Feminism fights to harm men.
My opponent agreed that feminism fights to harm men in their point 2. Gender equality by definition harms men, women,
families and society. The bottom line, says Venker, is that, "Feminism has sabotaged women's happiness." Worse, she adds, it's flipped male-female relationships
upside down. Just one example: Men more than ever are seeking love, marriage and kids
while women want independence. As Schlafly's niece, Venker grew up seeing an alternative
view to mainstream feminists views on TV and in the media. Now as a mother in Missouri,
she's trying to help her aunt highlight what conservatives feel is wrong with feminism
and to build a new understanding between men and women. The book is controversial,
especially in liberal circles, for lines like this: "Unfortunately, once feminism
came along, women abandoned their pedestal in droves and decided they wanted to share
the man's pedestal with him. They claimed they wanted both sexes on the same pedestal
to represent equality and prove men and women are the same. Instead, they found themselves
in conflict. Since there isn't enough room on a pedestal for both of them, feminists
pushed men off to make room for themselves." She added, "That's not equality. That's
matriarchy." On sex: "Sex is a problem, too. More and more wives today say they're
too tired for sex. ...Naturally, this poses a problem for husbands, who are rarely
too tired for sex. Sex is a man's favorite past time, and the wives who are too tired
to have it are often resentful of this fact. If change is going to come, it will have
to come from women"they are the ones who changed the natural order of things. Moreover,
men aren't the ones who kvetch about their place in the world"not because they have
it so great, contrary to feminist dogma, but because it's not in their nature. Men
tend to go along with whatever women say they need." The duo have also raised concerns
about Palin calling herself a conservative feminist. "You can't be both," says Venker,
who adds that Palin is "confusing" conservatives by calling herself a feminist. Mainstream
media and liberal politicians and pundits also take a big hit, blamed for promoting
feminism. They are especially critical of the "feminist elite" including Oprah, first lady
Michelle Obama, CBS anchor Katie Couric, and Arianna Huffington. "What these women
have in common is clout, and they believe they know that's best for women," they write,
adding: "The problem is that the majority of women in this country don't have the
power"feminists do. And feminists influence liberals as well as conservatives to confirm
to the feminist message." From the book and our recent interview, Whispers has pulled
this list: Five Ways That Feminism Has Ruined America 1. It hurt marriage. Women want to wait so that they can keep
their identities longer and men are finding easy sex, taking away a big reason for
marriage. 2. Undermines child rearing. More kids are in childcare where discipline
is lax resulting in a "epidemic" of bad kids, childhood obesity, and bullies. 3. Two-income
trap. With both husband and wife working it's hard to live without life's luxuries.
4. Undermines college sports. Title IX has ended many male-only sports at some colleges.
5. Emasculates men. It's better to be a wuss than speak up or mouth off and face charges of harassment
or chauvinism. Today, a stay-at-home mother is viewed as a kind of second-class woman.
In fact, feminists do not even view stay-at-home mothers as persons. This derogatory
view began with Betty Friedan. "[V]acuuming the living room floor"with or without
makeup"is not work that takes enough thought or energy to challenge any woman"s full
capacity. Down through the ages man has known that he was set apart from other animals
by his mind"s power to have an idea, a vision, and shape the future to it. " [W]hen
he discovers and creates and shapes a future different from his past, he is a man,
a human being" (The Feminine Mystique). The basic idea of feminism was that women should have a choice to go to the workplace and become less animal-like.
What does that make a stay-at-home mother? Since being a wife and mother was supposedly
glorified in the 1950s, the women"s movement fought to demote that role to the lowest
level possible. Many impressionable young women wholeheartedly believed this 1960s
philosophy. Unfortunately, this feminist teaching has planted deep roots in the consciousness
of American women. The feminist tree has blossomed. Today, it is considered a great
shame to be a wife and mother only. In fact, being a wife and mother is synonymous
with the meaningless life of a lower, uneducated class of people. What are today"s
fruits of this philosophy? The fight for women"s rights has actually turned into a
fight against the family. Even the mothers of modern feminism admit that radical feminists have worked hard to repudiate the family. Feminist Stephanie
Coontz, history professor at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wa., wrote in
the Washington Post, "We cannot afford to construct our social policies, our advice
to our own children and even our own emotional expectations around the illusion that
all commitments, sexual activities and caregiving will take place in a traditional
marriage" (May 1). You don"t have to read between the lines to understand that such
thinking is destroying the traditional family! It is within the Anglo-American world
that feminism has been embraced the most passionately. These countries also have the highest divorce
rates in the world, and are producing record numbers of fatherless children"which
in turn creates many other social problems. Robert Sheaffer writes, "One can try to
argue that the U.S. family died of natural causes at precisely the same time feminists
began shooting at it, but after examining the depth and ferocity of the feminist attack
against women"s roles as wives and mothers, such an argument fails to convince" (Feminism, the Noble Lie). Let"s own up to it: Feminism has caused some tragic results for the family. If we are going to fix our social
problems, we must recognize that feminism has led our Western families into serious crises. Here is how it happened. Although
many young women answered the call to pursue a career, they could not deny their natural
desire for a husband and children. Many then opted to have a husband, children and
a career. Realizing that certain feminine desires could not be denied, a new movement
slogan was quickly pushed into public view""having it all." This slogan lives on.
But it ignores a hard reality for many working mothers: Having it all also means handling
it all. Working career mothers were forced into a high-stress rat race. Having it
all was supposed to be fulfilling, but it was not. Now, almost four decades later,
women find they are not any closer to finding true, satisfying fulfillment. For some,
"having it all" has meant losing it all. The truth is, working mothers suffer. The
children of working mothers always suffer. And should we forget"the husband suffers
too. Severe fatigue plagues many working mothers. Balancing career, marriage and child
care is an impossible task. Few can actually do it all. To do it all, corners have
to be cut. Unfortunately, because of feminist peer pressure, marriage and family are
sacrificed before career. Many two-career marriages have crumbled. Children have been
left at home alone. Can we begin to see the harm that working motherhood has done
to families? Our society of working mothers is a disaster. Experts agree that the
industrial revolution produced families with absentee fathers. Now feminism has given us families with absentee mothers. What does this mean? Essentially, our
children are growing up alone. It is estimated that as many as 60 percent of American
children do not have full-time parental supervision. Think about it. If children are
blessed enough to be in a two-parent home, generally they still have both parents
working outside the home. The children are left home alone. If the family is run by
a single parent, that parent (whether male or female) is working. Again, the children
are home alone. This means our youth are growing up with an ever-dwindling amount
of parental love, nurturing and supervision. The average latchkey child (a child returning
home after school with no parent to greet him) is alone three hours per day. Some
of these children are as young as 8; most are in their teens. When we think about
parents arriving home after a difficult day at the office, we can logically surmise
that there is not much quality time left for the child. All children and teens fundamentally
need acceptance, praise, teaching and discipline. Children need to be taught right
from wrong. Children need to learn how to be successful. This requires experience
and activities. These needs are best met by parents. If these needs are not met at
home, children have no other choice than to look elsewhere. This makes our children
frustrated, angry and vulnerable to many dangers. This is evidence.
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