Ben Shapiro: Women Are Winning the War on Women

Ben Shapiro takes on the enormous falsehood that women are under assault in America. Reality check: The wage gap, the war on reproductive rights and the explosion of sexual assault on campus are all just lies made up by Democrats to hang on to power. See the video and transcript below. 

TRANSCRIPT:

REALITY CHECK: WOMEN ARE WINNING THE WAR ON WOMEN

Are you ready gang? The stage has been set for Hillary Clinton’s big presidential run. For months, leftists in politics and the media have told Americans that the nation’s women are under unprecedented threat: they’re in danger of being raped on our college campuses, assaulted in their homes, and underpaid in the workplace.

Presumably, the only one who can save us is a woman who grew up rich, married a famous politician, rode his coattails to First Lady status, became a senator because of her husband, became Secretary of State because of her husband and now will save us because of her husband.

Here’s the reality: things have never been better for women in the United States.

Let’s start with the supposed income gap. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, like all the other Democrat leaders, says that women make $0.78 for every dollar a man makes.

This is nonsense. Reality – Women work less hours than men. Women who work 40 hour weeks earn 88% of what men make.

It’s also nonsense, by the way, that women and men who work more than 40 hours per week work the same number of hours overall. Women who are married and have children, it turns out, often take time out to have their kids. Which is what my wife did. She’s in medical school. She took a year off to have our baby. Which is why single women who haven’t married earn 96% of what men make.

That other four percent gap includes the fact that men work riskier jobs, and take on jobs with higher risk of firing. Statistically, men actually prefer risk while women prefer security when it comes to labor. Men also tend to spend their college years on non-liberal arts subjects in greater numbers than women, and are more likely to ask the boss for a raise.

Actually, the numbers are better than that for women. As Time magazine reported in 2010, “in 147 out of 150 of the biggest cities in the United States, the median full-time salaries of young women are 8% higher than those of the guys in their peer group.” 58% of those who have post-bachelors degrees are women.

As Mark Perry and Andrew Biggs write in the Wall Street Journal, the numbers President Obama and his allies cite are “fundamentally misleading and economically illogical.”

Okay, now as for the notion that women are battling against on so-called “war on reproductive rights.” First, nobody has the right to kill an unborn child. Second, contraception has never been cheaper or more widely available. Congratulations! Condoms cost $0.20 per pop. So let’s say you’re really randy and that means that you want to go at it five times a week. That’s a buck a week folks. That’s four bucks a month. Are you really going to go broke on four bucks a month? Birth control pills cost no more than $50 per month. Requiring a nun to pay for your birth control is not, it turns out, a right. It’s more like a violation of the nun’s rights to religious freedom.

On to sexual assault. Public awareness of sexual assault and domestic abuse is obviously a worthwhile cause with which everyone agrees – although it’s worth noting that there has never been a rapist in human history who decided not to rape thanks to a public service announcement from Joe Biden. But the implication that sexual assault is on the rise, that’s nonsense too. From 1995 to 2010, sexual assault victimizations declined 58%. Domestic violence fell by 63% between 1994 and 2012, and serious intimate partner violence against women dropped 72% from 1994 to 2011.

So, here’s the deal, it’s a great time to be a woman. Which means that we don’t need Hillary Clinton and her magical X chromosomes to save the day.

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  • Bamaguje

    Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann… Republicans too have great women who are more than a match for the Democrat Hillary Clintons and Elizabeth Warrens.

    • hopkins

      A huge weakness in the Republican party is the absence of enough women to speak to the average woman. Palin and Bachmann are a liability. Whenever teh lilberal press wants to laugh at Republicans all they have to do is trot out Glen Beck or Sarah Palin. Palin is a very weak woman, in fact. Republicans should work on appealing to regular women, not the religious fanatics and fakes like Palin. Republicans could easily attract more women if they had a strategy for show casing strong women who are nonreligious and anti islam. Multiculturalism is in fact bad for women. This could be presented in an intelligent way. Shapiro is right – Hillary Clinton does nothing in particular for women – but how much better she would have been than Obama!

