure, there are some women who if you were to attempt an intelligent conversation on any of these subjects you would come away frustrated...but the same thing can be said of men. I'm saying you are just as likely to find an intelligent or talented woman as you are to find an intelligent or talented man. If you don't believe me, then you are either stupid or are looking in the wrong spots. There is no such thing as a better gender.
That being said, let me talk some more about the workplace. I believe that women should get a good education. Now, I need to tread carefully here. Going to school to be a teacher, or a homemaker, or as a "general studies" major may very well be a very admirable and useful thing to do (and it is getting a higher education), but I do wish that I saw more women entering fields involving high level math and the sciences. Why in the world was I only one of two women in a graduating class of hundreds in the Construction Management major? It's not because women are less capable and are not getting in, it's because women aren't even looking in that direction. I am happy that the percentage of women in engineering and other such programs is increasing.
I do understand though that there are some major problems of prejudice against women in the workplace, and it does make me a little angry. How much harder did I have to work to get a summer internship than my male counterparts? How many more end-of-college job interviews did I have to go through to get even one job offer even though my grades were strong and my resume and background made me highly qualified? The answer is an ugly truth, there is something wrong still existing in the system. Progress has been made, it is no longer acceptable (in fact, it's illegal) to ask "are you going to have children?", "if you did have children, would it affect your work?", "are you married?", and "does your husband's career come first?", but some employers just won't hire women because the answer to one or more of those questions might have been "yes". I did get the question "do you think you can get these rough and tumble subcontractors to listen to you?" and then they listened in very obvious disbelief to my answer. I even got told at my one-year review by the owner of the company that I did get hired at that "he had had some doubts that a woman could perform my job functions", but that I had proved him wrong. (Don't get me wrong, I am so not mad at him, he actually was honest and fair enough that he allowed me to be hired despite his doubts, but the fact that these doubts plague those with the best intentions is disturbing). So, women still have a little bit of a battle left. OK, that's reality and I'm up for the challenge. And I do realize that the construction industry is a little bit behind some other industries in their attitudes.
So, the previous paragraph shows that I am all gung-ho for women having a valid, satisfying career, and I especially love when I see women in positions in the top tiers of management. But, and this is a big but, I think there is something equally important. The role of a stay-at-home mom has somehow become a demeaning role in the eyes of some women, which is something that I cannot comprehend. How important is it that the children of this world be raised by strong, intelligent, and educated women? I think that it is vital. I cannot understand the decision of some women who decide to bring a precious child into this world, and then hire a nanny or hand them over to a daycare center. Yes, yes, I understand that children can hamper the progression in a career. But then, why decide to have a child if that is your priority. Seems selfish.
One last topic that I want to bring up today is the feminist movement in support of abortion. Hey, it is our body, we should be able to direct what goes on with it, right? In the case of abortion, I think this attitude is absolutely dead wrong. Fine, you have the right to do pretty much anything if it just affects you....but this doesn't. There's a child involved. And for those who say "it's not a child yet", the very serious question is: do you really know that is true? I would argue that we don't know, all we do know is that if you don't abort, that will be a living, breathing child with a soul and personality all their own. So if you do abort, you will very violently and permanently take that away. Sounds like baby murder to me. Bad shivers, yuck, gross, puke. I'll leave it at that.
I'm planning on doing a post on pornography soon, which will bring in my feminist take on that.
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