The Top Five Feminist Myths of All Time | FACTUAL FEMINIST

Domestic violence statistics, girls sold as sex slaves, the wage gap-- what are the real statistics behind the plight of American women? And are the real numbers beyond critical analysis? The Factual Feminist, Christina Hoff Sommers, takes a look beyond the headlines and reveals her list of the Top 5 feminist myths. Third-party photos, graphics, and video clips in this video may have been cropped or reframed. Music in this video may have been recut from its original arrangement and timing. In the event this video uses Creative Commons assets: If not noted in the description, titles for Creative Commons assets used in this video can be found at the link provided after each asset. The use of third-party photos, graphics, video clips, and/or music in this video does not constitute an endorsement from the artists and producers licensing those materials. © American Enterprise Institute MYTH 1: Women are half the world’s population, working two-thirds of the world’s working hours, receiving 10% of the world’s income, owning less than 1% of the world’s property. This faux fact is routinely quoted by advocacy groups, the World Bank, Oxfam, and the United Nations. But it is a fabrication. MYTH 2: Between 100,000 and 300,000 girls are sold into slavery each year in the United States. This sensational claim is a favorite of celebrities , journalists, advocates, and politicians—both conservative and liberal. The source for the figure is a 2001 report on child sexual exploitation by two University of Pennsylvania sociologists. But their 100,000–300,000 estimate referred to children at risk for exploitation—not actual victims. MYTH 3: In the United States, 22–35% of women who visit hospital emergency rooms do so because of domestic violence. This claim has appeared in countless fact sheets, books, and articles. The Penguin Atlas uses the emergency room figure to justify placing the U.S. on par with Uganda and Haiti for intimate violence. I have it. What is the source? It seems that several feminist scholars misunderstood a 1997 study by the Justice Department. The correct figure is not 22-35%--but—GET READY -- less than half of 1 percent. One in five in college women will be sexually assaulted. This incendiary figure is everywhere in the media today. The one-in-five figure is based on a survey called the Campus Sexual Assault Study. Two prominent criminologists have noted its fatal flaws: a very low response rate, a non-representative sample of respondents, and overly broad definitions of what counts as assault –which included such things as “attempted forced kissing” & intimate encounters while intoxicated. Defenders of the one-in-five figure will reply that the finding has been replicated by other studies. But these studies suffer from some or all of the same flaws. MYTH 5: Women earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns—for doing the same work. No matter how many times this wage gap claim is decisively refuted by economists, it always comes back. The bottom line: the 23-cent gender pay gap is simply the difference between the average earnings of all men and women working full-time. It does not account for differences in occupations, positions, education, job tenure, or hours worked per week. When such relevant factors are considered, the wage gap narrows to the point of vanishing. Wage gap activists say women with identical backgrounds and jobs as men still earn less. But they always fail to take into account critical variables. These reckless claims are nearly impossible to correct because armies of advocates, journalists and political leaders depend on Killer stats to promote their cause. There is also an admirable human tendency to be protective of women—stories of female exploitation are readily believed. But killer stats undermine good causes and send scarce resources in the wrong direction. My advice to women’s advocates: Take back the truth. The Top Five Feminist Myths of All Time Third-party photos, graphics, and video clips in this video may have been cropped or reframed. Music in this video may have been recut from its original arrangement and timing. In the event this video uses Creative Commons assets: If not noted in the description, titles for Creative Commons assets used in this video can be found at the link provided after each asset. The use of third-party photos, graphics, video clips, and/or music in this video does not constitute an endorsement from the artists and producers licensing those materials. AEI operates independently of any political party and does not take institutional positions on any issues. AEI scholars, fellows, and their guests frequently take positions on policy and other issues. When they do, they speak for themselves and not for AEI or its trustees or other scholars or employees. More information on AEI research integrity can be found here: http://www.aei.org/about/ #aei #news #politics #government #education #feminism #feminist