      • billobillo54

        Palin and Bachman are normal Christians, not fanatics. If you consider Christianity “fanatical” then you will have no hope in defeating Islamicists and progressive, liberal, atheists who are destroying Western Civilization. Western Civilization and particularly the U.S. was founded on Christian and Protestant ideas and blood. The fact is that any conservative will be subjected to the vile character assassination of the vile left. Sarah Palin is a courageous and sincere patriot.

        • JB Ziggy Zoggy

          Yes, and I’ll point out that the female Democrat morons you pointed out are also all criminals who’ve avoided prosecution.

        • hopkins

          Sarah Palin is not a normal Christian. She is a liability because she is not that intelligent and reinforces the narrative among Democrats that only weak or religious women are welcome by Republicans. I don’t have sympathy for liberal or athiests. I am loosely Catholic but I do not care for organized religion because I have my own connection! A lot of people like me share many of your values but do not care for the corrupt organized religion that is a distortion of the historical jesus. It hurts the Republican cause to claim that the only legitimate values are held by those aligned with evangelicals. Republicans must have a braoder tent to be relevant. Insinuating that a particular type of christian defines the party is lethal for the party. My family believed in American strength and values as much as you, but nobody went to church. There were a lot of people like that – ones who live their own lives with American values who don’t respect the coersion of certain “Christians.” Those are the type of people who must be welcome and celebrated. I have to say that I am not impressed with Palin and though I respect the honesly of Bachmann she is not the best representative of Republicans and I consider my self Christian. I also love Buddhism, Toaism and nonduality. These are traditions that hold the same values as the historical Jesus. Islam is evil and defended by the politically correct. I know Islam is evil because I have a spiritual connection, but the politically correct are only political. I don’t have any respect for any of the Democratic women you mentioned because they are not honest about our future. I would like to see nonreligious Republican women who can be as media freindly as the Democrats. This would be a great hope for us. We don’t have to share the same religion; we need to support traditaional American strength.

      • daisypony

        Hillary has gotten where she is by being married to slick willie. She has been nothing more than a doormat to Bill. She debased herself and her daughter by defending and lying for the rotten scoundrel. She is a poor roll model for young women and needs to just retire and be a grandmother.

        • hopkins

          I completely agree with you. I noticed she also debased herself for Obama. When she was seen near him she looked like a withering flower, it was very strange. Madeleine Albright for example was her own person. She did her job and I believe kept a respectable distance from Clinton. She was such a strong person compared to Clinton. She was her own person. Clinton is not a strong woman; that is a myth. Bill was a sociopath, but at least he was able to nominate credible people, unlike Obama. And I will say that Hillary would have been so much better than Obama.

      • JB Ziggy Zoggy

        Moby Troll alert:

        • hopkins

          What does this mean? I hope we can speak openly.

      • Atikva

        The average woman as you call her doesn’t need anybody to “speak” to her, she can make up her mind all by herself, thank you.

        As to “Palin is a very weak woman “… that’s the supreme nonsense of the month.

        • hopkins

          I’m sorry but it’s very true that Palin is weak; McCain even joked about her after the campaign. The obviously truth is that Democrats are better positioned right now because they have successfully sold certain narratives, including the one that intellilgent women don’t fit in the Republican party. That narrative and others have to be challenged for Repubicans to be relevant. Palin and Glen Beck are trotted out when the liberal media want a laugh. That hurts Republicans. That is the simple truth. I’m sorry.

          • Atikva

            You make your case worse. McCain v.s Palin, it’s like the pot calling the kettle black.

            Don’t be sorry for us poor ignorant people, just check your grammar and spelling for starters.

          • hopkins

            Give me a break, poor, ignorant people? You can’t even have an honest conversation without resorting to that stereotype conversation? I really did think you were more intelligent. Spelling? I would never bring up people’s spelling. I look only at the integrity of their argument. My god.

          • Invictus

            McCain? The idiot that crashed three military aircraft and only got an assignment on the USS Oriskany due to his father’s rank, and then promptly got himself shot down and was so incompetent as to not be able to eject properly without breaking his arm and legs? That McCain?

          • hopkins

            I totallly agree with you. That is my point. McCain chose Palin and then joked about her. McCain and Pallin are both bad for the Republican brand.

