My Rebuttal to Linda Carroll’s Claims About Gender (in)equality
Many discussions about gender inequality today present a grim picture, suggesting that women face overwhelming systemic disadvantages. However, these arguments often rely more on emotion than fact, using misleading statistics and leaving out important context.
Recently I happened upon an op-ed by
titled, “100 Years Ago She Asked Congress To Agree To One Sentence. They Said No.” In it were many compelling points but to truly understand the issue, we need a response grounded in history, economic reality, legal principles, and a commitment to objective truth over ideological narratives. In this op-ed I am going to tackle the subject of gender (in)equality on both sides of the spectrum.1. Violence Against Women & The Second Amendment Solution
Claim: “Every two minutes, a woman is raped in America.”
• Reality: This statistic is often cited but originates from outdated or misinterpreted data. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), rape and sexual assault rates have decreased significantly since the 1990s.
• Solution: If the problem of violence against women is truly as severe as suggested, then the most rational response is empowerment through self-defense and the Second Amendment.
• Women who are armed, trained, and ready to defend themselves drastically reduce their risk of becoming victims.
• According to the CDC, defensive gun use occurs between 500,000 and 3 million times annually in the U.S., often preventing crime before it happens.
• States with higher gun ownership rates see lower sexual assault rates, a correlation that feminists conveniently ignore.
• A dead rapist is better than a raped woman. Women should be encouraged to own, carry, and train with firearms rather than being told to be perpetual victims.
2. Wage Gap Myth & Economic Reality
Claim: “Women earn less than men for the same job.”
• Reality: The “wage gap” is a myth based on aggregate earnings, not actual job-for-job comparisons.
• When accounting for occupation choice, hours worked, experience, and career interruptions (such as maternity leave), the wage gap disappears.
• The U.S. Department of Labor found that when controlling for these factors, the gender pay gap shrinks to just a few percentage points, often explainable by personal choices rather than discrimination.
• If companies could legally pay women less for the same work, why would any rational employer hire men at all? The claim defies basic economic logic.
3. Women in Leadership & the Myth of Systemic Discrimination
Claim: “Only 7% of CEOs are women, and only 27% of Congress is female.”
• Reality: Leadership positions are not assigned based on quotas but on merit, experience, and interest in pursuing the role.
• Studies show that fewer women choose to enter high-stress, long-hour executive careers. A Harvard Business Review study found that women prioritize work-life balance more than men, affecting the pipeline of leadership.
• If a woman chooses to abort a child, the father has no legal recourse to prevent the abortion. But if she chooses to keep the child against his wishes, he has no legal recourse to avoid child support payments.
• Congress is elected, not appointed. If women were being “barred” from leadership, it would imply that millions of voters are sexist, which is an absurd claim.
4. Gender and Safety Regulations
Claim: “Women are 47% more likely to be injured in a car crash because crash test dummies are based on men’s bodies.”
• Reality: While early crash test dummies were modeled after male physiques, this is not a conspiracy against women.
• Female crash test dummies have been used since the 2000s, and research continues to improve vehicle safety for all passengers.
• The height, weight, and seating position differences of men and women naturally lead to different injury risks, but this is not the result of sexism—just biology.
5. Child Brides & Global Gender Comparisons
Claim: “33,000 girls under 18 become child brides every day.”
• Reality: This statistic is not representative of the U.S. and is used to conflate global issues with American gender dynamics.
• The vast majority of child marriages occur in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, where Western feminism has no influence.
• Feminists rarely discuss cultural and religious factors contributing to these problems because doing so would require criticizing non-Western societies.
6. Women in Domestic Roles & Historical Context
Claim: “Women still do most of the housework and childcare.”
• Reality: Modern households are increasingly balanced, with men doing more housework than ever before.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that men are taking on a significantly higher share of household responsibilities than in past decades.
• If women are doing more housework, it is often because they choose to stay home or work fewer hours than their spouses.
• Personal choice should not be mistaken for oppression.
7. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) & Legal Equality
Claim: “The ERA has been rejected for 100 years because America refuses to acknowledge gender equality.”
• Reality: Women already have equal legal rights under the law.
• Title IX, the Civil Rights Act, and multiple Supreme Court rulings have affirmed women’s rights in every major sector.
• The ERA was opposed even by many women, including Phyllis Schlafly, who argued that it would eliminate gender-based legal protections (e.g., exempting women from the draft, weakening spousal support laws).
• The failure of the ERA is not a reflection of sexism but a recognition that men and women are already equal under the law.
8. The Feminist Victimhood Complex
Claim: “We teach girls to live in fear, while boys have no restrictions.”
• Reality: The idea that men live carefree lives while women live in perpetual fear is an absurd mischaracterization of reality.
• Men are far more likely to be victims of violent crime than women.
• The Department of Justice found that men are murdered at nearly four times the rate of women.
• Men receive harsher prison sentences for the same crimes compared to women.
• If feminism was truly about equality, why does it ignore these issues?
