policyexpress
No. 10-1 • 2010
About the Author
Christina Hoff Sommers
is a resident scholar at the
American Enterprise Institute.
She has written and edited
several books including
The Science on Women and
Science, Who Stole Feminism?,
and The War Against Boys.
She has lectured and
debated on more than 100
college campuses.
Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute
112 Elden Street, Suite P
Herndon, Virginia 20170
P (888) 891-4288 • F (703) 318-8867
www.cblpi.org
How the once noble cause of feminism has been derailed
and why mainstream women have to put it back on track.
Take Back Feminism
By Christina Hoff Sommers Two Paths to Freedom
W
To understand what went wrong
hen asked, “Are you a feminist?,”
most American women say no. and how it might be set right, we need
Feminist activists blame the briefly to visit feminism in its glory days.
media for feminism’s poor image, but Historically, there have been two major
I believe the activists themselves have schools of thought within the women’s
turned the women’s movement into a movement: egalitarian feminism and
caricature. Within living memory, the social feminism.
American feminist movement was a Egalitarian feminists were
vibrant, broad-based vehicle for social progressives—some would say radicals.
equality that had achieved momentous They held that men and women, although
victories and enjoyed richly deserved socialized to different roles, are identical
prestige for its valor and success. in their essential natures. By appealing to
But today the movement has been principles of social justice and universal
taken over by aggrieved eccentrics. rights, egalitarians sought to liberate
Marching under the banner of feminism, women from the private sphere of the
the current activists are fighting a gender home—into the public spheres of politics,
war that few women support or understand. business, and work.
The potential for harm is enormous. The social feminists, by contrast, were
Mainstream women are going to have to traditionalist and family-centered. They
rescue feminism from the feminists. embraced rather than scorned women’s
We badly need a responsible, reality- roles as mothers or caregivers—and
based women’s movement. Women promoted women’s rights by redefining
in many parts of the developing world and strengthening those roles.
are still struggling for their basic rights. Social feminists argued that an
The classical style of feminism that empowered femininity could be a force
made American women among the most for good in the world and they made
liberated in the world offers a tried-and- common cause with the egalitarians in
true road map to emancipation. Even in promoting women’s education, women’s
the West, there are still unresolved equity suffrage, and women’s participation in
issues. the culture and politics. Historically, both
Who needs feminism? We do. The schools played critical roles in women’s
emancipation.
world does. But not the feminism that
prevails in the typical college “womyn’s In 18th Century England, the two sides
center.” were represented by the great egalitarian
2 Take Back Feminism

feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and the formidable attack on their unique and valued place in the family.
conservative “Blue Stocking” Hannah More. In If the American women’s movement was going to
19th Century America, the egalitarians were led by move forward, the suffrage movement needed new
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, and arguments and new ways of thinking that were more
the traditional social feminists by Frances Willard. respectful and protective of women’s role. Frances
Now it is much more likely that you have heard Willard showed the way.
of Stanton and Anthony than Willard, who has Willard served as president of the Woman’s
been effectively air-brushed out of the history of Christian Temperance Union from 1879 until
feminism. It is worth taking a moment to consider her death in 1898. With the vote, said Willard,
her accomplishments and the way she is now women could greatly increase their civilizing and
regarded. For she may hold the key to a feminist humane influence on society. With the vote, they
renaissance. could protect the homes they dearly loved. Indeed,
Moviemaker Ken Burns followed his award- Willard referred to the vote as “the home protection
winning The Civil War with a 1999 film about ballot.” Women were moved by her arguments;
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and men were disarmed. Cady Stanton was leery of the
their struggle to win the vote for American women. association with Willard: the less radical Anthony
In one sequence the narrator mentions that, in the relished it. Willard and her followers began to bring
last quarter of the 19th Century, Anthony forged the suffrage movement something the egalitarians
coalitions with some conservative mainstream were unable to accomplish on their own: electoral
groups. victories.

