Centennial Review - May 2014
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Principled Ideas from the Centennial Institute Volume 8, Number 5 • May 2014
Publisher, William L. Armstrong Editor, John Andrews
FREEDOM FEMINISM: ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES
By Christina Hoff Sommers When asked “Are you a feminist?” most Americans say no. A recent Huffington Post/YouGov poll is typical: Only 23 percent of women and 16 percent of men identified as “feminist.” Accomplished women as diverse as Taylor Swift, Sandra Day O’Connor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marissa Mayer, and Beyoncé
a dire worldview. So most women, and even more men, have run for cover. Though the major battles for equality and opportunity have been fought and largely won, the work of feminism remains unfinished. Across the globe, fledgling women’s groups struggle to survive in the face of genuine and often violent oppression. In the West, popular culture still does contain strong elements of misogyny. Women, far more than men, struggle with the challenge of combining work and family. Despite women’s immense progress, the poverty rolls consist mainly of women with children. Reality, Anyone?
Who needs feminism? We do. The world does. But an effective women’s movement needs to be rescued from its current outcast state. Put bluntly, feminism is too object to the designation. important to be left to feminists. Anyone who cares about Yet the emancipation of women under the banner of improving the status of women around the world should feminism is one of the glories of Western be demanding a women’s movement that civilization and one of the great chapters in Let’s rescue actually resonates with women. the history of freedom. Why has the banner the women’s A reality-based, male-respecting, judicious lost its allure? feminism could greatly help women both in Dire Worldview movement. the United States and throughout the world. I call it “freedom feminism.” Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, blames the media for unfairly Freedom feminism stands for the moral, social, and legal portraying feminists as “unhappy, angry, humorless.” But equality of the sexes—and the freedom of women to are these stereotypes really unfounded? Consider this 2010 employ their equal status to pursue happiness in their own pronouncement from feminist blogger Jessica Valenti: distinctive ways. Freedom feminism is not at war with femininity or masculinity, and it does not view men and We have no problem condemning atrocities done to women as opposing tribes.
women abroad, yet too many of us in the United States ignore the oppression on our doorstep. We’re suffering under the mass delusion that women in America have achieved equality … Part of this unwillingness to see misogyny in America could be self-protection—perhaps the truth is too scary to face.
Theories of universal patriarchal oppression are not in its founding tablets. Nor are partisan litmus tests: It welcomes women and men from across the political spectrum. Put simply, freedom feminism affirms for women what it affirms for everyone: dignity, fairness, and personal liberty.
Christina Hoff Sommers, a former philosophy professor, is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Her books include Who Stole Feminism?, The War Against Boys, and Freedom Feminism: Its Surprising History and Why it Matters Today (AEI Press). An abridged version of this essay appeared in The Atlantic. Centennial Institute sponsors research, events, and publications to enhance public understanding of the most important issues facing our state and nation. By proclaiming Truth, we aim to foster faith, family, and freedom, teach citizenship, and renew the spirit of 1776.
Women of all persuasions want their basic rights, but most American women do not think of themselves as being in thrall to a mass delusion, held down by a system of global oppression. Calls to bring down what feminist theorist bell hooks (sic; her preferred spelling) calls the “ruling capitalist patriarchy” are alienating to most of them. To identify oneself as a feminist these days is to claim association with
History suggests women fare the best when the two movements—progressive and traditional—work together. What do we have today? The current women’s movement has devolved into a narrow, left-of-center, special interest group. The majority of women have been left behind. Freedom feminism combines aspects of both the egalitarian and maternal traditions. It shares with egalitarianism an aversion to prescribed gender roles: women should be free to defect from the stereotypes of femininity if they so choose. At the same time, it respects the choices of free and self-determining women when they choose to embrace conventional feminine roles. Freedom feminism stands for equality of opportunity but does not insist on equality of results.
But if you had a bell, would you ring it for freedom?
I developed this moderate alternative by studying the history of the women’s movement. Since its beginning in the 18th century, reformers have taken distinct positions on gender roles.
In a 2013 national poll on modern parenthood, the Pew Research Center asked mothers and fathers to identify their “ideal” working arrangement. Sixty-one percent of mothers said they would prefer to work part-time—or not at all. Fathers answered differently: 75 percent preferred full-time work.