The False Narrative of Perpetual Oppression
The fundamental flaw in the persistent claims about gender inequality is that it frames women as eternal victims, ignoring historical progress and personal agency.
• Women today have more opportunities than at any point in history.
• The legal, economic, and social barriers that once held women back no longer exist in the Western world.
• Playing the victim does not empower women—arming them, educating them, and treating them as responsible individuals does.
Feminism has devolved from a movement for equality into an ideology of perpetual grievance. It no longer seeks fairness but dominance, quotas, and emotional manipulation. Women do not need feminism; they need personal responsibility, empowerment, and the courage to embrace reality.
And the best way for women to ensure their safety? Arm themselves, train, and fight back. Because criminals fear an armed woman far more than a hashtag.
Though March is Women’s History Month, discussing the silent inequality that men endure is very relevant. Not to replace women’s struggles. But to acknowledge that men suffer too. And they deserve better than silence.
1. Conscription: The Ultimate Inequality
Women’s rights activists claim that society still treats them as second-class citizens, yet when a war breaks out, it is only men who are required to die for their country.
• The Selective Service System requires every male citizen to register for the draft at 18. Women are exempt.
• In every war in modern history, it is men who have been sent to die while women are protected.
• The feminist movement, which claims to fight for equality, is curiously silent when it comes to the draft.
If men and women are truly equal, why does only one gender bear the legal obligation to fight and die in war?
2. Crime and Violence: The Real Victims Are Men
While activists highlight violence against women, they ignore the fact that men are the primary victims of violent crime.
• Men are murdered at nearly four times the rate of women. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
• Men are more likely to be victims of assault, robbery, and homicide than women.
• Society has normalized violence against men, portraying it as a joke or a “natural” part of masculinity.
There are no marches for male victims of crime. No special awareness months. No hashtags. Just silence.
3. The Legal System: A Rigged Game
Men do not just face physical dangers; they also face a legal system that is stacked against them.
• In divorce cases, women are awarded custody 79% of the time. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Men are far more likely to pay alimony than women, even in cases where the wife earns more.
• False accusations of abuse or harassment can destroy a man’s life, yet there are few consequences for the accuser when allegations are proven false.
The legal system does not presume men innocent. It presumes them guilty.
4. The Workplace: More Hours, More Danger, Less Empathy
Feminists love to cite the “wage gap,” but they ignore the real labor gap:
• Men work longer hours on average than women. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Men take on the most dangerous jobs. 93% of all workplace fatalities involve men. (OSHA)
• Men are expected to take on higher-stress, higher-risk careers while women are encouraged to choose work-life balance.
If men are sacrificing their health and safety in the workforce, is it any surprise that they out-earn women on average?
5. Homelessness: A Male Epidemic
The next time you walk past a homeless person, look at who they are. Chances are, it is a man.
• Men make up 70% of the homeless population. (HUD)
• Men are less likely to receive public assistance or shelters, as most aid programs are designed for women and children.
• Society tells men to “man up” rather than offer them help.
Men are struggling, and nobody seems to care.
6. Drug Addiction and Suicide: The Final Cry for Help
• Men account for 75% of drug overdose deaths. (CDC)
• Men are nearly four times more likely to die by suicide than women. (National Institute of Mental Health)
• Men are less likely to seek therapy or mental health support because society tells them they must be strong.
If the suicide rate for women was four times that of men, we would never hear the end of it. Instead, male suffering is treated as a punchline.
7. Incarceration: Justice Is Not Blind to Gender
• Men make up 93% of the prison population. (Department of Justice)
• Men receive 63% longer prison sentences than women for the same crimes. (U.S. Sentencing Commission)
• Women are far more likely to receive probation or lighter sentences, even in cases of violent crime.
This is not justice. This is systemic discrimination at its worst.
An Uncomfortable Truth About “Equality”
If society truly believed in gender equality, it would be just as concerned about these issues as it is about “the patriarchy” or “glass ceilings.” Instead, we see a culture that:
• Encourages women to see themselves as victims, even as they benefit from legal and social privileges.
• Ignores male suffering, assuming that men can simply handle it.
• Demonizes masculinity while relying on men to protect, build, and maintain society.
This is not equality. This is an ideological agenda that refuses to acknowledge men’s struggles.
What Needs to Change?
It is time to face reality. If we want true equality, we must:
1. End male-only conscription—either draft women or eliminate the draft entirely.
2. Acknowledge that men face systemic disadvantages in crime, custody battles, and legal sentencing.
3. Recognize that men’s mental health and homelessness are real crises, not jokes.
4. Stop pretending that the wage gap is oppression while ignoring the labor gap.
5. Treat violence against men with the same seriousness as violence against women.
For too long, we have been told that men are the “privileged” sex. But when you look at the numbers, the real privilege becomes clear:
The privilege of not being sent to war.
The privilege of not being presumed guilty.
The privilege of not being thrown in prison at staggering rates.
The privilege of being given custody of your own children.
The privilege of having society care when you suffer.
Men do not have those privileges. And until we are willing to talk about their struggles, we have no right to call this an equal society.