Why there's no such thing as 'women's rights'

Assigning gender only obscures the fact that these are human rights

Feminist march
(Image credit: (Bettmann/CORBIS))

You may have noticed the word "feminism" cropping up frequently in recent news stories: Hillary Clinton's presidential run; the poorly-reported-then-entirely-retracted UVA rape story; Ellen Pao's gender discrimination trial; women's clothing in comic books. Gamers, young actors, and purveyors of tasty ice cream all find themselves grappling with the place of feminism in discourse both high and low: Is this a feminist issue? Is that? Are feminist values being upheld? Are feminists ruining everything?

There is, of course, a need to discuss feminism, and an even greater need to get people on board with the idea of feminism — I don't doubt that these conversations are necessary. It's just that the older I get (and I am, if you ask my children, pretty old), the more this reality baffles and angers me. Because there is no human activity that is not about feminism.

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Emily L. Hauser

Emily L. Hauser is a long-time commentary writer. Her work has appeared in a variety of outlets, including The Daily Beast, Haaretz, The Forward, Chicago Tribune, and The Dallas Morning News, where she has looked at a wide range of topics, from helmet laws to forgetfulness to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.