Moms and Dads Differ. Who Knew? “Egalitarians” stressed the essential sameness of the sexes and sought to liberate women from conventional roles. By Catherine Hakim, a sociologist at the London School contrast, “maternal feminists” were not opposed to gender of Economics, got similar results when she studied the roles. They celebrated women’s contributions as wives preferences of women and men in Western Europe. and mothers. At the same time, they looked According to many in the contemporary for ways to give women greater respect and Can the rival women’s lobby, the female tendency to influence in the public sphere, as well as more give priority to the domestic sphere is just traditions protection from abuse and exploitation in the more evidence of entrenched sexism and home. internalized oppression. But what if it combine? represents authentic preference? Ms. Anthony, Meet Mrs. Roosevelt Nineteenth century suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were egalitarians; their rival and indispensable ally in the fight for the suffrage was the temperance leader Frances Willard, a staunch maternal feminist. Eleanor Roosevelt was also a life-long maternal feminist who saw men and women as equal but decidedly different. She referred to domestic life as women’s “first field of activity,” but when asked if a woman’s place is in the home, she responded, “It certainly is, but if she really cares about her home, that caring will take her far and wide.” Unlike its more radical sister, maternal feminism has always appealed to great majorities of women. After 40 years of consciousness-raising and gender-neutral pronouns, women remain far more likely to enter fields like teaching, child care, social work, cosmetology, nursing, pediatrics, and veterinary medicine. Men are far more likely to be engineers, auto mechanics, metallurgists, and construction workers. Are these trends the result of sex discrimination, hostile environments, or invisible barriers—as gender activists never tire of saying? Common sense and social science suggest otherwise. It appears that, in the pursuit of happiness, men and women take somewhat different paths. Freedom feminism respects abiding human aspiration.
CENTENNIAL REVIEW is published monthly by the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University. The authors’ views are not necessarily those of CCU. Designer, Bethany Applegate. Illustrator, Benjamin Hummel. Subscriptions free upon request. Write to: Centennial Institute, 8787 W. Alameda Ave., Lakewood, CO 80226. Call 800.44.FAITH. Or visit us online at www.CentennialCCU.org. Please join the Centennial Institute today. As a Centennial donor, you can help us restore America’s moral core and prepare tomorrow’s leaders. Your gift is tax-deductible. Please use the envelope provided. Thank you for your support. - John Andrews, Director
Scan this code with your smartphone to read this and previous issues online. Centennial Review, May 2014 ▪ 2
Venus and Mars persist.
In 2009, the American Psychological Association published an article entitled “Men and Things, Women and People: A Meta-analysis of Sex Differences in Interests.” The authors looked at data from dozens of studies on vocational interests and gender. They found that up to 82 percent of male respondents had a stronger interest in things-oriented careers than the average female. (Far more men than women, for example, said they were interested in jobs where they could manipulate objects, tools, and machines.) Seventy-five percent of females showed a stronger interest than the average man in what the researchers called “social professions”—fields that focus on understanding and helping
people. Clearly, these gender differences are driven by some yet-to-be understood interaction between culture and biology. Insisting that all women are from Venus and men from Mars is unfair to those who depart from the norms of their sex—but insisting that the norms themselves are illegitimate poses moral hazards of its own. Accept Women as They Are The authors of a 2008 study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that, across 55 widely varying countries, women tended to be more nurturing, riskaverse, and emotionally expressive while men were more competitive, reckless, and emotionally flat. Moreover, they found that gender differences were more pronounced in wealthy, free, opportunity-rich societies
Voi ces of CCU
THREE WOMEN REACT Editor: How does the “freedom feminism” idea outlined by Christina Hoff Sommers resonate with you? Melanie Sturm: Once discriminated against, women now possess the freedom to realize our individuality and unique potential. Whether motivated by maternal instincts or career goals, we can choose how best to pursue fulfilling and prosperous lives.
