At times a popular narrative is so oft-told it becomes reflexively accepted as fact regardless of whether it is true. Unfortunately, in many cases, the acceptance of such narratives divides us and makes matters worse. One such narrative is the idea that women are oppressed in America, and that our nation is populated largely by misogynists who seek nothing more than to silence “unlikable” women, strip them of their right to vote, and relegate them to the status of second-class citizens.

Hillary Clinton used misogyny as one of many excuses to explain how she blew an election she was given more than a 90% probability of winning by major pollsters (a logical assumption considering her massive advantages in fundraising, experience, media support, and political networks), only to be defeated by a reality-TV star/real-estate mogul with no political experience and a lot of baggage with women. Prognosticators failed to grasp that, to many Americans, Hillary is an untrustworthy and a deeply unlikeable human being.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s recent announcement of her 2020 presidential candidacy was met with a resounding yawn and questions about her likability, which some insist is sexist because male politicians supposedly are not subjected to the same question (a claim eviscerated by The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto). Yet there are many women in politics whose likability is not questioned, so it seems the question only comes up with women (and men) who aren’t generally liked.

Which brings us to a question: Are women in America truly oppressed? The data doesn’t reflect such a claim.

In the latest labor report, which showed an increase on 312,000 new jobs, it is women who are the primary beneficiaries. The workforce participation rate for women aged 25-34 is at a multi-year high, with the number of women 20+ years old who have jobs increasing by 1.6 million in the last year alone — out of 2.6 million total jobs gained. The rising number of employed women no doubt accounts for the fact that nearly twice as many single women as single men own a home.

Women also earned more doctoral degrees than men in 2017, for the ninth straight year, and there are nearly 40% more women than men in grad school. Furthermore, in major metropolitan areas, single women without children are out-earning their male counterparts by nearly 10%.

In fact, the so-called pay gap between men and women is almost entirely due to career choices (men tend to gravitate toward hard sciences and dangerous work, whereas women tend toward less dangerous, less lucrative fields like education, social work, arts, etc.) and number of hours worked.

Not only are women in America not oppressed, but the surprising (at least to those buying the PC narrative) findings of another recent study show men now face greater discrimination than women. The study — which considered such factors as “men receiving harsher punishments for the same crime, compulsory military service and more occupational deaths than women” — found that in many Western nations (where feminists claim to be most oppressed), including the United States, policies and cultural norms now actually favor women.

Interestingly, the Census Bureau recently published an analysis on the social impact of the relative prosperity of men and women, and how it is reflected in our cultural norms. In married households where the woman earned more than her husband, the woman underrepresented her earnings by an average of 1.5%, and men overrepresented their earnings by 2.9%. The census researchers concluded, “It was more socially desirable for men to earn more — so whether fudging the numbers was a conscious or unconscious choice, these social norms affected their answers.”   And while it would be easy to claim this as yet another example of the oppressive heteronormative patriarchy pushing its agenda, the truth isn’t quite so simplistic.

Though feminists claim to want equality between the sexes, when asked if being able to support a family financially was necessary to consider a man a good husband, 71% of women said yes, while only 32% of those same women said a woman being able to support a family financially was necessary to be considered a good wife. Women are also less likely to marry, and more likely to divorce, a man who is unemployed or underemployed.

All of this just shows that the relationships between men and women are very complicated, with countless variables — some biologically hard-wired, some cultural — and for both to prosper and be happy, we should acknowledge and even celebrate our complementary differences, rather than treat each other as enemies.