feminism
Return
to Common Sense
March 10, 2010
Section: Domestic – Feminism
“Sexual equality has been achieved, but feminists try to justify
further actions based on dis-proven studies, which
has its own unintended consequence of inability to achieve unrealistic expectations.”
Philosophy (Background, Issues,
Objectives):
Feminism
has achieved its goal of equal opportunity
- Feminism progressed through three
stages:
o Stage 1: destroyed the “feminine
mystique” and opened up careers to women.
o Stage 2: divergent visions of
stay-at-home mothers vs. working mothers.
o Stage 3: comfort balancing femininity
and toghness.
·
There
have been two major schools of thought within the women’s movement: egalitarian
feminism and social feminism:
o Egalitarian feminists were radicals that held
that men and women, although socialized to different roles, are identical in
their essential natures. By appealing to principles of social justice and
universal rights, egalitarians sought to liberate women from the private sphere
of the home—into the public spheres of politics, business, and work.
o
Social
feminists were traditionalist, family-centered, embraced women’s roles as
mothers or caregivers, and promoted women’s rights by redefining and
strengthening those roles. Social feminists argued that an empowered femininity
could be a force for good and made common cause with the egalitarians in
promoting women’s education, suffrage, and participation in the culture
and politics.
- For every 100 women who earn a
bachelor’s degree, just 73 men get one.
o Today’s colleges are 57% female.
o Women are now fully represented in
law, medicine, and science.
- Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math (STEM) studies gender equity in academia.
- STEM has threatened Title IX
federal financial assistance sanctions to enforce non-existent gender
diversity requirements.
- Disciplines where females are
not proportionately represented are by personal choice.
- Women have broken glass ceilings
in industry and the public sector.
o When pay is normalized for
experience and job conditions, women earn same or more than men.
o Women are “off-ramping” to take time off for children, returning with
minimal career damage.
- In 1970’s
the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was defeated as unneeded and overkill.
o ERA will be used to protect not only
women, but homosexuals and transgendered.
o In 2004 one in five women in their
early 40s are childless, down from one in ten in 1976.
o In 2004 67.2% of women were married,
down from 88% in 1960.
- Women now suffer depression at
twice the rate of men as women are unable to achieve unrealistic feminist
dreams.
Feminist
movement has become out of touch: anti-male, anti-child, anti-family, and
anti-feminine.
- National Organization of Women
(NOW) has become an ideological dinosaur that has divided:
o One faction is radical “gender feminists” who are
anti-male and pro-socialist.
o One faction is equity feminists who
embrace equality and individual rights.
o NOW is not focused on the problems of
the mainstream woman and jobs and family.
o NOW is mesmerized by lesbian rights,
radical chic, and the politics of victimization.
o Friedan, Smeal,
Steinem etc. have made a living fanning the perception of feminism.
- Violence Against
Women Act (VAWA) Mafia has banded together to suppress politically
incorrect evidence that does not support women as victims:
o
§
Follow-
up surveys conducted over the next 20 years confirmed the gender-equal results
in his original research.
§
When other researchers studied homosexual relationships,
lesbians were found to have the highest rates of partner aggression.
o
o
o Erin Pizzey’s
book “Prone to Violence”
revealed women are often as physically aggressive as their mates.
- Casual sex has resulted in a
number of unintended consequences:
o Casual sex impairs the ability to
establish a lasting emotional bond.
o Casual sex leaves young people alone
and lonely.
o The so-called “sexual revolution” has produced
dramatic increases in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
College
Women’s Studies programs have degenerated into a victimology
program.
- Program content favors
consciousness raising exercises and self exploration.
o Women’s Studies programs are
unabashedly political and intermingled with the feminist movement.
- Women’s Studies focus on
convincing women they are victims, under an oppressive societal structure.
o Programs tend to be anti-marriage,
anti-family, anti-male in content.
o Equal pay statistics are quoted,
despite the underlying life style choice variations.
o Vagina Monologue is an ultra-feminist play that has
stirred controversy wherever it is shown.
- Ms Magazine commissioned a study
to prove high incidence of campus rape.
o
o Rape victimization was computed to be
25%, which is refuted by study participants.
Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was
adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly and initiated in 1981 after
ratification by 20 member states.
·
CEDAW
contains many points that mirror America's efforts to promote equal
opportunity for women.
o
It
poses many problems for America's federalist system of government and the
rights established in the U.S. Constitution.
o
Many
of the issues with which CEDAW concerns itself, such as access to health care
and education, belong under the purview of state or local jurisdiction in the
U.S. constitutional order.
·
CEDAW
requires national governments to work toward eliminating gender-based
discrimination in every area of life, using this expansive definition of
discrimination against women:
o
Furthermore,
countries that have ratified CEDAW are evaluated based on their compliance with
CEDAW by the CEDAW Committee, which meets at the UN several times a year.
o
The
committee consistently oversteps its mandate, acting as a quasi-judicial body
issuing forceful instructions to countries that often do not share its radical
social agenda, and committee meetings inevitably serve as a forum for
reinterpreting the terms agreed upon by the treaty members.
