Women have never been in unison about feminism. There have always been women who have opposed the movement altogether, and women who have simply opposed certain issues within feminism. But what can never be said, is that all women want and like feminism.
This dislike did not start with Margaret Thatcher, but rather it started when the first wave of feminism hit Britain. For instance, in 1908 the Women’s Anti-Suffragette League wrote a petition against the right to vote and received over 300,000 signatures, mainly from women. Nowadays you would be hard pressed to find one British woman who would sign such a petition. But nevertheless, you will still find women who oppose feminism.
This is because the reasons to oppose feminism have changed. It is no longer due to a belief that women and men have different roles in life. For female Millennials, it is due to a dislike of the nature of modern feminism. Which brings me down to two women in particular: Gloria Steinem and Madelaine Albright.
Sexism works both ways
Gloria Steinem is arguably one of the most well-known feminists in the world. You may know her for her famous sayings like “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle”, or alternatively, you may know her as the spokeswoman for the feminist movement in the 60s and 70s. Either way, her pronouncements and writings are still given much credence and attention today. Yet despite her impressive record and position as a feminist icon, her brand of feminism is not striking a chord with female Millennials.
This may have something to do with her condescending attitude towards women who disagree with her. In February 2016 she was on the show Real Time with Bill Maher where she explained that the reason why young women were voting in droves for Bernie Sanders and not Hillary Clinton was to meet men. Young women across the globe were appalled that she would make such a sexist and belittling comment. However, I understood why she did. She considers being a woman a voting point, and struggles to fathom why women would not vote for another woman at such a historical moment in U.S history. Younger women, however, consider advocating for women friendly policies a voting point. The gender of the advocate makes no difference.
Vote for women no matter what
Madeleine Albright was the first female secretary of state in the United States and is now a prominent endorser of Hillary Clinton’s bid for Presidency. During a Clinton rally, Madeleine Albright was a keynote speaker and told the audience that women who did not support other women deserved a special place in hell. In the context of this decree, she meant that women who did not vote for Hillary Clinton deserved to go to an even more torturous place in Hell. This is an interesting comment to make, not for its’ sexism though (I’m used to that), but for its’ zealous religiosity. Damning people to Hell is a pretty big call to make, one that I thought only doomsday preachers did. But apparently, modern feminism is willing to sacrifice swathes of women simply because they vote on merit, not on gender.
I think it is also important to note that Madeleine Albright did not support Sarah Palin, or Carly Fiorina, or even Condolezza Rice in any manner, let alone such a ferocious manner. That is because for her, support of women stops when a political divide begins.
No viewpoint diversity allowed
And this doesn’t just occur in the U.S. In an effort to assist women in Australia gain political positions, a support group was developed entitled ‘Emily’s list‘. Australia’s only female PM (Julia Gillard) was a member of this organization. Emily’s list states it believes in diversity, as in diversity of genders in the workplace, certainly not viewpoint diversity among women. In fact, if you are a pro-life women, you will not have the support of Emily’s list. This is because they don’t really support women, just certain women.
And thus that is how modern day feminism goes. It will pretend like it is about life and death if you don’t vote/support other women due to their femininity, but really it is about politics. This is because modern day feminism has become overtly political and detached from what it was meant to achieve. Until it allows for viewpoint diversity amongst women and judgement based on merit, I do not want to associate with it.