My old friend Eli Zaretsky, the author of Capitalism, the Family, and Personal Life, has often told me that of all the movements of the Sixties, the feminist revolution has had the most intense psychological impact on American life and politics. The point is debatable—certainly the revolution in civil rights has stirred the country—but if you look at American politics of the last fifty years and at the social conflicts that have divided us, changes in women's status and opinions, and the reaction these have engendered among men, have played an enormous, and sometimes, unacknowledged role.
Anti-feminism has been a huge driver of recent younger males’ disaffection from the Democratic Party. I started following the Jordan Peterson/Joe Rogan/Sam Harris space around 2017 at the recommendation of some much younger friends (I’m currently 76), and I noticed that criticism of “feminism” was an absolutely central theme. This was something that had been brewing for years - I remember its tiny beginnings back in the 1970s with such things as the Men’s Right’s Association out of St. Paul, Minnesota, but the movement was always fairly subterranean and unheard. There’s always been a great deal of legitimacy to the complaints - this wasn’t t mostly a criticism of “equal rights” per se but was rather directed at the hypocrisies and questionable claims of feminism - women constantly “marrying up”, a lack of acknowledgment that men “genetically” tended to choose the difficult and dangerous jobs and thus get paid more, certain “outrageous” divorce settlements, and the like. Democrats generally brooked no tolerance of “feminism” whatsoever and so the movement, so to speak, just grew and grew to the point where it’s now very widespread and politically significant in terms of male party-switching, yet organs like the New York Times, the New Yorker, etc., continue to dismiss all manifestations of it as the product of “incels”, “toxic masculinity”, “misogynists”, etc. We’re still a long way from the official Democratic Party acknowledging the legitimacy of many of these sentiments, so the Party will continue to bleed male support for some time to come, and it will continue to cost them elections.
This makes so much sense! I feel like a light bulb just went off in my head. Feminist women have taken over the Democratic Party to an extent. There's definitely some feminization going on in the party that is familiar when I think about it this way. As a woman, the victim mentality, the "bossiness," some of the manipulation (especially of language and emotions), the kind of mothering/smothering instinct...these are all stereotypical of women (for a reason) Maybe that's what has turned me off. It's kind of like, "Look, I already had a mom. I don't need another." I'm not trying to dump on women, but just speaking on maybe having a psychological reaction that we might not be understanding. Plus, I have around me at all times a husband and 2 grown sons. When I feel like men are getting short-changed, my mothering instinct kicks in and I feel the need to vote with them to defend them. I know, I'm a little kooky. Haha.
As an oppressed group women register on the intersectional tabulation. If a woman grows up wealthy, white, in Greenwich CT, and goes, if not to an ivy at least to a seven sisters, she can still claim oppression.
For working class women the deal isn't as sweet. They still get low paying jobs and only get to see their kids for the brief time they aren't in day care.
I am delighted to read that such a large majority of educated young women now feel free to embrace feminism and to call themselves "feminists." During the 1970's when I was active in the women's movement my university colleagues went out of their way to distance themselves from me and make it clear to our male colleagues that they were doing so, because I was accurately perceived as a "radical feminist."
Feminism is not a uniform ideology but rather a diverse collection of perspectives that involve advocacy for women's rights and advancement in society. Mr. Judis did an excellent job of listing the basic common beliefs that unite a wide range of feminist viewpoints.
I do find it disappointing that Gen Z women, young Millennial women, and Democratic women, despite claiming to be committed feminists, are in very visible ways supporting male privilege at the expense of women. I am particularly appalled that so many self-identified feminist activists and politicians have aligned themselves with the misogynistic terrorists who perpetrated the rapes and murders of women in Israel on Oct 7, and that so many similarly committed women support the intrusion of boys and men into girls and women's sport competitions.
I have joined the politically homeless former liberals who have exited from the Democratic Party for the above reasons and additional others. I have been open to forming coalitions with conservative people with whom I share common goals, but I have found that conservative men and women are predictably hostile and antagonistic towards me when I state that I am a feminist, even though I feel no such feelings towards their conservatism. This is probably the main reason why most educated women have avoided joining the Republican Party and other conservative movements, and it is very unfortunate.
