With Justice Roberts’ confirmation just past and his tenure as chief justice having begun, his name has been the buzzword of the last few weeks. This is a fact that I don’t mind; the judge is a competent and family-centered person who has managed to bring a little bit of spotlight to my little corner of the country, Northwest Indiana. Unfortunately, strolling along hand in hand with all this talk of Justice Roberts is a word that has been wildly overplayed on the liberal radio of policymaking — equality.
You see, there are some people in this country who believe that every aspect of living, dying, working, resting, and general being must be equal for men and women. These are the people who, as children, spent most of their waking hours complaining that every situation they were faced with “wasn’t fair.” These were the children who heard one too many times that “life isn’t fair.”
But life isn’t fair. Men and women are not treated equally and I, for one, am quite pleased with this. In fact, if I were treated like a man, in most cases, I would be quite offended. I enjoy having doors held open for me. I do not like to be spit at or addressed as “dude” or “man” or consulted when it comes to the attractiveness of other women. I’m a woman, so treat me like one!
When it comes to the matter of equal pay — sure, I think I should get paid at the same rate if I am doing the same job as a man. The exact same job. If a man and I were hired on the same day, have been working at the company for the same number of years, came in at the same time, left at the same time, and took the same exact number of sick days. But to be realistic, that’s probably not going to happen for me or for most women because we like flexible schedules that allow us to spend time with our kids and our husbands. We generally like to be in a safe, clean office rather than a dangerous and dirty construction site and we would trade higher pay for better conditions. We can’t have both. You know you can’t have your cake and eat it too!
I realize I don’t speak for all women. There are some pretty tough gals out there who love construction, service as marines, and welding work. All I have to say to you is, “You go girl!” If we want those kinds of positions and that kind of pay, we can prove our qualifications and we can earn our rewards. We definitely don’t need another affirmative-action-type program or an equal-rights amendment to get us there. The government boldly proclaiming that we women can’t get there on our own, now that’s insulting to my sex.
I am not, on the other hand, advocating the repealing of the 19th amendment, nor am I saying that sex discrimination never happens. I enjoy being a woman today because of the freedoms I have and I certainly wouldn’t want to do without any of them, but I do believe feminism has reached a peak. In this day and age to be feminist doesn’t mean to stand up for one’s inherent and God-given rights, it means to change the natural order, to demand more than what can be given, and to totally abandon common sense. Thus I am not a feminist; I am feminine. I am not equal to a man; I am just as special as a man in my own way with my own unique characteristics. This is something that I believe Justice Roberts’ understands. No, he is not against women; he is against feminism, manufactured equality, and utter nonsense.
Miranda Collins is a student at Indiana Wesleyan University.