  • KenoshaMarge

    What can I say other than I agree with every word. Bravo!

  • Atikva

    “it’s a great time to be a woman.” For those of us who have no other objective in life than proving that they can beat men, maybe (but I doubt it makes them happier than their grandmothers). For the others, no, it really isn’t.

    • hopkins

      Shapiro is right – it is a great time to be a woman. Because women want space to be themselves does not mean that they are trying to beat men. Give me a break.

      • Atikva

        “Women want space for themselves”, that doesn’t mean anything. Women traditionally ruled kingdoms, governed their inherited vast domains, fought on the castles walls, were doctors of the church. Married or widows, they trained and supervised their servants, monitored the education of their children, ran the household, managed and increased the family’s assets; ran the shop, worked the farm, crossed an ocean and built a new life for them and their families. Since the 17th century, they have immersed themselves in arts, science and politics all over the western world. Believe me, they had all the space they wanted and more. They never doubted their own worth for a second.

        I don’t think that it was “wanting space for themselves” that led some “liberated” women to take (and fail, for obvious reasons) the firemen test, for instance. Of course they have been trying to beat men in each and every traditionally masculine domain to wipe out their supposed inferiority – a ridiculous notion hammered in their brains by the leftists for the past fifty years or so. As if we didn’t know who we are since the dawn of times: different, but equal to our fellow men. And Vive la difference!

        • Dan Knight

          Atikva, I completely agree with you.

          I would add to your response: Sarcasm fully intended. My own daughters are really enjoying the freedom to work a part-time job with odd hours making it difficult to plan social events or get a second part-time job to supplement their already low pay. And they appreciate the high taxes they can pay, so that non-Irish women can take advantage of the fraudulent benefits of the welfare state … And their free space to do as they please with inflated currency and a shrinking job market surrounded by guys who work in dead end jobs. …

          And they have also learned the true, wonderful openness brought to the workplace – where the Sisterhood ends if you are prettier, smarter, work harder, or just plain don’t fit into the Air Brained Clique. But never fear! They can vote Democrat.

          Whatever ‘gains’ wealthy or upper middle class women have ‘gained’ amounts to nothing to my kids. This isn’t the fault of wealth or class, but the fault of the Left. Burning bridges, slamming doors, building glass ceilings, floors, and walls. At this point, I doubt I will even have granddaughters….

          • Atikva

            It’s no mystery where the “feminist” movement came from, Aaron Russo’s friend at the Rockefeller Foundation made it abundantly clear: the purpose was to be able to tax the other half of the population on the one hand, and to take children away from their mothers so that they may be raised by the leftist government on the other hand.

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCpjmvaIgNA

          • Dan Knight

            Thank you for the hat tip. Yes, I agree, that’s definitely one purpose of the feminazi-feminist agenda. Good catch

          • tickletik

            Just wait until they do their socially obligatory university degree in basket weaving, racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, all so they can serve coffee in the local Starbucks.

          • Dan Knight

            LOL … don’t give ‘em ideas tickletik! (as if that’s not where they’re going anyway … ) ;-)

          • tickletik

            Exactly. It’s wrong. We men have agreed to a lot of nonsense, we don’t put our foot down, we don’t draw a line. And this insanity continues and increases.

          • hopkins

            That will only make the situation worse and won’t work anyway. People have a right to think the way they want. If you acknowledge their perspective you can then talk to them. Yes, there was a need for some feminism but it went to far. Your position is hopeless.

          • tickletik

            What you wrote is both incoherent and insane.

            The idea that men as gender should insist on boundaries is a human right for both men as a gender and women as a gender, if you weren’t so consumed by a lust for power over men you would have recognized that.

            You say “people have a right to think the way they want”. I think the only reason you feel a need to say that is because you don’t actually believe anyone has a right to think what they want. Or at least not men. I’ve noticed how you are all over this board jumping down everyone’s throat the second they voice an opinion you don’t like.

            You also say that you can talk to people if you acknowledge their perspective. But you HAVE NOT DONE THAT EVEN ONCE.

