“Radical Feminism is, and has always been a political movement focused on liberating girls and women, those who are born into the sex caste female, from the unnatural, yet universal roles patriarchy has assigned.”

— Radicalmamaw.tumblr.com, July 26, 2014

“Women who are sane, normal and happy do not become feminists, because such women do not need feminism.”

— Robert Stacy McCain, Aug. 25, 2014

One of the things you recognize, if you pay close attention to feminist rhetoric, is how the “patriarchy” or “male supremacy” — and other concepts like “misogyny,” “the beauty myth,” etc. — function as all-purpose scapegoats for whatever any woman may be unhappy about.

We could revisit the original skepticism that confronted feminists after the rise of the Women’s Liberation movement in the late 1960s. Feminism arose within the extreme fringe of the New Left, and a majority of American women emphatically rejected this crypto-Marxist movement’s attack on marriage, motherhood and Christian morality. Whatever the dissatisfaction women might have felt with their lives, most American women were aware that they were living in the most free and prosperous society in human history. The radicalism of Kate Millett and Shulamith Firestone was directly hostile to the beliefs and interests of most women and this is still true today. The American woman views herself as an individual, not as a member of a collective “sex-caste” (to borrow the Marxist jargon of radical feminism) and she not only rejects feminism’s claim of collective female victimhood, she also rejects the claim of collective male guilt that feminists imply by reference to “patriarchy” and “male supremacy.”

We could revisit the arguments of the 1960s and ’70s — were my mother and aunts and grandmother oppressed by the patriarchy? — but this is not 1975. No, it’s 2015, and we now live in a society that has been changed by more than four decades of feminist “progress.” Because of societal changes, young women in 2015 have new problems that are not the same as the problems that were the original grievances of feminists circa 1968. And many of the problems experienced by young women today are arguably caused by feminism’s “success.” If feminism is the cause of your problems, the solution is not more feminism. Let me quote one young feminist’s complaint:

“i wish men understood that when women are talking about feminism and rape culture and sh–t, it’s not just a political conversation. it’s not about being a ‘social justice warrior’ or whatever. it’s about our actual lives being shaped by misogyny since childhood, and the daily reality of living in fear of violence. this isn’t a f–king game or philosophical debate. this is our f–king lives.”

The author of that colorful prose identifies herself on Tumblr.com as “Kina Penelope, gay femme fairy, writer, traveler, feminist, college student living in WA.” If she is a college student, she is about 20 years old, which means that Kina was born circa 1995. What was the “misogyny” that shaped her life since childhood? Who is responsible for the “fear of violence” she confronts as a college student in Washington State? How does a “gay femme fairy” experience “rape culture”? Why can’t she be bothered to capitalize properly?

We are now six years into the presidency of Barack Obama. During the 20 years or so of Kina Penelope’s young life, Democrats have controlled the White House for 12 years. She may say that “talking about feminism” is “not just a political conversation,” but it was feminists who declared the personal is political. If she is merely talking about her own personal problems, or the personal problems of women in general — “our f–king lives” — without any political purpose, is this really feminism at all? Or is it just unhappy women complaining because they are unhappy?

Many of the social pressures that cause young women’s unhappiness in 2015 are clearly caused by the tension between the careerist pressures of liberal feminism — the striving ambition to “have it all” — and their own psychological need for a more traditional womanhood.

That is to say, most women don’t identify as a “gay femme fairy.”

Most young women would like to find a man who loves them, a man who wants to marry them, a man who is willing and able to provide them with a better life than a woman can have by herself.

No matter how much satisfaction she obtains from career achievement, she needs (and no, “need” is not too strong a word for her profound psychological urge) to have the love and support of a man. She wants babies. She wants to find a strong man, a masculine man who loves her so much that he is willing, for her sake, to shoulder the responsibilities inherent in the titles “husband” and “father.”

Feminism is not the solution to that young woman’s problem.

If you are a normal young woman — desiring a life that includes men, marriage and motherhood — you need to recognize how modern feminism is directly hostile to your own self-interest.