Sturm
Sturm: Like many ads, that’s just silly. Realizing there’s no utopia is a prerequisite to happiness. Society should recognize and support the fact that while the sexes are equal, they’re naturally different—and that’s beautiful. Editor: Looking out to 2050, what is your hope for the role of women in American life? Foster: Girls feel capable to pursue things that interest them. Young women understand their value is not in their physical appearance. Women of all ages know they are vital to America’s success at every level—family, community, business, politics, and religion. Sturm: My hope for women reflects my yearning for humanity—that we stop dividing society along gender, race, religious, or other sociopolitical lines. As Martin Luther King said, “We are caught in an inescapable garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Vecchio: I’ll cite Dr. King too, paraphrasing slightly: “I have a dream... that each person will be judged, not by the color of their skin or by their gender, but by the content of their character.” This cannot be dictated by government, or through litigation. Respect can only be earned, not legislated. Melanie Sturm is a businesswoman, newspaper columnist, and chair of Engage to Win, Centennial Institute’s persuasion project. Jill Vecchio, M.D. is a radiologist, talk show host, and Centennial Institute Fellow. Gillian Foster graduates from Colorado Christian University this month with a triple major in business administration, political science, and global studies, as well as four basketball letters.■
Centennial Institute
Colorado Christian University
Jill Vecchio: Working in a male-dominated field, I certainly agree the early feminist movement helped win opportunities for me that weren’t available before. But singling out one group over another divides society unnecessarily. Gillian Foster: Exactly. Radical feminism has lost its influence through divisiveness. Sommers’ approach is one from which women and men who aren’t immersed in feminist academia can really benefit. Editor: What’s your response to the old advertising slogan, “Why can’t a woman have it all?”
Vecchio
Vecchio: The notion that anyone should “have it all” only serves to set unattainable goals that no one can achieve. There are only 24 hours in a day, and so many days in our lives. We make choices based on individual aspirations and opportunity.
Foster
Foster: For women and men both, every decision has tradeoffs. To me, being happy simply means pursuing the things we value and accepting the downsides that come with our decisions.
Centennial Review, May 2014 ▪ 3
Centennial Review
May 2014
Centennial Institute
Colorado Christian University 8787 W. Alameda Ave. Lakewood, CO 80226
Return Service Requested
Freedom Feminism: Accept No Substitutes
Why view men and women as opposing tribes? Why not a feminism that stands for the moral, social, and legal equality of the sexes—and for women’s freedom to pursue happiness in their own distinctive ways? A reality-based, male-respecting, judicious feminism could greatly help women both here and around the world.
By Christina Hoff Sommers
■ Third, the geographic focus would shift from the United than in poorer, more constrained societies. The authors States to the developing world. Throughout Asia, Africa, speculate that prosperous, egalitarian nations afford greater and the Middle East, there are modern-day Elizabeth Cady opportunities for self-actualization. If they are right, then Stantons and Frances Willards fighting valiantly differences between male and female interests All women to improve the lives of women. They are asking and pursuits cannot be automatically chalked for our help. up to social conditioning, much less oppression. deserve The differences may simply be the result of History suggests that a coalition of conservative a voice. being freer to choose. and progressive women could be a powerful Twenty-first century feminism must learn to accept women as they are, not as they should be according to ideological specifications. Women are various. Some are as dedicated to careers as men, but most are not. Despite several decades of warnings and denunciations of traditional gender roles, domestic life remains a vital priority for millions of women. And no amount of consciousness-raising or cajoling has discouraged women from pursuing pink-collar jobs in the helping and caring professions. Although British comedic writer Caitlin Moran calls herself a “strident feminist,” parts of her funny book How to be a Woman capture the spirit of freedom feminism. She says feminism is “simply the belief that women should be as free as men, however nuts, dim, deluded, badly dressed, fat, receding, lazy, and smug they might be.” Three Beneficial Changes How would the women’s movement change if freedom feminism were its guiding philosophy? ■ First, gender gaps in wages, political leadership, and the professions would not automatically be taken as proof of discrimination. Freedom feminists allow that there could be innocent explanations for disparities. Instead, its focus would be on genuine injustice. ■ Second, the women’s lobby would muster the courage to address a root cause of poverty in America—missing fathers. Freedom feminists may well join their more progressive sisters in supporting initiatives to assist povertystricken single mothers; but the primary focus would be on combatting a dysfunctional culture of fatherlessness.
Centennial Review, May 2014 ▪ 4
force for change. In welcoming women from across the ideological spectrum, freedom feminism would build that formidable coalition. Take It Back, Sisters My advice to today’s young women: Take back feminism. Reform it and correct its excesses. Make it male-friendly. Insist that moderate and conservative feminists be given a voice.