            You give advice to people that you yourself never follow, you make shallow observations as though you’ve just discovered world truths. It’s obnoxious and your behavior is bordering on disgusting.

        • daisypony

          The “women’s movement” was and is nothing more than a leftist/communist political ideal. It’s all a part of the plan to destroy America.

          • Atikva

            Right. The “war on women”, it is the socialists who have been waging it for the past 60 years.

          • hopkins

            It must be said that a big part of the leftist trend has included a disconnect between generations on the basis of the older generation being “unenlightened”. That is what Democrats are all about. They play on this constantly. It is in fact the whole seduction of democrats. This tears a part families more than anything else we’ve been talking about.

        • hopkins

          I can’t say that I disagree with you on most of what you say. My grandmothers ran everything and were the foundation of all we did. I don’t remember any sense of inferiority. At the same time men did look down on women, and often treated them as a joke. I can’t say there wasn’t a reason for the women’s movement. I can say that it went too far. In Syria there are female brigades fighting ISIS, and they are doing very well. In fact they are fighting our fight. It is very appropriate for them to be doing that since they would be tortured by ISIS anyway if their town fell. Where there is abject necessity women fill these roles, as in the Israeli army. But here we are not on the line, and so there is conflict in the military. I do think there is an occasional woman who is meant to be a fireman, but on the average it is a man’s job.

          • Atikva

            The point is not whether a woman is “meant” to be a fireman, the point is whether the poor sod trapped in a house engulfed in flames has more chances to be carried away to safety by a strong male or by a less strong female.

          • hopkins

            Nothing I wrote would disagree with this. There is an occassional woman who can indeed do this well. But mostly it’s a man’s job.

          • Guest

            Source what you just said.

            I want to see the actual article that you are basing your statement “in syria there are female brigades”.

            I want to know exactly what that means and where this source comes from.

      • JB Ziggy Zoggy

        You’re describing something that doesn’t exist. Women don’t want to be themselves. Most of them want handouts.

        • hopkins

          You really need to work on your resentment. It doesn’t help the conservative cause. Most women do not want handouts. That is silly.

  • tickletik

    Not being a woman, I cannot say this definitively, but I speculate that it’s actually an extraordinarily horrible time to be a woman. My current understanding is that Women crave to confide in the trust of masculine men. However, it is objectively clear that most men today are broken, aimless, and ashamed of their own sexuality. I suspect that this is a terrifying state of affairs for women as they only have the impartial cold state to turn to as a substitute for an actual man, either that or other women, and from my understanding, that doesn’t work out as well as the gay lobby wants to pretend.

    In essence: women with options do not want a weak man.

    • hopkins

      That is definitely not definitive. It is not a horrible time to be a woman as women have more power now and can rely on themselves. They are not looking for masculine men, only men who they can relate to as human, with humility and integrity. Power comes from integrity and nothing else, and so no men or women need to look to the outside world to affirm them. The gay lobby has nothing to do with women’s issues. I agree with the article in that we don’t need women’s issues to be politicized since women have enough now to be masters of their own lives. To keep pounding this issue is just a political ploy. Nothing today is a terrifying state of affairs for women. Only self-reliance is security. If you can find a partner that shares your vision then that is icing on the cake.

      • daisypony

        I would say that the takeover of the world by islam is a terrifying state for women. Sure doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy and the Hildebeast isn’t saying she will save us from them.

      • tickletik

        The economy collapsing is not terrifying? An incredibly deadly disease coming over our borders is not terrifying? Millions of illegal immigrants all of whom are criminals entering our country because of feckless lawless administration is not terrifying? An unpayable debt in the form of trillions of dollars is not terrifying? The rise of a woman hating sociopathic caliphate in the middle of half the worlds oil reserves isn’t terrifying?

        No offense, but at this point, IM terrified.

        Basically what you are saying about women is that they are mindless fluff-brained idiots who … uh … um … Hmm.

        Never mind.

        • hopkins

          I agree with you totally. I was just saying that they are not any more terrified than men. And it was existentially terrfifying in the past to be a second class citizen. We are embarking on a new reality, and it is terrifying. It’s not going to go back, unless a strong leader stops islamic immigration, and throws most of them out on the basis of treason. Even if that happens, the drug cartel activity and its undesirables will implant here and blacks are becoming violent in general.

