Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative political activist, was against feminism and believed that women didn’t need equal rights. In an interview with “Tell me more” from NPR news, she said, “[Feminists] have this, I think, ridiculous idea that American women are oppressed by the patriarchy and we need laws and government to solve our problems for us”(NPR). Schlafly’s statement that women are not oppressed however, is just not true. According to a statistic from the U.S. Department of Labor, African American women earned 67 percent of what white men earned and Hispanic women earned 62 percent of what white men earned (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics). This is a clear fact that women are being oppressed due to the unjust treatment of unequal pay compared to men. Schlafly continues on by saying, “[Feminists] taught that the only fulfilling lifestyle was to be in the workforce reporting to a boss instead of being in the home reporting to a husband.That is an attitude toward marriage and homemaking that I think is intolerable and false”(NPR). Schlafly argues for women gender roles and stereotypes that are now unrealistic and not accepted by today’s society. Women should be able to, just as men, pursue a career if they wish, they should not be restricted by gender roles. Equal rights for women has become a great topic and issue throughout decades. Women have dealt with oppression and their rights have been disregarded and denied for too long. Women deserve to be equal to men, and have the same rights as men, and that means putting an end to the wage gap and breaking the glass ceiling. It is time for women to be given equal rights as men due to the fact that they deserve them simply because of their basic rights of being
Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative political activist, was against feminism and believed that women didn’t need equal rights. In an interview with “Tell me more” from NPR news, she said, “[Feminists] have this, I think, ridiculous idea that American women are oppressed by the patriarchy and we need laws and government to solve our problems for us”(NPR). Schlafly’s statement that women are not oppressed however, is just not true. According to a statistic from the U.S. Department of Labor, African American women earned 67 percent of what white men earned and Hispanic women earned 62 percent of what white men earned (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics). This is a clear fact that women are being oppressed due to the unjust treatment of unequal pay compared to men. Schlafly continues on by saying, “[Feminists] taught that the only fulfilling lifestyle was to be in the workforce reporting to a boss instead of being in the home reporting to a husband.That is an attitude toward marriage and homemaking that I think is intolerable and false”(NPR). Schlafly argues for women gender roles and stereotypes that are now unrealistic and not accepted by today’s society. Women should be able to, just as men, pursue a career if they wish, they should not be restricted by gender roles. Equal rights for women has become a great topic and issue throughout decades. Women have dealt with oppression and their rights have been disregarded and denied for too long. Women deserve to be equal to men, and have the same rights as men, and that means putting an end to the wage gap and breaking the glass ceiling. It is time for women to be given equal rights as men due to the fact that they deserve them simply because of their basic rights of being