Most of all, make common cause with women across the globe who are struggling for their basic freedoms. Supporting truly oppressed women would give today’s Western feminism something it has lacked for many years: a contemporary purpose worthy of its illustrious past. ■
This Summer in Colorado:
“America at Its Best”
WESTERN CONSERVATIVE SUMMIT 2014
Michele Bachmann
With Michele Bachmann, Jim DeMint, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt & many more
Groups of 5 or more save 20% www.westernconservativesummit.com 888.816.9014
July 18-20, 2014 Hyatt Regency Denver
is eg R
t
Principled Ideas from the Centennial Institute Volume 8, Number 5 • May 2014
Publisher, William L. Armstrong Editor, John Andrews
FREEDOM FEMINISM: ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES
By Christina Hoff Sommers When asked “Are you a feminist?” most Americans say no. A recent Huffington Post/YouGov poll is typical: Only 23 percent of women and 16 percent of men identified as “feminist.” Accomplished women as diverse as Taylor Swift, Sandra Day O’Connor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marissa Mayer, and Beyoncé
a dire worldview. So most women, and even more men, have run for cover. Though the major battles for equality and opportunity have been fought and largely won, the work of feminism remains unfinished. Across the globe, fledgling women’s groups struggle to survive in the face of genuine and often violent oppression. In the West, popular culture still does contain strong elements of misogyny. Women, far more than men, struggle with the challenge of combining work and family. Despite women’s immense progress, the poverty rolls consist mainly of women with children. Reality, Anyone?
Who needs feminism? We do. The world does. But an effective women’s movement needs to be rescued from its current outcast state. Put bluntly, feminism is too object to the designation. important to be left to feminists. Anyone who cares about Yet the emancipation of women under the banner of improving the status of women around the world should feminism is one of the glories of Western be demanding a women’s movement that civilization and one of the great chapters in Let’s rescue actually resonates with women. the history of freedom. Why has the banner the women’s A reality-based, male-respecting, judicious lost its allure? feminism could greatly help women both in Dire Worldview movement. the United States and throughout the world. I call it “freedom feminism.” Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, blames the media for unfairly Freedom feminism stands for the moral, social, and legal portraying feminists as “unhappy, angry, humorless.” But equality of the sexes—and the freedom of women to are these stereotypes really unfounded? Consider this 2010 employ their equal status to pursue happiness in their own pronouncement from feminist blogger Jessica Valenti: distinctive ways. Freedom feminism is not at war with femininity or masculinity, and it does not view men and We have no problem condemning atrocities done to women as opposing tribes.
women abroad, yet too many of us in the United States ignore the oppression on our doorstep. We’re suffering under the mass delusion that women in America have achieved equality … Part of this unwillingness to see misogyny in America could be self-protection—perhaps the truth is too scary to face.
Theories of universal patriarchal oppression are not in its founding tablets. Nor are partisan litmus tests: It welcomes women and men from across the political spectrum. Put simply, freedom feminism affirms for women what it affirms for everyone: dignity, fairness, and personal liberty.
Christina Hoff Sommers, a former philosophy professor, is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Her books include Who Stole Feminism?, The War Against Boys, and Freedom Feminism: Its Surprising History and Why it Matters Today (AEI Press). An abridged version of this essay appeared in The Atlantic. Centennial Institute sponsors research, events, and publications to enhance public understanding of the most important issues facing our state and nation. By proclaiming Truth, we aim to foster faith, family, and freedom, teach citizenship, and renew the spirit of 1776.
Women of all persuasions want their basic rights, but most American women do not think of themselves as being in thrall to a mass delusion, held down by a system of global oppression. Calls to bring down what feminist theorist bell hooks (sic; her preferred spelling) calls the “ruling capitalist patriarchy” are alienating to most of them. To identify oneself as a feminist these days is to claim association with
History suggests women fare the best when the two movements—progressive and traditional—work together. What do we have today? The current women’s movement has devolved into a narrow, left-of-center, special interest group. The majority of women have been left behind. Freedom feminism combines aspects of both the egalitarian and maternal traditions. It shares with egalitarianism an aversion to prescribed gender roles: women should be free to defect from the stereotypes of femininity if they so choose. At the same time, it respects the choices of free and self-determining women when they choose to embrace conventional feminine roles. Freedom feminism stands for equality of opportunity but does not insist on equality of results.
But if you had a bell, would you ring it for freedom?
I developed this moderate alternative by studying the history of the women’s movement. Since its beginning in the 18th century, reformers have taken distinct positions on gender roles.
In a 2013 national poll on modern parenthood, the Pew Research Center asked mothers and fathers to identify their “ideal” working arrangement. Sixty-one percent of mothers said they would prefer to work part-time—or not at all. Fathers answered differently: 75 percent preferred full-time work.