Anti-feminism has been a huge driver of recent younger males’ disaffection from the Democratic Party. I started following the Jordan Peterson/Joe Rogan/Sam Harris space around 2017 at the recommendation of some much younger friends (I’m currently 76), and I noticed that criticism of “feminism” was an absolutely central theme. This was something that had been brewing for years - I remember its tiny beginnings back in the 1970s with such things as the Men’s Right’s Association out of St. Paul, Minnesota, but the movement was always fairly subterranean and unheard. There’s always been a great deal of legitimacy to the complaints - this wasn’t t mostly a criticism of “equal rights” per se but was rather directed at the hypocrisies and questionable claims of feminism - women constantly “marrying up”, a lack of acknowledgment that men “genetically” tended to choose the difficult and dangerous jobs and thus get paid more, certain “outrageous” divorce settlements, and the like. Democrats generally brooked no tolerance of “feminism” whatsoever and so the movement, so to speak, just grew and grew to the point where it’s now very widespread and politically significant in terms of male party-switching, yet organs like the New York Times, the New Yorker, etc., continue to dismiss all manifestations of it as the product of “incels”, “toxic masculinity”, “misogynists”, etc. We’re still a long way from the official Democratic Party acknowledging the legitimacy of many of these sentiments, so the Party will continue to bleed male support for some time to come, and it will continue to cost them elections.
“”no tolerance of criticism of feminism….”
This makes so much sense! I feel like a light bulb just went off in my head. Feminist women have taken over the Democratic Party to an extent. There's definitely some feminization going on in the party that is familiar when I think about it this way. As a woman, the victim mentality, the "bossiness," some of the manipulation (especially of language and emotions), the kind of mothering/smothering instinct...these are all stereotypical of women (for a reason) Maybe that's what has turned me off. It's kind of like, "Look, I already had a mom. I don't need another." I'm not trying to dump on women, but just speaking on maybe having a psychological reaction that we might not be understanding. Plus, I have around me at all times a husband and 2 grown sons. When I feel like men are getting short-changed, my mothering instinct kicks in and I feel the need to vote with them to defend them. I know, I'm a little kooky. Haha.
As an oppressed group women register on the intersectional tabulation. If a woman grows up wealthy, white, in Greenwich CT, and goes, if not to an ivy at least to a seven sisters, she can still claim oppression.
For working class women the deal isn't as sweet. They still get low paying jobs and only get to see their kids for the brief time they aren't in day care.
I am delighted to read that such a large majority of educated young women now feel free to embrace feminism and to call themselves "feminists." During the 1970's when I was active in the women's movement my university colleagues went out of their way to distance themselves from me and make it clear to our male colleagues that they were doing so, because I was accurately perceived as a "radical feminist."
Feminism is not a uniform ideology but rather a diverse collection of perspectives that involve advocacy for women's rights and advancement in society. Mr. Judis did an excellent job of listing the basic common beliefs that unite a wide range of feminist viewpoints.
I do find it disappointing that Gen Z women, young Millennial women, and Democratic women, despite claiming to be committed feminists, are in very visible ways supporting male privilege at the expense of women. I am particularly appalled that so many self-identified feminist activists and politicians have aligned themselves with the misogynistic terrorists who perpetrated the rapes and murders of women in Israel on Oct 7, and that so many similarly committed women support the intrusion of boys and men into girls and women's sport competitions.
I have joined the politically homeless former liberals who have exited from the Democratic Party for the above reasons and additional others. I have been open to forming coalitions with conservative people with whom I share common goals, but I have found that conservative men and women are predictably hostile and antagonistic towards me when I state that I am a feminist, even though I feel no such feelings towards their conservatism. This is probably the main reason why most educated women have avoided joining the Republican Party and other conservative movements, and it is very unfortunate.