What Makes Anyone Think Liberal Feminists Are Strong?

by John Hawkins | December 14, 2012 11:56 am

Emily Esfahani Smith wrote a surprisingly good piece about chivalry. Of course, it’s surprising because it’s at the Atlantic,[1] but even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and again.

Anyway, although the meat of Smith’s excellent piece is about chivalry, she said something about feminism that caught my eye.

After the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s, which insisted on the equal treatment of women in all domains of life, feminists dismissed chivalry as sexist. They still do. A new study, published in the feminist journal Psychology of Women Quarterly, questions the entire enterprise of male chivalry, which, in an Orwellian flourish, it calls “benevolent sexism.”

Chivalrous behavior is benevolent because it flatters women and leads to their preferential treatment. But it is sexist because it relies on the “gendered premise” that women are weak and in need of protection while men are strong. “Benevolent sexism,” Kathleen Connelly and Martin Heesacker of the University of Florida write in the study, “is an ideology that perpetuates gender inequality.” They advocate interventions to reduce its prevalence, even though, they found, chivalry is associated with greater life satisfaction and the sense that the world is fair, well-ordered, and a good place.

What exactly is strong about liberal feminism? Nothing really. Keep in mind; b*tchy isn’t the same thing as strong, just as being an @sshole isn’t the same thing as being strong. As a general rule, nasty, difficult behavior is a sign of weakness in men and women — and most liberal feminists have this weakness in spades.

They’re also adept at playing the victim. “An accountant had a swimsuit calender up in his cubicle. It created a hostile work environment for me!”

That sound strong?

“The patriarachy is responsible for this failure! It’s because of them that I can’t succeed!”

That sound strong?

Asking government to give you free birth control because you’re incapable of managing it yourself.

That sound strong?

That’s weakness personified.

You want to see strength, look at conservative women. They’re not afraid of guns, strong men or taking responsibility for their actions. They make their own choices and they don’t give a damn whether some feminist harpy criticizes them for it. These are genuinely strong women and they don’t get upset about a man pulling out a chair or opening a door for them.

They think they’re worth it.

Endnotes:
  1. the Atlantic,: http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/12/lets-give-chivalry-another-chance/266085/

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