Last Thursday, a woman I greatly admire, Phyllis Schlafly, visited OU. As many of you know, Schlafly is a conservative and anti-feminist activist; the title of her speech was The Failures of Feminism. She is most famous for waging a successful battle against the Equal Rights Amendment -a feminist project defeated in 1982.
She spoke about feminists' alleged aversion to motherhood and marriage and their tendency to deny sex differences. She attacked the persistently negative feminist message that we live in a patriarchal society hostile to our growth and well-being. According to Schlafly, feminists convince all women that we are victims -that we will be discriminated against in school, our careers will be limited by the glass ceiling
and, if we ever marry, our husbands will probably beat us.
We have the same constitutional rights that men have Schlafly said. American women are one of the most privileged classes of humans in the history of the world.
When the question-and-answer portion began, it became evident that many in the audience were self-proclaimed feminists who found Schlafly offensive.
Although feminists' hatred of Schlafly isn't surprising, it is somewhat ironic. In many ways, Schlafly is everything that feminists think women should be: strong, smart, educated and ambitious. She worked her way through college -test-firing guns in an ammunition plant -graduated at age 19 and earned a scholarship to Harvard graduate school. Her first of 17 books, A Choice Not an Echo
sold 3 million copies. Many credit A Choice
Not an Echo for launching the conservative movement that put Ronald Reagan in office. And during the ERA battle when feminists criticized Schlafly for having no legal training, she went to law school.
If it weren't for the fact that Schlafly is conservative, feminists would exalt her as the perfect example of a liberated woman. Male oppression obviously hasn't stopped her from accomplishing great things.
She seems to know this. She mentioned several times that if feminists were truly concerned with the advancement of all women, they would celebrate the accomplishments of Condoleezza Rice and Katherine Harris.
They don't. Visiting the National Organization for Women's Web site, I was greeted with headlines such as The Truth About George Bush
Tell Democratic leaders that moving to the right is the wrong strategy and The Fight Against the Right. Rather than working to improve all women's lives, this large and powerful feminist organization is waging a war against conservatism.
This is especially troubling to me because I've long considered myself a conservative feminist. I admire the women of feminism's first wave -Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and others who fought courageously for the right to vote and for other opportunities. I disagree with Schlafly's view that today's generation is not at all oppressed. I made this point when I wrote about wet T-shirt contests and the pressure on women to be sexual objects.
But feminists and feminist organizations exclude women who don't march in lockstep with their political views. Why is that? I assume it's because of disagreements over abortion rights. Through most conservative or religious women are anti-abortionists, feminists have always supported unrestricted abortion rights.
But abortion is only one issue. What about the societal ills that affect all women? We live in a country with high rates of domestic violence and sexual assault. Women are much more likely to live in poverty, suffer abuse and become clinically depressed. An increasing number of women are turning to plastic surgery to fix minor flaws and meet Hollywood's impossible standard of female perfection. Young girls face cultural pressure to be sexual before they are ready -sometimes before they even finish puberty.
None of these should be left/right, politically divisive issues.
The goal of the feminist movement should be the betterment of all women's lives, despite political differences. When feminists speak of women's rights and equality
they shouldn't be referring only to the small number of liberal women who think like feminists. They must accept that not all smart, successful females (like Schlafly) will agree with them -and that's okay.
They don't get it yet. Feminists are still determined to Fight Against the Right-a right that includes approximately half of all American women. Bound to one political ideology, they defeat their own purpose. They continue to alienate conservative and moderate women who would otherwise be allies in the struggle to improve women's lives.
-Ashley Herzog is a freshman journalism major. Send her an e-mail at ah103304@ohiou.edu.
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