·
CEDAW
is an ineffective and inappropriate instrument for advancing women's rights
around the world.
o
In the case of American women, their freedom
and personal dignity are best protected by the U.S. Constitution and the rule
of law it establishes.
Principles:
Sexual
equality has basically been achieved, and any exceptions are being prosecuted.
- Discrimination in all its
variations is an abomination, and must be prosecuted.
- Refuse to be a victim, take
responsibility for yourself.
Recommendations:
Vigorously
enforce existing equal rights laws with all resources at our disposal.
- Eliminate all sexual
classifications not justified by a compelling government interest.
- Rewrite Violence Against Women Act and Victims of Crime Act to be gender-neutral.
Eliminate
feminist programs in colleges as an anachronism and a waste of academic rigor.
References:
“The Death of Right and Wrong” by
Tammy Bruce published by Prima Publishing, 2003.
“Manliness” by Harvey C. Mansfield
published by Yale University Press, 2006.
“The trouble with feminism” by John
Leo dated
“Sic Transit Gloria Steinem (Attack of the Feminoids)” by Norman Liebmann
dated
“Why Feminism is AWOL on Islam” by
Kay S. Hymowitz dated
“Why I don’t take feminists seriously,
Part I” by Mike S.
“Why I don’t take feminists seriously,
Part II” by Mike S.
“Why I don’t take feminists seriously,
Part III” by Mike S.
“Why I don’t take feminists seriously,
Part IV” by Mike S.
“Why I don’t take feminists seriously,
Part V” by Mike S.
“Why I don’t take feminists seriously,
Part VI” by Mike S.
“Why I don’t take feminists seriously,
Part VII” by Mike S.
“Why Congress Should Ignore Radical Feminist
Opposition to Marriage” by
Patrick Fagan, Robert E. Rector, and Lauren R. Noyes dated June 16, 2003
published by The Heritage Foundation at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/bg1662.cfm
.
“The Feminist Furor Has Finally Passed”
by Nathan Tabor dated
“Where the Boys Aren’t” by
Christina Hoff Sommers dated
“What’s in a Word?” by
Florence King dated
“Academic Frauds” by Carrie Lukas
dated
“16 Days of Activism:
“The Singles Without Bliss” by
Suzanne Fields dated
“Women Are Not Oppressed” by
Bernard Chapin dated
“Forcing Girls to Cheer for Girls”
by Dennis Prager dated
“Post Super Bowl Feminism” by
Bernard Chapin dated
“Love and the Good Life” by
Jennifer Roback Morse dated
“Senate Republicans should fend off U.N.
feminist treaty” by Phyllis Schlafly dated
“Off-ramping: Women jumping off the career
track” by Janice Shaw Crouse dated
“Is Feminism Finished?” by Jennifer
Roback Morse dated
“The Return of the Women’s Equality
Amendment” by Ashley Herzog dated
“Equal Pay Day Was in February” by
Carrie Lukas dated
“Stay-at-home Economics” by Megan
Basham dated
“Why Feminists Fear Fathers” by
Kevin McCullough dated
“Challenging Feminist Orthodoxy” by
Colleen Carroll Campbell dated
“Rallying Boys to a ‘Dangerous’
Standard of Normalcy” by Ross Mackenzie dated
“Constitutional Amendment to Protect the
Transgendered?” by Deborah Weiss dated
“What campus rape crisis” by
Heather MacDonald dated
“Why Can’t a Woman Be More Like a Man?”
by Christina Hoff Sommers dated March/April 2008
published by The American Magazine at http://www.american.com/archive/2008/march-april-magazine-contents/why-can2019t-a-woman-be-more-like-a-man
.
“Why Are So Many Women Depressed? Part I”
by Dennis Prager dated
“The Intellectual Perversion of the VAWA
Mafia” by Carey Roberts dated
“The Left’s Gender Wage Lies”
by Jessica Peck Curry dated
“Straight Talk About Casual Sex” by
Janice Shaw Crouse dated
“The glass ceiling in women’s heads”
by Camilla Cavendish dated
“A Face-Off for the Future” by Suzanne Fields dated
“Drum Roll! The Winner of the
2008 Award for Political Incorrectness is… “
by Carey Roberts dated December 31, 2008 published by American Daily at http://www.americandaily.com/article/23782
.
“UN-Invited Influence” by Garace Melton dated January 12, 2009 published by Front
Page Magazine at http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=487CDEF1-CCEB-470E-9194-BDD4F98AB370
.
“Take Back Feminism” by Christina
Hoff Sommers dated March 9, 2010 published by Clare
Booth Luce Policy Institute at http://www.aei.org/docLib/101SommersTakeBackFeminism.pdf
.