Moms and Dads Differ. Who Knew? “Egalitarians” stressed the essential sameness of the sexes and sought to liberate women from conventional roles. By Catherine Hakim, a sociologist at the London School contrast, “maternal feminists” were not opposed to gender of Economics, got similar results when she studied the roles. They celebrated women’s contributions as wives preferences of women and men in Western Europe. and mothers. At the same time, they looked According to many in the contemporary for ways to give women greater respect and Can the rival women’s lobby, the female tendency to influence in the public sphere, as well as more give priority to the domestic sphere is just traditions protection from abuse and exploitation in the more evidence of entrenched sexism and home. internalized oppression. But what if it combine? represents authentic preference? Ms. Anthony, Meet Mrs. Roosevelt Nineteenth century suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were egalitarians; their rival and indispensable ally in the fight for the suffrage was the temperance leader Frances Willard, a staunch maternal feminist. Eleanor Roosevelt was also a life-long maternal feminist who saw men and women as equal but decidedly different. She referred to domestic life as women’s “first field of activity,” but when asked if a woman’s place is in the home, she responded, “It certainly is, but if she really cares about her home, that caring will take her far and wide.” Unlike its more radical sister, maternal feminism has always appealed to great majorities of women. After 40 years of consciousness-raising and gender-neutral pronouns, women remain far more likely to enter fields like teaching, child care, social work, cosmetology, nursing, pediatrics, and veterinary medicine. Men are far more likely to be engineers, auto mechanics, metallurgists, and construction workers. Are these trends the result of sex discrimination, hostile environments, or invisible barriers—as gender activists never tire of saying? Common sense and social science suggest otherwise. It appears that, in the pursuit of happiness, men and women take somewhat different paths. Freedom feminism respects abiding human aspiration.
CENTENNIAL REVIEW is published monthly by the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University. The authors’ views are not necessarily those of CCU. Designer, Bethany Applegate. Illustrator, Benjamin Hummel. Subscriptions free upon request. Write to: Centennial Institute, 8787 W. Alameda Ave., Lakewood, CO 80226. Call 800.44.FAITH. Or visit us online at www.CentennialCCU.org. Please join the Centennial Institute today. As a Centennial donor, you can help us restore America’s moral core and prepare tomorrow’s leaders. Your gift is tax-deductible. Please use the envelope provided. Thank you for your support. - John Andrews, Director
Scan this code with your smartphone to read this and previous issues online. Centennial Review, May 2014 ▪ 2
Venus and Mars persist.
In 2009, the American Psychological Association published an article entitled “Men and Things, Women and People: A Meta-analysis of Sex Differences in Interests.” The authors looked at data from dozens of studies on vocational interests and gender. They found that up to 82 percent of male respondents had a stronger interest in things-oriented careers than the average female. (Far more men than women, for example, said they were interested in jobs where they could manipulate objects, tools, and machines.) Seventy-five percent of females showed a stronger interest than the average man in what the researchers called “social professions”—fields that focus on understanding and helping
people. Clearly, these gender differences are driven by some yet-to-be understood interaction between culture and biology. Insisting that all women are from Venus and men from Mars is unfair to those who depart from the norms of their sex—but insisting that the norms themselves are illegitimate poses moral hazards of its own. Accept Women as They Are The authors of a 2008 study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that, across 55 widely varying countries, women tended to be more nurturing, riskaverse, and emotionally expressive while men were more competitive, reckless, and emotionally flat. Moreover, they found that gender differences were more pronounced in wealthy, free, opportunity-rich societies
Voi ces of CCU
THREE WOMEN REACT Editor: How does the “freedom feminism” idea outlined by Christina Hoff Sommers resonate with you? Melanie Sturm: Once discriminated against, women now possess the freedom to realize our individuality and unique potential. Whether motivated by maternal instincts or career goals, we can choose how best to pursue fulfilling and prosperous lives.
