“The F-Word,” by Jasmine Hart, speaks about how feminism is needed and too many people associate negative connotations when the word is mentioned. However, many of her arguments have flaws and she disregards the fact that men can experience problems. One of her first points she makes out that feminism is not strictly a women’s movement, and that it benefits men. The problem with that is that feminism mainly victimizes woman and makes men seem like the aggressors. Jasmine states many statistics, one of them being that, “…only 10 percent of rapists, 8 percent prosecutes, and 4% charged with a felony…” She completely goes over the fact that men can be sexually assaulted as well, and that it’s even less likely for them to even report the case to authorities. The same applies to men who are abused by their spouses; not only are they ridiculed if they defend themselves, but they are ashamed to report it to authorities. Along with that, the claim that feminism can fix that is preposterous, as so far, all I’ve seen it do is make generalizations about men.
      Another point Jasmine makes is about the occupations of women and the wage gap between the two genders. Once again, these claims are false. What she forgets to mention is that the statistic regarding the fact that a woman earns 77 cents for every dollar a man earns doesn’t account for who works what, and for how long. The number is just based on how much money men earn and how much money women earn, which clearly isn’t valid, as it accounts for practically no variables or other factors. Also, women have complete freedom when it comes to what career they want to pursue, and they choose not to be politicians or engineers. It’s not a man’s fault that a woman wants to pursue a certain career choice. One statement that I particularly have an issue with is, “Why do only 16 percent of mainstream films have a female protagonist, and why are many of these women shown primarily as sex objects?” That implies that men aren’t portrayed as sex objects and that men don’t have any issues when it comes to media, which is a very erroneous statement. How many male models have you seen with bulging muscles and a perfect six-pack? Women aren’t the only ones with issues, and until feminists stop thinking like that, I won’t agree with one.
      Now, I’m not saying rape isn’t an issue; it’s a disgusting crime that needs to be stopped. Unfortunately, telling rapists not to rape is like telling thieves and murders to stop stealing and killing, but blaming the victim isn’t the right approach to it either. So far, I haven’t seen any real solutions to the problem, and that’s an issue all by itself. Also, her final paragraph doesn’t really hold any water, as feminists constantly stereotype men, and the reason why many people view feminism as a silly movement is because of the ridiculous comments said by people who are said to represent the movement. So, if there are feminists who does side with both men and women, I advise them to reevaluate what they call themselves, and perhaps change it to “humanitarian” or “egalitarian,” as those people look at issues for both genders, and think in terms of people in general, not just women or men.