The mood darkens and Women’s Studies Both the egalitarian and social feminist paths
Professor Sally Roesch Wagner appears on the have been indispensable to women’s progress—
screen. Wagner informs viewers that Anthony was although social feminism has always enjoyed wider
so determined to win the vote that she established appeal. But as women’s historian Janet Zollinger
alliances with pro-suffrage women who were Giele notes, “History records defeat where one
“enemies of freedom in every other way—Frances branch failed to recognize the valid arguments of
Willard is a case in point.” The camera then shows the other.”
a photo of a menacing-looking Willard.
Mother Nature is not a Feminist
One would never imagine from Burns’s film
that Frances Willard (1839-1898) was one of the So where are we now? Following the Second
most beloved and respected World War, the United States
women of 19th Century badly needed an egalitarian
America. Because of her
“Womanliness first — correction. It arrived in what
prodigious good works afterwards what you will” has come to be known as the
and kindly nature, Willard Second Wave of feminism.
was often called “Saint Frances of American (The Suffrage Movement, culminating in passage
Womanhood.” It was Willard who brought of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920,
mainstream women into the suffrage movement. was the First Wave.)
Many historians credit her with doing far In the 1950s and 1960s, American women were
more to win the vote for women than any other still locked out of many fields and allotted second-
suffragist. But her fondness for saying things like class status in education, in the workplace, and
“Womanliness first—afterwards what you will” before the law. Those who preferred paths other
was her ticket to oblivion among those in today’s than wife and mother, or who found the stereotypes
Women’s Studies programs. of femininity stultifying, were trapped.
Throughout the 1870s and 1880s the suffrage Egalitarian feminists like Betty Friedan and
movement was in serious trouble: many women Gloria Steinem led the way and urged American
actively organized against it. Stanford historian women to live “not at the mercy of the world, but
Carl Degler and others believe that, because the as builder and designer of that world.” Women
vote was associated with individualism and personal listened. By the 1980s, American women were well
assertiveness, women saw it as both selfish and an
 Policy Express No.10-1 3

on their way to enjoying freedoms and opportunities When the 2007 Pew Research Center asked
far beyond those of any women in history. working mothers and fathers “What would be the
But mainstream American women never fully ideal situation for you—working full time, part-
embraced the egalitarian program of Friedan and time, or not at all outside the home?,” a majority
Steinem and other leaders of the Second Wave. of mothers preferred part-time (50%) and nearly a
Rather, they adopted a compromise between the third (29%) preferred not to work at all. Among
egalitarian and social traditions. fathers, 72% preferred to work full-time. For equity
feminists, these are expected and fully acceptable
This compromise was once eloquently (and consequences of freedom.
presciently) described by Clare Boothe Luce who
in her heyday in the 1940s was a popular playwright But let’s be very clear about what these group
and a member of the United States Congress. She comparisons mean—because people often get
wrote these words about women at a time when confused and cry “Sexism!” When we say, men
feminism’s Second Wave was still more than twenty tend to do this, and women that—we are dealing in
years away. Her views averages, not absolutes.
There is a sizable
are not celebrated Clare Boothe Luce captured the style of percentage of women
during women’s history
month, but they capture
feminism that resonates with women who will make the same
the style of feminism decisions as a man.
that seems to resonate with women everywhere: To say that most mothers prefer not to work full-
time—is not to say that no mothers want full-time
It is time to leave the question of the role of jobs. Many mothers do. As many as one in five. I
women in society up to Mother Nature—a am one such mother. But we need to recognize and
difficult lady to fool. You have only to respect the desires of those who take different paths
give women the same opportunities as in their pursuit of happiness.
men, and you will soon find out what is or
is not in their nature. What is in women’s The Sisterhood
nature to do they will do, and you won’t The women who built the college Women’s
be able to stop them. But you will also Studies departments and who lead the contemporary
find, and so will they, that what is not in organized women’s movement took a different path.
