“Millions of women have taken feminist advice and it’s led to unparalleled misery.”

At a recent Heritage Foundation panel, syndicated columnist Mona Charen made this assertion.  What a way to end Women’s History month.

Charen argued that women who are not getting married and are instead going out and getting jobs are utterly unhappy.  Those who are unmarried also have less money and are just, “less well off,” than their married counterparts.  “Everybody go out right now, if you’re not married, go get married and that will solve all these problems,” she said, arguing that if you are interested in income inequality, you must also be interested in marriage.

Sorry not sorry that I think this is complete and utter rubbish.  First of all, pay inequality has nothing to do with marriage.  The point is to ensure that men and women in the same career, doing the same work are making the same pay.  A wedding band isn’t the solution to that problem.

I would next like to question her overall claim that feminism has made women unhappy.  I’m not entirely sure that she is aware of the definition of feminism (see below).

fem·i·nism

ˈfeməˌnizəm/

noun

1. the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.

So…by Charen’s logic…wanting equal rights (which is not the same as wanting to be the same as men…) is causing complete and utter misery upon women.  Wanting the same right to vote and have a say in who is in charge of the government is causing misery.  Wanting to have the right to NOT get married is causing misery.  Wanting the right to have a job and salary of one’s own is causing misery.

Wanting the right to NOT have a job, or NOT make one’s own money, or to decide NOT to vote…the ability to make any of those decisions causes women misery?

I think not. Feminism gives women the right to make these choices for themselves.  Knowing what I know of how things were for women prior to the Suffragette Movement, I would argue that feminism has truly allowed me to live in a world where I can actually be happy.