We are in the midst of what some women deem a ‘Sexual Revolution of the 21st century,’ or formally identified as Third Wave Feminism.

I can concur that the epic batch of women who led Second Wave Feminism in the 60’s until 1980, would be quite dissatisfied with the cocky standpoint some of today’s ‘feminists’ take. Many activists are clearly reinforcing the idea that ‘women get what women want’ by playing the victim, instead of revolutionizing gender equality.

Where are Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem when you need them? These historical activists led American women through the 20th century sexual revolution. Now, we live in 21st century America where women have the freedom to stand up against objectification, but instead resort to victimization for ‘unjust’ actions taken against them.

Rebecca Wax, 33, was expected to graduate last May from the New York Fire Academy, except she failed after multiple attempts to pass the final Functional Skills Training test. Wax advocated for a spot in the force, claiming the fitness standards were gendered. Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro announced a change in FDNY policies, stating that probationary firefighters can fail the FST test and still graduate.

The change, made public this past May, was deemed by many as a lowering of standards. Wax graduated, and it’s believed that her graduation was contingent on the altering of FDNY fitness qualifications. Now that Wax is a certified New York firefighter, many are concerned for her abilities to act urgently to preserve lives when she failed to complete a quasi-accurate simulation in the allotted time.

We cannot become genetic anomalies because truth is, we aren’t built as men. It’s unfair to suggest that we can do and be everything that is male-oriented. Women must unite to abolish self-victimization, and fight for the true injustice that has haunted females of this country for centuries.

“Over the last several years, there has been an increase in women’s voices challenging the sexist status quo,” said Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist video game activist, during an interview with Mother Jones in 2014. “We are witnessing a very slow and painful cultural shift.”

Sarkeesian has been breaking down gender barriers through her condemnation of the sexualization of women in video games. Her hard work and dedication has been a leading voice, but unfortunately she’s received an exuberant amount of backlash.

“I was surprised by the level of vicious and misogynist hate I received, which included a loosely organized campaign of death threats, rape threats and attempts to collect and publicly distribute personal information such as my home address and phone number,” said Sarkeesian.

Activists, such as Sarkeesian, are pronounced and strong willed women who stand against ‘playing the victim’. But there is a line to be drawn between true advocates against inequality and objectification, and those who falsely perceive many inequalities, thus reinforcing the stereotype ‘weak and whiny.’

On a scale of importance, the exorbitantly high number of rape and sexual assault victims direly needs more focus than petty cases of inequality in occupations. There is a mental detriment that follows victims of abuse, much more so than unfair wages or seemingly gendered occupations.

The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network reported that a survey done by the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey stated that there are an average of 293,066 victims of rape and sexual assault each year.

Betty Friedan, an American writer, activist and feminist, put it best when she said sex sells, men can be greedy and misogynistic and women have a tendency to be submissive.

“Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims,” said Freidan. “The real enemy is women’s denigration of themselves.”

Sarkeesian’s work denounces sexualization in video games and their influence on execution outside of a television screen. The world needs more of this feminist standpoint than ones paralleling Wax’s argument; which merely muddles the focus of Third Wave feminism.