          • Invictus

            Which is why, “hysteria,” Greek in etymology, derives directly from the word for “womb…”

          • hopkins

            I’m nto sure why you resort to this. This will make conservatism even more of a lost cause.

          • tickletik

            Then leave.

      • JB Ziggy Zoggy

        Only female supremacists (“feminists”) blather about power and lie about being self reliant. You dingbats are all looking for handouts. Social handouts, educational handouts, employment handouts, child custody handouts, etc, and you expect the government to enforce them and men to pay for them. Worst of all, nearly every last one of you is a pro-infanticide POS.

        • hopkins

          I’m not a liberal. I do believe that there was sexism in the past that demeaned women and so there was a need to redress it. Charles Krauthammer said as much in his recent book. But it went too far. Women are blind to their traditional power. I’m not sure there are so many dingbats looking for handouts. That is much of the political dialogue used to seduce women. On the ground it’s not that bad. Now there are many angry male sites that are against women. That will not help. That will only reinforce the idea for women that men can’t be trusted. A strong Republican leader right now could speak to women – regarding the Islam thing and about the way the world is changing and the need for more security.

          • Invictus

            You don’t seem to be a complete “liberal,” but you speak their vernacular…
            “Sexism” is an invalid term as it was specifically designed as a new and improved shaming tactic to be used against men who did not bow down to the lesbian hate movement called feminism, in lieu of, “male chauvinist,” which was derived from the 1930s US Communist Party shaming tactic of calling their own members, “white chauvinists.” Feminism was created, with the help of the CIA, by the children of US Communist Party members, hence their choice of shaming tactics.
            Political Correctness was coined in the USSR in the 1920s and imported to the US by the “liberal” professors at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and its initials reversed, CP, stands for, “Communist Party.”

          • hopkins

            Listen, you can’t be honest if you don’t admit that men shamed women since the beginning(too often). You’re argument can’t be valid if you can’t admit this. We have to meet in the middle because that is where the truth is. There seems to be a lot of paranoia in your words. The average woman is not involved in these conspiracies, they just wanted equality. These movements you mentioned have hijacked this valid concern. The Republicans lose all hope if they resort to too much of this kind of talk. I agree with your distrust of liberals in academia. And in the media. But that doesn’t mean you can throw out the concerns of average women and expect to make conservativism relevant.

          • tickletik

            “Men shamed women since the beginning (too often)”

            It disgusts me the way you solipsistically frame everything against men. Women have shamed men, often into losing their lives, from time immemorial. The Spartan women used shaming to send their cannon fodder into combat. The British women used shaming to coerce young men to go into a meat grinder during WWI. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_feather

            Do you think any of those women gave the slightest bit of damn if the man they shamed into combat, came home missing his face, or his arm, or his life? Of course not.

            The truth is, where men have power in the physical strength and confidence, women have tremendous power in their social networks, their emotional power to leverage men, etc.

            The systems that existed, existed for a very good reason. Most of the ideas of feminism can only exist in a society where the government enforces and involuntary wealth transfer from men to women. i.e. – welfare, forcing companies to employ women whether or not they are capable or good for the company, alimony, special privileges in domestic abuse, etc. I could go on, but I’ve made the point.

            I recommend that the people on this board read a really great book called “Games People Play” by Eric Baene to get a broader perspective.

        • Invictus

          That’s what happens when angry lesbians trick women into exchanging loving men for a bumbling, corrupt, incompetent State for financial support.

      • T100C1970

        I cite Bill Clinton as exhibit A in refuting your argument that “power comes from integrity nothing else.. but other exhibits abound.

        • hopkins

          Of coarse you’re right. I was saying that real power in the sense of lving a meaningful personal life comes from integrity.

      • Invictus

        You keep telling yourself that women are sexually attracted to simpering, effete, gay men; sooner or later you might actually believe that. Nature trumps “nurture” every, single time.
        “Partner,” LoL, that’s GaySpeak…
        Feminism was the vanguard of the gay movement, and is rife with lesbians and lesbian propaganda, ergo, it has everything to do with the “gay lobby.”
        Women are more unhappy than they have ever been in history and record numbers are on anxiolytics, anti-depressants and anti-psychotics. It has been shown that more “choices” does not lead to greater happiness and fulfillment, but quite the opposite.

