November 15, 2018
The Paradox Of The Left’s Feminist Movement
The feminist movement in America has transformed the way that women vote — and the definition of feminism. No longer content with historical concerns of women being subordinate to the patriarchy in a male-dominated power structure, the latest iteration of feminism has imported ideas from corners of the far left into the mainstream.
For left-leaning feminists, the ideal candidate is pro-abortion, anti-gun, unwilling to enforce immigration laws, and wants to socialize health care.
Most recently, in the 2018 midterm elections, the feminist movement cried victory with a record 100 women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where Democrats will regain the majority come January.
There was an 8 percent increase in independent women voting blue and a 10 percent increase in white, college-educated women who swung left, compared to results from 2016.
The self-defined feminists didn’t celebrate their victory for long before they started the score-settling.
And that’s the paradox of the modern leftist feminists. Their premises are anti-feminist.
Women on the left have a bone to pick, specifically with conservative white women. The lifestyle magazine Vogue asks, “Why do white women continue to vote for the GOP and against their own interests?”
An op-ed in the Guardian examined: “What is wrong with white women? Why do half of them so consistently vote for Republicans, even as the Republican Party morphs into a monstrously ugly organization that is increasingly indistinguishable from a hate group?”
A bitter op-ed published by the New York Times following Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation called conservative women “gender traitors,” adding that “white women benefit from patriarchy by trading on their whiteness to monopolize resources for mutual gain.”
Vogue goes on to suggest that perhaps these women are brainwashed by their husbands or conservative media and incapable of making their own decisions. The Guardian suggests white Republican women are racist, identifying strongly with their race and not their gender.
Perhaps these writers skipped history, but anti-suffragists argued women should be denied the vote because they couldn’t think for themselves and would simply vote as they were told.
It’s pretty demeaning to suggest that women are incapable of thinking for themselves, and it’s even more demeaning to say we should all believe the same thing because we are women.
Here’s a novel thought: Some women are happy with President Trump’s policies. Some women are pro-life. That doesn’t make them anti-women.
According to a Marist poll, 41 percent of young people oppose abortion, outside of extenuating circumstances such as rape, incest or a life-threatening outcome for the mother. This is a far cry from the “God bless abortions” narrative we hear from women such as Michelle Wolf, who claim that pro-life is a propaganda term.
Let’s take a moment to look at the facts. Under President Trump’s leadership we have added 4.1 million jobs and there are over 7 million job openings available to Americans. The unemployment rate has dropped to 3.7 percent and women’s unemployment is at the lowest rate in 65 years. The GDP has grown by 3 percent over the past four quarters, something the experts said would be impossible. President Trump signed the largest tax cuts and reforms in history and doubled the child tax credit.
President Trump has empowered women in his administration, hiring an impressive number to senior roles inside the White House and throughout his administration.
He remains a staunch advocate for religious freedom, something all Americans are entitled to, yet many women are persecuted because Christian beliefs regarding sexuality do not align with the so-called women’s movement.
The matriarchy of femin ists in this country is working overtime dictating to women what they should believe, what their best interests are, and how they should vote, demonizing any woman who doesn’t fall in line.
This is anti-feminist.
White women exercising their right to vote Republican is not the issue here. As with men, conservative women’s interests always have been different from liberal women’s; hence, the establishment of separate political parties.
Women should not be expected to conform to an outlined set of beliefs simply because of their gender. That was a foundational premise of feminism.
Those who cry “Oppression!” are oppressing. The conventional leftist feminists would excommunicate conservative women. But conservative women will not be silenced for their beliefs — in life, or at the polls.
We remember what Susan B. Anthony said: “Forget conventionalisms; forget what the world thinks of you stepping out of your place; think your best thoughts, speak your best words, work your best works, looking to your own conscience for approval.”
-- Cora Mandy, Millennial Adviser for America First Action