their nature, even if they are given every For the most part, they regarded women’s traditional
opportunity, they will not do, and you domestic roles as obstacles to the realization of
won’t be able to make them do it. their true natures rather than as expressions of their
natures. Most are radical egalitarians, determined
Camille Paglia, the brilliant literary critic and to create a new society in which men and women
dissident feminist, once told me she found Luce’s are liberated from the stereotypes of gender.
words awe-inspiring. So do I. Luce takes the best of A classic expression of this worldview is
both egalitarian and social feminism. She is careful Hunter College psychologist Virginia Valian’s
to say that women’s nature can only be made known Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women (1999).
in conditions of freedom and opportunity. But, she “Egalitarian parents can bring up their children so
does not expect that, with equal opportunity, women that both boys and girls play with dolls and trucks.”
will turn out to be interchangeable with men. Valian concludes, “From the standpoint of equality,
By the end of the 20th Century, this moderate, nothing is more important.”
eclectic style of feminism had become the lived Others, far fewer in number but even more other-
philosophy of most American women—and men, worldly, have gone beyond mere egalitarianism to an
too. Very few Americans want to see women forced Amazonian “gynocentric” feminism that proclaims
into rigid gender roles—but neither do they wish women the superior sex who will have to save the
to see gender differences abolished. For this style world from the predations of a toxic masculinity.
of Clare Boothe Luce feminism (call it “equity
feminism”) the ideal is equality of opportunity, not Housed in Women’s Studies departments, law
equality of results. schools, research institutes, and advocacy centers,
these two groups have built a powerful fortress
of their own. They tolerate one another but view
4 Take Back Feminism

most outside criticism as “backlash” or “intellectual ingrained gendering” of American life. Obstacles
harassment.” Their convictions are unfalsifiable, holding women back were removed several decades
no amount of evidence can change their minds. For ago—and discrimination in the workplace or in
them, the fact that vast numbers of women continue education is against the law. So these groups now
to give children and family priority over careers, specialize in removing “invisible barriers.”
and even profess themselves to be happy with that Why, ask the NCRW feminists, should there be
circumstance, is proof that women are still captive
so many more men in math and engineering than
to a repressive and tenacious “gender system.” women? What explains the over-representation of
Daphne Patai and Noretta Koertge are two men on corporate boards and prestigious Sunday
Women’s Studies professors who openly defected. morning news programs? Why should men be
In their revealing book, Professing Feminism: getting most of the patents and garnering the major
Education and Indoctrination in Women’s Studies literary awards? And, most urgently, why do so
(2001), they show how many women cooperate
feminist classrooms use by giving priority to home
propaganda to transform
Millions of college students and family over career?
idealistic female students have been burdened by To such questions
into “relentless grievance feminist professors’ divisive and the NCRW researchers
collectors.”
sometimes poisonous teachings have boilerplate answers.
Pick up a Women’s Women are being held back
Studies textbook, visit by “unconscious bias,”
a college women’s center, look at the websites of “hostile climates,” and “internalized oppression.”
leading feminist organizations, and you will find Other more innocent explanations—such as the
elaborate theories about the “male hegemony.” possibility that the sexes, taken as groups, are
Students learn that we inhabit an oppressive different—are ruled out of bounds.
“patriarchal” society where women are robbed The members of the NCRW have volumes of
of their self-esteem, “conditioned” to accept their own research to “prove” ubiquitous—albeit
subordinate roles, “channeled” into low-paying invisible—discrimination and they have hundreds of
fields, and cheated out of almost a quarter of their initiatives to address it. It can be career diminishing
income. for a skeptical scholar to openly criticize their
These teachings bear no relation to reality; they agenda. So, they flourish and grow.
do nothing to help women solve the real problems
they confront, and they are disrespectful and Here is a sample of some dubious achievements
patronizing to women. But the false claims have of the NCRW groups and their sister organizations:
been repeated so many times they have taken on the ►► The celebrated Title IX equity law began as
aura of truth. an admirable equal-opportunity requirement.
