The emancipated bra burners

There's a long, worn out joke, a favorite among teenage boys, that asks: why are women's feet smaller than men's?

(Insert brief pause for effect.) The answer: so that her feet can be closer to the kitchen sink.

Groan. Da dun dun. Ping.

Known by many as "man haters" and even "bra burners," the feminists of the modern world are no longer seen as women with legitimate arguments, but vagina lovers with complaints about everything under the sun, which, of course, they blame on the entire male sex.

When did feminism become a dirty word instead of a noble initiative? After all, feminism is simply the belief that women are as capable and intelligent as men. Right?

Feminism remains the butt end of sexist jokes about women being weaker than men, and not to mention, very bad drivers. In passing reference some dare not even speak it, instead whispering, "You're not one of them are you?"

Despite current beliefs, feminism isn't about women abominating men or trying to take over the world one high heel at a time. I in fact, as a decided feminist, happen to love men. Well, there are a few I could do without, but that goes for women as well.

Feminism is about empowering women to emerge from the narrow confines of our male dominated society and providing them with the privilege of choice - to become mothers, have a career, or both. What more could we want for our daughters?

It's a concept not far from the idea that - gasp - man and wife are equal partners. So too, should they be in society. It isn't a power struggle about one bettering the other. Inarguably each has their own contributions to the survival of the human race that extend far beyond the brief physical union required for reproduction.

Fact: men and women are biologically different. This includes not only body parts but those raging hormones behind the ever-fluctuating emotions women are famous for. And yes, this means men are physically stronger, making them suited for demanding jobs that require lifting or physical exertion.

Fact: men and women are cognitively equal. Researchers attribute male dominated fields like math, science and engineering to a lack of self-efficacy in women, and I have no reason to believe otherwise.

It is this very notion that feminists fight for - the belief that women should have the opportunity to follow their dreams.

Think feminism doesn't affect you? Even with ever increasing equality in the work place and at home there has yet to be a woman president at UB. Females fill the majority of all secretary positions, not to mention jobs for grade school teachers and nurses. Stay at home dads are still taboo.

And among faculty, the math and science departments aren't alone in possessing a male majority. In the history department there are 16 men professors and nine women, in the media study department nine women and 12 men, and in the anthropology department seven women to 14 men. The professors emeritus in each of these departments are primarily male.

I don't think it's because UB holds a prejudice against women professors, but because there aren't enough women pursuing doctorates after college in these fields.

The pressure on women to prove themselves is enormous. Those who struggle to "have it all" must be mother, wife, personal chauffeur, maid, chef, exercise guru, and sex goddess - all while having dinner on the table in time, ?Ae la Donna Reid.

Working mothers who put their innocent babes into daycare are frowned upon. Women in the public or private eye who exemplify the same characteristics as men are deemed "bitches" or criticized for their appearance. Commercials for cleaning products are typically geared towards women.

Females are encouraged to take classes for self-defense but men don't take classes to control their anger. My great grandmother, a product of the 1920s and '30s, has told me on numerous occasions that I will make "a great little housewife someday."

It is no wonder women are two times as likely as men to fall victim to depression or anxiety disorders.

In the end, change in popular opinion takes time. There may be a few hysterical feminists quick to defend themselves or point fingers who perpetuate the negative stigma surrounding feminism, and man may rule the roost, but there is hope for us yet.

Hope is all the suffragettes had. And did not they succeed?