Conservative Feminism: Truly Empowering Women

Miss USA 2014, Nia Sanchez (Nevada), just so happens to be a fourth-degree black belt in taekwondo, and liberal feminists are not too happy about it. Cosmo editor Elisa Benson responded with this tweet: “I get that the college sexual assault problem can't be solved in 30 secs but still icky to pretend like self defense is the answer.” The Huffington Post’s very own Mandy Velez (editor) tweeted: “Let's hope Nevada uses her media tour to reiterate that teaching girls self defense is NOT the best way to protect against assault.” This is not a new conversation. In 2013, Zerlina Maxwell wrote: “I think that the entire conversation is wrong. I don’t want anybody to be telling women anything. I don’t want men to be telling me what to wear and how to act, not to drink. And I don’t, honestly, want you to tell me that I needed a gun in order to prevent my rape. In my case, don’t tell me if I’d only had a gun, I wouldn’t have been raped. Don’t put it on me to prevent the rape.” Feminists seem obsessed with every possible detail around perceived male dominance when it comes to gentlemanly manners, as told by Paloma Phelps, an intern for Feminists Organized to Resist, Create, and Empower:

It’s problematic because the revival of chivalry seems to only consist of baseless acts of kindness that are meant to affirm a woman’s place as less capable and [more] fragile,” The article quoting her asserts that practices like “…holding open doors, lending a jacket to a friend who is cold or giving up a seat on the bus for someone who needs it more. It still implies that the practitioner is a noble “gentleman,” and because men are practicing chivalry toward women, the concept places them in a superior position. Yet, as described above, these same women find it utterly insulting to suggest a woman have the basic skill and confidence to defend herself against an attacker. Feminism was conceived to empower women and create a sense of independence from men. Instead of relying on a husband for all of your needs, you could simply provide for yourself. Conservative women like Dana Loesch, Katie Pavlich, Michelle Malkin, Mia Love, and many more effortlessly display this mindset in action daily. These women stand firm entirely on their own ideas and voices and illustrate true and natural female empowerment. World shooting champion, hunter, Army veteran, mother, author, and Smith & Wesson team captain Julie Golob, discussing gun ownership for women, states: I find it hypocritical because we tell women that you know, you have control of your bodies, you have the right to say and do everything, you are equal but in this [gun ownership], you’re not, you don’t need that. It’s so condescending and such an insulting concept. Instead we should be saying, ‘Do what you want. Be responsible, be safe but if you want to do this or try this or be strong an independent, you can do that. Liberals are frantically shouting about “rape culture” and attempting to enforce a concept known as “the culture of consent.” A California law, SB 967, calls for verbal or written consent to sex on college campuses as a way to “change the equation so the system is not stacked against survivors by establishing an affirmative consent policy to make it clear that only 'yes' means 'yes.'" A feminist magazine called FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture released a guide to consent, presumably to fulfill the now clichéd demand by feminists to “teach boys not to rape.” The magazine features “Consent Condoms” and proposed “ending survivor silence” by hosting a sexy underwear campaign which involved both boys and girls publicly displaying said underwear. As stated: “College students are the best people to teach other college students about how enthusiastic, consensual sex is the best sex.” It seems that the very same Zerlina Maxwell so offended that anyone would tell women “what to do” is enthusiastic about doing the exact same thing to men in an article titled "5 Ways We Can Teach Men Not to Rape." The theme is clear. The #YesAllWomen Twitter hashtag provides a live feed of modern feminist views, and it essentially is all the same: women are helpless against the will of men, who are socially engineered to oppress, harass, and rape them, and women must rely on men to change their views and behavior so they can be safe. Under the guise of “empowerment,” liberal feminists have taken every measure possible to effectively make women powerless in our society. The idea that women should not be prepared to defend themselves against an attack because they shouldn’t have to be in the situation in the first place is remarkably irresponsible. Predators exist despite a culture’s best efforts, and evil is simply a fact. The argument is emotional and, like the majority of liberal thinking, utterly absurd. When being mugged, how effective is it to indignantly point out to the mugger that you refuse to defend yourself because he should not be mugging you in the first place? The mind-numbing assertion that men, in general, somehow do not recognize that rape is wrong is a level of willful ignorance that merely perpetuates real sexism and fear toward men. If feminists’ plan is to cross their arms and refuse to learn self-defense because they “shouldn’t have to,” there will always be more victims. Ironically, it is the very gentlemanly mores that feminists fight so hard against that are the true solution to the issue. Men in our culture were taught to respect women, to not see them as mere sexual objects, and to treat them with special appreciation before feminists decided it was “sexism” and dismantled the entire system. But the most relevant perspective here comes largely from conservative women. Conservative women are successful, safe, and empowered not in spite of men’s continued “embrace of sexism”; they are so because they choose not to allow it to affect their lives. They do not define themselves by what men do or do not think. They protect themselves and view the world rationally, which requires said protection. They have the ability to trust men naturally in their environment because they are self-assured enough not to be afraid of what the men might do or say. They are not victims hoping for some grand social shift that will allow them to both carry their own heavy bags and never face sexual assault again. Conservatism teaches independence. At the very core, we are responsible for ourselves, and women who understand that simply do not need feminism to define or protect them. Liberals have raised a generation of boys they cannot control and girls who are afraid to go outside. Conservatives have raised a generation of boys and girls who think for themselves, take rational precautions, and simply do not spend a lifetime drowning in endless social theories that do little but perpetuate the same problems over and over. We fight to keep people protected, enforce strict punishments for criminals, and maintain our natural rights free from constant regulation. Fortunately, we have strong conservative women to remind us that despite the Left’s best efforts, no one is a victim when she can take care of herself. Chad Felix Greene (@Chadfelixg) is an author of Jewish children’s books, nonfiction, and social commentary. www.chadfelixgreene.com