Why it Matters Because of pressure from the NCRW
groups such as the National Women’s Law
Some will say, who cares? So what if a lot of Center and the American Association of
feminist professors believe and say silly things? University Women, Title IX has evolved
First of all, millions of college students have been into a gender quota regime that is blind to
burdened by their divisive and sometimes poisonous empirical differences in overall men’s and
teachings. And many journalists and politicians women’s interests in sports. Since football
take their ideas seriously. is a money generating male-only sport with
Consider the influence of the National Council large rosters, Title IX quotas have decimated
for Research on Women (NCRW). This is a network men’s wrestling, swimming, diving, and
of 112 women’s research and policy centers. gymnastic teams. We did not need to do
Members include the Wellesley Center for Research that in order to achieve the great success of
on Women, Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute, and the women’s collegiate sports.
Stanford Institute for Gender Research.
►► Lobbying by the NCRW and feminist
The NCRW promotes legions of radical scholars, scholars persuaded the National Science
lawyers, and activists working against the “deeply Foundation to invest millions of dollars
 Policy Express No.10-1 5

in a program called ADVANCE. For the The women’s groups were electrified by their
past decade it has sponsored “cultural victory. But a feminist establishment that celebrates
transformation” programs that challenge these sorts of triumphs over men does not represent
the “manliness of the scientific enterprise” the interests of many women. Those men are fathers,
with its obsessive single-mindedness, sons, brothers, husbands, and friends; if they are in
competitiveness, and disregard of family serious trouble, so are the women who care about
life. The nation’s leading math, physics, them and in many cases depend on them.
engineering, and computer technology But the NCRW and its sister organizations see
departments are now under NSF pressure the world differently. For them, life is a zero-sum
to adopt gender quotas, and to rein in their struggle between men and women—and their job is
competitive, hard-driven, meritocratic to side with the women.
culture—a predominantly “male culture”
that has made American science the Feminism for the New Century
mightiest in the world.
►► Last year, NCRW groups joined other It doesn’t have to be this way. Over the years,
major women’s organizations to demand a I have lectured on more than 100 college campuses
“gender-balanced” stimulus bill. President where I meet both conservative and radical students.
Obama, alarmed by the massive losses The former invite me; the latter come to jeer and
in the manufacturing and construction wrangle—but as a rule, we all part friends. The
sectors, initially spoke of a “shovel ready” feminist professors almost never attend. Why
stimulus bill to strengthen these devastated should they lend credibility to a critic who is by
industries. Women’s groups were appalled definition a crank? It’s the students and me.
and sent word that “we don’t want this To my surprise, I find that many of the younger
stimulus package to just create jobs for burly feminist activist students welcome the chance to
men.” A flood of petitions, faxes, e-mails, debate. Most can be reasoned with and seem fully
and phone calls followed. More than one capable of allying themselves with moderate and
thousand feminist conservative women to work
historians signed a The 21st Century cause — for a common purpose.
letter of protest to the helping those women My advice to today’s
President: “We need
to rebuild not only
who have yet to college women: take back
feminism now. Make it
steel bridges but also find the liberty inclusive, fair, and reality-
human bridges.” that Western women based. Make the movement
The President did what have won for themselves attractive again to the
most deans and college majority of American women
presidents do when confronted by a chorus who want their rights but do not wish to be liberated
of female complaint: he ran for cover. He from the traditions of femininity.
directed his chief economists Christina We can then take on the great cause that awaits
Romer and Jared Bernstein to develop a us in the 21st Century: helping the women who have
gender-fair budget. yet to find the liberty that Western women have
A few weeks later they came out with the won for themselves—and that women everywhere
“Job Impact of the American Recovery and deserve.
Reinvestment Plan,” which explicitly noted
that “the total number of created jobs likely
to go to women is roughly 42 percent.”
Lest anyone miss the point, they added that
since men lost 80 percent of the jobs in the
recession, the stimulus package now “skews
job creation somewhat towards women.”