Sturm
Sturm: Like many ads, that’s just silly. Realizing there’s no utopia is a prerequisite to happiness. Society should recognize and support the fact that while the sexes are equal, they’re naturally different—and that’s beautiful. Editor: Looking out to 2050, what is your hope for the role of women in American life? Foster: Girls feel capable to pursue things that interest them. Young women understand their value is not in their physical appearance. Women of all ages know they are vital to America’s success at every level—family, community, business, politics, and religion. Sturm: My hope for women reflects my yearning for humanity—that we stop dividing society along gender, race, religious, or other sociopolitical lines. As Martin Luther King said, “We are caught in an inescapable garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Vecchio: I’ll cite Dr. King too, paraphrasing slightly: “I have a dream... that each person will be judged, not by the color of their skin or by their gender, but by the content of their character.” This cannot be dictated by government, or through litigation. Respect can only be earned, not legislated. Melanie Sturm is a businesswoman, newspaper columnist, and chair of Engage to Win, Centennial Institute’s persuasion project. Jill Vecchio, M.D. is a radiologist, talk show host, and Centennial Institute Fellow. Gillian Foster graduates from Colorado Christian University this month with a triple major in business administration, political science, and global studies, as well as four basketball letters.■
Centennial Institute
Colorado Christian University
Jill Vecchio: Working in a male-dominated field, I certainly agree the early feminist movement helped win opportunities for me that weren’t available before. But singling out one group over another divides society unnecessarily. Gillian Foster: Exactly. Radical feminism has lost its influence through divisiveness. Sommers’ approach is one from which women and men who aren’t immersed in feminist academia can really benefit. Editor: What’s your response to the old advertising slogan, “Why can’t a woman have it all?”
Vecchio
Vecchio: The notion that anyone should “have it all” only serves to set unattainable goals that no one can achieve. There are only 24 hours in a day, and so many days in our lives. We make choices based on individual aspirations and opportunity.
Foster
Foster: For women and men both, every decision has tradeoffs. To me, being happy simply means pursuing the things we value and accepting the downsides that come with our decisions.
Centennial Review, May 2014 ▪ 3
Centennial Review
May 2014
Centennial Institute
Colorado Christian University 8787 W. Alameda Ave. Lakewood, CO 80226
Return Service Requested
Freedom Feminism: Accept No Substitutes
Why view men and women as opposing tribes? Why not a feminism that stands for the moral, social, and legal equality of the sexes—and for women’s freedom to pursue happiness in their own distinctive ways? A reality-based, male-respecting, judicious feminism could greatly help women both here and around the world.
By Christina Hoff Sommers
■ Third, the geographic focus would shift from the United than in poorer, more constrained societies. The authors States to the developing world. Throughout Asia, Africa, speculate that prosperous, egalitarian nations afford greater and the Middle East, there are modern-day Elizabeth Cady opportunities for self-actualization. If they are right, then Stantons and Frances Willards fighting valiantly differences between male and female interests All women to improve the lives of women. They are asking and pursuits cannot be automatically chalked for our help. up to social conditioning, much less oppression. deserve The differences may simply be the result of History suggests that a coalition of conservative a voice. being freer to choose. and progressive women could be a powerful Twenty-first century feminism must learn to accept women as they are, not as they should be according to ideological specifications. Women are various. Some are as dedicated to careers as men, but most are not. Despite several decades of warnings and denunciations of traditional gender roles, domestic life remains a vital priority for millions of women. And no amount of consciousness-raising or cajoling has discouraged women from pursuing pink-collar jobs in the helping and caring professions. Although British comedic writer Caitlin Moran calls herself a “strident feminist,” parts of her funny book How to be a Woman capture the spirit of freedom feminism. She says feminism is “simply the belief that women should be as free as men, however nuts, dim, deluded, badly dressed, fat, receding, lazy, and smug they might be.” Three Beneficial Changes How would the women’s movement change if freedom feminism were its guiding philosophy? ■ First, gender gaps in wages, political leadership, and the professions would not automatically be taken as proof of discrimination. Freedom feminists allow that there could be innocent explanations for disparities. Instead, its focus would be on genuine injustice. ■ Second, the women’s lobby would muster the courage to address a root cause of poverty in America—missing fathers. Freedom feminists may well join their more progressive sisters in supporting initiatives to assist povertystricken single mothers; but the primary focus would be on combatting a dysfunctional culture of fatherlessness.
Centennial Review, May 2014 ▪ 4
force for change. In welcoming women from across the ideological spectrum, freedom feminism would build that formidable coalition. Take It Back, Sisters My advice to today’s young women: Take back feminism. Reform it and correct its excesses. Make it male-friendly. Insist that moderate and conservative feminists be given a voice.
Most of all, make common cause with women across the globe who are struggling for their basic freedoms. Supporting truly oppressed women would give today’s Western feminism something it has lacked for many years: a contemporary purpose worthy of its illustrious past. ■
This Summer in Colorado:
“America at Its Best”
WESTERN CONSERVATIVE SUMMIT 2014
Michele Bachmann
With Michele Bachmann, Jim DeMint, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt & many more
Groups of 5 or more save 20% www.westernconservativesummit.com 888.816.9014
July 18-20, 2014 Hyatt Regency Denver