Feminism is a formula for unhappiness, an ideology conceived by unhappy women who were unwilling to take responsibility for their own unhappiness. Instead they promoted a false crypto-Marxist worldview in which all men oppress all women. This belief — feminism’s Big Lie — is how unhappy women justify their envy-driven attacks on the actual sources of happiness in other women’s lives.

Confusion about what “feminism” means leads women to embrace this label, and to consume the feminist movement’s rhetoric without skepticism. It is very easy for any unhappy woman to internalize feminism’s resentments and hostility toward male sexuality, an attitude I have described as “Fear and Loathing of the Penis.” There is also a tendency in feminist rhetoric to blame women’s problems on “society,” so that women are encouraged to develop anti-social attitudes, to feel a self-pitying sense of humiliation in the ordinary hassles of everyday life. Here is another woman’s complaint on Tumblr.com:

Don’t eat too much, don’t eat too little. Don’t be fat, don’t be too skinny. God do you ever stop eating? Woah do you ever eat? The not-so-well-concealed looks of disgust, the not-so-well-concealed looks of concern.

Don’t be loud. Don’t be quiet. Have a voice in society, leave the talking to the big boys. You want something, speak up! No, no, when it’s your turn, sweetie. Ugh, she never shuts up, it’s obnoxious. Have you ever heard her talk? I don’t even know what her voice sounds like.

Make sure your skirt is long enough, but not too long. Don’t make yourself too available, but you don’t want to look like a grandma. Show off what you got, but if you do it’s your fault if anything happens. Was your skirt long enough? How is any boy going to look at you if you wear that?

Have sex, but stay innocent. Give us what we want, but we hate sluts. Virgins are so sweet. What do you mean you want to stay abstinent until marriage? Do you even live in our society? Live without sex is boring. Life with sex is disgusting. God, have you seen her? She’s banged every guy in the school. God, have you seen her? Still a virgin at her age.

Be smart, but not too smart. Boys like a smarter girl. Boys can’t stand it when you know more than them. Play dumb. Ugh, not that dumb, god, weren’t you even listening? They like a smarter girl. No, no, now you just look like a nerd. Girls don’t belong in the classroom, they have to take care of the kids. You want a well-paying job? Take some incentive and study. You can’t slack off because your a girl.

Do what you love, but don’t. Be yourself, unless it goes against what we say. Do you love to do your hair and makeup? Great, you’re good to go. Approved. Do you love videogames and guns? You’re faking it. You’re lying. You’re pretending. You’re wrong

Who is telling her these things? Who are these hyper-critical voices the woman hears, constantly reminding her of her own inadequacy, so that she feels wrong no matter what she does?

Satan is the Father of Lies (John 8:43-45). Satan is the false accuser (Revelation 12:9-11). Satan constantly tells us lies about ourselves and lies about God. If you listen to that satanic voice, you will drive yourself crazy, because the lies are contradictory. Satan will tell you whatever you want to believe, whatever it takes to destroy you. Satan will tell you that your sins are so wicked that God cannot possibly love you. Then Satan will tell you there is no such thing as sin. Satan will tell you that good is evil, and evil is good, and that you should do evil because that will make you happier than doing good. Most of all, Satan tells us to reject God’s law, to instead make our own judgment of right and wrong.

This was the original lie of history: “Ye shall be as gods!”

“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil . . . I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”

— Deuteronomy 30:15, 19 (KJV)

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron . . .”

— I Timothy 4:1-2 (KJV)

Maybe you didn’t expect a sermon when you started reading this, but I didn’t plan to preach a sermon when I started writing it, either. Sometimes it’s like these things just start writing themselves.

The truth is still the truth. Satan is still a liar. If we cannot tell the difference between truth and lies, there is no hope for any of us.

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What You Can Do

Did you find this article informative and useful? Why don’t you copy it in an e-mail and send it to your friends, family or church members? You can also e-mail it to your favorite local or national talk radio host. Also, you can help spread the word by sharing it via Twitter or posting it to Facebook. Thanks in advance for your help, and I am always deeply grateful for contributions through PayPal ($5, $10, whatever) as support and encouragement. — RSM











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