« Watching the liberals duke it out | Main | Social Networking Sites »
Feminism: Society’s Great Faux Pas
By Jared | March 2, 2008
When I saw the “Outlook” headline today on The Washington Post’s website, I could hardly believe my eyes. The words “Why Do Women Act So Dumb?” headed a column by Charlotte Allen that touched on everything from politics to driving to home economics. I couldn’t help being interested, and once I got into the column, I couldn’t help being impressed. I actually agreed with many of the points Allen made. (Ladies, I am not calling you stupid. Allen, being female, is allowed to do so if she wishes. I am not so foolish.)
I know the respective roles of men and women is a touchy subject all across the political spectrum, and I never expected a major newspaper, especially one as left-leaning as the Washington Post, to publish something useful on the subject.
Allen’s conclusion was that perhaps women should be less concerned about whether they are out-earning men in the business world, or out-thinking them in the scientific world and be more willing to do the things they are suited to, as she puts it, “tenderness toward children and men and the weak and the ability to make a house a home.”
I find it interesting to note, first, that this acknowledges that there are, indeed, differences between men and women and the way they think. (Yes, this should be obvious to any sane person, but apparently it is not, as for years there has been a popular myth among the academic elites that only circumstances create any mental or personality differences between the sexes.) Because academia is dominated by the left (and often vice-versa), seeing a column at the Washington Post admitting as much is a bit disconcerting.
I would also like to say that I am personally a great admirer of the fair sex (and can’t think of a healthy, twenty-two-year-old male who isn’t). I have no desire to dictate to any woman where she can go to school or work, or how to carry on her life. (Trying to tell a girl what she can and can’t do is a bad idea. Smart men know this. Dumb men learn it—often painfully.)
On the other hand, like Allen, I recommend that women play to their strengths. Why is it so terrible in our culture to say that women are, in general, happier “showing tenderness toward children and men and the weak” rather than trying to out-perform men in the business world? Is it a bad thing that men and women complement each other in life? It seems to me that modern feminism is possibly the world’s biggest case of “the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.”
I also think the feminism movement has done terrible damage, possibly irreparable damage, to women’s place in society. What do I mean? Simple—by trying to do men’s jobs better than men, women have lost men’s respect. (I am speaking of society as a whole and the general attitude of men toward women. Not specific cases)
It is interesting to note that Allen seems almost to be lamenting how women are failing to “measure up” to men. It shows just how badly our values are scrambled. Why is she comparing women to men? We are different, and should be content to leave it so.
By competing with men in men’s own world (or measuring themselves against men), women have lost a great deal of the value they once had in men’s eyes. Chivalry has been lost in America, and society is poorer for it.
The backlash is just as bad. While women have been robbed of their special place in society, men have been proportionally emasculated. It is no longer “normal” for men to have violent instincts (and the self-control to vent them properly) or even for men to want to protect and care for their women. Each of society’s attitudes has a ripple effect, and even now we are only beginning to see just how destructive this particular societal tsunami will be.
Topics: Current Affairs, Societal Problems |