Opinion piece #2: Is it harder to be a female?

It is commonly asserted that men have it easy, but is that really the case? I would say no.

I am a 21-year-old biracial female on a predominantly white campus. The reason I have to say this is because otherwise, people would try to dismiss my arguments on the basis of my race and sex. There are approximately 6% of individuals who identify as two or more races, while approximately 79% of individuals identify as white.

There is a greater population of females as compared to males. According to U.S. News, High Point University has a total undergraduate enrollment of 4,545, with a gender distribution of 43% male students and 57% female students. 

As a female who is supposedly supposed to feel like a so-called “minority,” I have never felt an unequal balance with males. I have always been told to work hard for what I want in life, and that through perseverance and determination, one can achieve his or her dreams. I’m sorry, but if you are going to major in music education or gender studies, don’t complain about the wage gap. 

According to a 2016 Forbes article, former contributor Karin Lips spoke to a group of 70 undergraduate women at Harvard. Lips asked this group of college women if they believed they would get paid 78 cents on the dollar compared to men, solely based on the fact that they are women. Lips found that a majority of the women raised their hands. 

Let’s get one thing certain: the wage gap is not real, and no it is not harder to be a woman, and that’s coming from someone who identifies as biracial.

These young women Lips speaks about have been admitted into one of the most prestigious universities. They have distinguished themselves from the smartest, most talented and most dedicated individuals; however, they also somehow believe that upon graduating, they await gender-based discrimination in the workforce. Based on the fact that they are indeed women, they believe they will pay a 22% tax because of the patriarchal society we supposedly live in. 

The idea that women make 78 cents on the dollar does not take into account a lot of choices that women and men make, such as education, years of experience and hours worked. If individuals want to argue about a gender wage gap, he or she should have it adjusted according to the aforementioned factors.

According to Top Resume, the top ten professions dominated by women are as follows: child-care providers, home health care providers, veterinarians, social services workers and educators. On the flip side, some of the top professions dominated by men are personal finance advisors, biomedical and agricultural engineers, information security analysts, doctors and lawyers. However, this does not women can’t be the CEO of a company, or become a doctor or lawyer. Personally, I plan to attend law school after college.

Women go into lower-paying professions simply because they choose to.

In a 2013 Slate article, Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men, for example, wrote, “The official U.S. Bureau of Labor Department statistics show that the median earnings of full-time female workers are 77 percent of the median earnings of full-time male workers. But that is very different than '77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men.' The latter gives the impression that a man and a woman standing next to each other doing the same job for the same number of hours get paid different salaries. That is not at all the case. 'Full time' officially means 35 hours, but men work more hours than women. That’s the first problem. We should be comparing men working 40 hours to women working 35.”

As women, we are undermining our presence and relevance on this planet by allowing ourselves to perpetually identify as a victim. 

Feminism, at least modern-day Feminism in the United States, is nothing more than an attack on men. I would even argue that it is harder to be a man. Men are openly discriminated against in the workplace, especially with the #MeToo movement. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Men are assumed to be guilty when it comes to rape. Women who support modern-day feminism are more-so trying to overpower men, not be equal.

Feminism doesn’t really have a legitimate philosophy. If anything, it’s a series of temper tantrums thrown by a small, privileged minority parading around in bright pink hats.

As a student at High Point University, I have never felt that I was less capable to accomplish my dreams. I have spent hours upon hours studying for my classes to be where I am today. Currently, I am studying journalism with a minor in Italian studies, and I hope to attend law school after college. As for my GPA, I currently hold a 3.96 as a second-semester junior.

Instead of playing the role of the victim, or the minority, I choose to not feed into labels that are demeaning. My gender, nor does my ethnicity determine my success. I am strong. I am independent, and neither nor my gender nor my ethnicity limit my success.