So there’s been a lot in the news lately about the “War on Women”- if you’re not aware of what I’m talking about, read this, this, this, or this. Or just google the phrase. It’s everywhere, and yet not everywhere enough.

But here’s the thing that is really getting under my skin- in all of the discussions I’m hearing, I keep getting these unthinking, well-meaning, attempts to justify, or explain, why women deserve rights. You know what I mean- the “well, women are crucial to society!”, or “economies need well-educated healthy women”, or “when women are happy and healthy, societies thrive”. This is particularly pervasive on the left.

Fine. But you know what? Women don’t get human rights because they are useful to society, or the economy, or the well-being of a modern culture.

We get them because we’re human.

The end. Full-stop. No ifs, ands, buts, or justifications. Women are human beings, and are therefore required to be given equal protection, consideration, and justice. We don’t vote (or really shouldn’t) on rights- know why? Because they’re RIGHTS. Yes, yes, interpretation of them varies, fine. But attempting to justify why women should have them at all simply serves to give credence to the idea that there’s any question whether we get them in the first place. You don’t argue about something that’s an inalienable truth. If you do, you’re implying that it’s not.

I am a woman, yes, and proud to be so. But the most fundamental fact of my existence is not that- it is that I am human.

Just. Like. You.

in the interest of full disclosure, I wrote a little more about this here.