If I have a daughter, I want to raise her to be empowered, not a Feminist.

I heard a sad cliché from a now former friend of mine a while back: “I hope you never have a daughter with what you believe about women.” The same had told me before how much of a gentleman I am. What caused the ugly shift? What crime did I commit? Claiming the wage gap myth is in fact a myth.

This is not even fun to refute anymore. When we compare all salaries of women and men, yes, there is a wage gap. But more men are in higher-paying careers than women, which means there is either more education/training involved or more physical risk involved. Compare within the same career, and factor in experience which women lose if they take maternity leave or leave their job (as they sometimes do; there is nothing wrong with that, but it explains the discrepancy), and the wage gap disappears. Simple. Why would any profit-seeking business hire a man when a woman can do the same work for $.77 on the dollar, or $.66, or whatever, depending on who’s claiming it? Businesses would hire women for cheaper labor and avoid men unless necessary. Economics. I have girls agreeing with me on this subject and making light of it. But if a woman wants to feel oppressed, she will. And if a man wants to bow to her and kiss up, he’ll believe it.

This isn’t just about the wage gap myth. This is the culture kids are being brought up in. Apparently, if I have a daughter, I’ll oppress her. I don’t know because I don’t have kids. But I know if I ever do have a daughter, I want to raise her to be empowered, not to act like a victim. Fighting oppression is great, as long as it’s there.

But here’s the deal: women in America aren’t oppressed anymore. There is no wage gap. I would be doing my daughter a disservice to teach her that she is treated unfairly and allow her to devote some of her life to fighting a nonexistent enemy. I would not be a good father if I taught her that men are the problem and prevent women from reaching their potential. She would grow up resenting me and her brothers and any other male in her life.

It would be bad parenting to tell my daughter she can go wherever she wants and that she should do it unarmed in the name of equality, knowing that she is being put at risk. It is wrong not to teach her how to defend herself and to avoid situations that make her an easy target because it should be a man’s job to control himself. We can teach men not to rape and teach women how to avoid the ones that don't listen; they aren’t mutually exclusive.

It is foolish to tell my daughter that modesty is of no importance.

It is unfair to teach her that every man in her life wants to rape her because “it’s the culture”. I once contradicted a feminist who responded to a tweet of mine and was subsequently called a rapist.

Imagine how rude my daughter would be as she scolds a man for holding the door for her because she is capable of opening it herself.

How evil it would be to teach her that her ability to bring life into the world is oppressive and the best way to gain equality is to pay someone to dismember her child?

What a double-standard to say that women are equal but to say that she needs affirmative action or abortion to be equal. I believe women are equal by their very nature of being human; they don’t need anything to make them so.

How dare she claim that a man should have no say in his child’s future but should have to pay child support if she chooses not to kill her child.

See, I don’t think chivalry or research is the problem. Feminism is. Teaching our daughters to be victims is not empowerment. It is oppression. Lying to her will only make her delusional, not strong. If I have a daughter, I want her to be empowered by knowing that she is equal and teaching her to live in peace with men. Victimization is empowerment only to those who have sipped from the cup of feminist ideology. Differing roles in society do not make individuals unequal. Accurate information will empower my daughter -- not belief in lies.