        • hopkins

          I am against the gay lobby hijacking the women’s movement. And I believe the women’s movement went too far. It must still be acknowledged that many women today agree with me and still think of feminism in vague terms of equality, and that has to be acknowledged for Reublicans to have a hope. I believe Shapiro would agree with this. Intelligent women are not looking for any type of particular man, just somebody who is a good fit personality wise. I know effete men who are not gay and are perfectly fine men. I’m not saying that should be the norm. It is true that more choices don’t make people happier, but this applies to men and women in general. There are too many choices in America now. IN the past the mom and pop store offered all you really needed, and consumerism and worhsipping the economy has led to a lack of community.

  • watsa46

    For many and the weak minds, ideology always trumps common sense. As we know common sense is uncommon.

  • watsa46

    What about the unreported sexual assaults!!!!

    • JB Ziggy Zoggy

      What about the fact that the vast majority of reported sexual assaults are false?

      • watsa46

        Educated bias: I am ready too believe that men are more prone to use their power against women than women making false allegations against men. That is the nature of the “man”.

        • hopkins

          This is the basic truth of this issue. It’s very obvious that sexual assault has been a fact of history…far, far, far outweighing the occasional and infrequent false report.

          • watsa46

            Tks. From a man.

      • hopkins

        You are making it very obvious that you are paranoid. Sexual assault is underreported. I don’t know why you can’t speak the truth with out being insecure. It’s not helpful to the conservative cause. Perhaps you were influenced by the sports team case in north carolina. Inscure men got up in arms over that and used it falsely. It did not mean that it was a trend. And that case was all about RACE; a black woman wanted to accuse white people. Simple as that.

  • hopkins

    What I like about front page magazine is that it is conservative and it is also for women. There are many sites, well men who create their own channel to spew resentment toward women in an irresponsible way, and sometimes disguise themselves as conservative. Conservatives need a think tank for attracting women and hispanics. Then Republicans will remain relevant.

    • JB Ziggy Zoggy

      The Republican party is not conservative, and most of the “hispanics” in America should be rounded up and deported because they’re here illegally.

      • hopkins

        I agree with you 100%. It’s just that unfortunately it won’t happen. Given that state of affairs we have to try to recruit hispanics. If the Republican party was conservative the Islam issue would be part of its agenda – if they want a caliphate in this country, that is treason, and this should be talked about honestly to the people.

  • Dan Knight

    Thank you Ben, great summation for a short statement refuting the justification for Hillbilly and exploring the status of the statistical woman. Personally, I’ve never worked with a female colleague who made less than 18% more than I, and on my last paid contract it was 150% more than I, and before than – I had to volunteer to share an office with a woman making 6 figures. So … just sayin.

  • daisypony

    The Hildebeast is out spouting communist rhetoric that sounds like Lizzie Warren. ” You don’t really believe that businesses create jobs, do you?” They are both in deep with Wall St. and big corps, taking cash left and right living the rich and famous lifestyles.
    Spread that wealth Ms Clinton, I want to be as rich as you.

  • quillerm

    Women can thank Obama for this six years of economic ruin that has left their families in Poverty. Middle Class workers are barely making it from payday to payday while Obama revels in his mythical economic revival. 93 Million long term unemployed have given up finding a job. Over 300 Jobs Bills have been held up by Harry Reid, democrat leader of the Senate. Why? He needs to keep the GOP from passing their job creation legislation and jump starting the economy. Better to let the masses eat cake, than allow the GOP help the economy.

    • info warrior

      Hundreds of thousands of women lost their jobs in a matter of months, back when Bush was in office.

    • hopkins

      I couldn’t agree with you more. And why can’t the Republicans form an intelligent response? You can’t attack women’s rights and expect to do well. You can attack Obama however and show how he has hurt women.

  • info warrior

    Women fought long and hard for their rights and they will not give them up. Republicans are on the losing end,.