Edit: Once again, this is a mobile post. So excuse any formatting.
I've said this before, but I'm not a feminist. I'm an egalitarian. Feminism is not "equality for the sexes", as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie would claim. Perhaps in a far off society, where women are being burned alive and female genital mutilation is still an issue, feminism is a well-needed cry, however, in the Western world, girls are equal to boys. Yep, I said it. Both genders face issues and both genders have it rough in different aspects. For the purpose of this post, however, I want to focus on a specific aspect of the slight inequalities between the sexes; the American judicial system.
It's no secret that men are treated harsher by the court system. In the UK, judges are told to treat women with more mercy than men, as they may have faced more disadvantages.
An example of this, in January of 2014, an 18-year old female and her boyfriend ran over and killed two children. The mother of the children forgave the driver - Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros - but her boyfriend was charged for hindering prosecution after he washed the vehicle.
An example of this, in January of 2014, an 18-year old female and her boyfriend ran over and killed two children. The mother of the children forgave the driver - Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros - but her boyfriend was charged for hindering prosecution after he washed the vehicle.
Even worse, if a man is committed, odds are that he will have a 63% longer sentence than his female counterpart.
When it comes to the death penalty (which I generally oppose), four countries do not allow the death penalty to be applied to women. If the crime committed is against a woman, the perpetrator is seven times more likely to receive the death penalty. One of the biggest factors in this is that women are the presumed caretaker for any children, and family courts seem to agree.
Don't like your husband? Claim he's manipulative or abusive - custody win! Frankly, a common belief seems to be that the mother is the best parent for the job.
Want to embrace gender role reversal and be a stay at home dad? Beware. The courts don't care. With the rise of feminism, courts are shifting, but not fast enough.
Heck, the California courts system even admits that fathers are sometimes given a raw deal. Which isn't surprising, given that 82.2% of custodial parents are mothers. The mother almost always gets custody.
Of course, males are typically discouraged from seeking custody. Out of the ones whom actively fight for custody, 70% receive some type of contact with the child.
However, in general, males are discriminated against in the judicial system. For such a patriarchal society, men have the lesser hand here.
That's not to say that I don't believe in justice where justice is due. If you're a male and you commit a crime, do I believe that you should be convicted? Absolutely. If you're a crappy dad and you're denied custody, you shouldn't be a part of that child's life. I'm just tired of seeing good men victimized by women claiming victimization. Truthfully, we live in an imperfect world and a broken society. There will always be gender issues. Boys are better at math and girls are better at reading, it's a fact that everyone knows. Yet, maybe one day, boys can help girls learn their algebra and girls can help boys master their ABCs and maybe, just maybe, our broken society will heal, even if just a little bit.
