The Chauvinist Corner                  

"I'm Not a Feminist. But..."

Women have written those words to me over and over again. This is probably the single most visible indication of the effectiveness of the feminist movement! Women today desire all the things the feminists started out originally to achieve, and yet mentally do a disconnect and say that they are not feminists. Many polls have shown this to be true. Women do not even remember what feminism actually is.

Feminists were burning their bras back in the 1960's to demonstrate that they were no longer going be sex objects. Now, that was an interesting start to this whole mess, since men were suddenly totally focused on the newly freed portion of the women's movement. If anything, a braless woman was more of a sex object than she was before burning the abhorred device, but feminists have never been accused of being overly logical.

As the movement got off to such a clumsy (dare I say bumpy?) start, the feminists started yelling at the top of their political voices that they wanted equality. They wanted to get the same pay for doing the same job. Today they have that. (Anytime that a woman does the exact same job as a man, she gets the exact same pay for it.) The women who claim that they are not feminists still demand that same equality in pay, but somehow have the capacity to disavow any connection with the original authors of that demand.

If a woman today can put in the same number of hours, perform the same tasks and be as dedicated to her job as the workaholic male she is competing with, she will reach the same heights that he will. The self-proclaimed non-feminist women are in support of that, and at the same time try to distance themselves from the movement which put women in that position.

Like the Cowardly Lion, these women have been dragged into the presence of the Wizard, and are now happy to be there. Yet, unlike that lion, they are disavowing any attachment to those responsible for their perceived good fortune. Hypocrisy is the only word that can rightly describe the attitude of women who love the feminist ideal of equality but claim that they are not feminists!

Here's the funniest part. Most of these women who have written to me have self-righteously lambasted both sides, and then they proceeded to promote every one of the feminist's goals. Come clean. 'Fess up. If you think that men and women are equal in role, you are a feminist and there is no use in denying it. Quit pretending to be on the fence, like you are better than the feminists and the traditionalists. You are lying to yourself and the world. Quit it already!

If you are not a feminist, then stand up against it! Support programs in schools which differentiate between the sexes. Make sure that girls graduate from high school with the homemaker skills that they need. Home economics should be a big part of most girls schooling. Support classes in school which teach boys the manly art of how to head up a household. Promote the family in a positive way by insuring that your children are not programmed into being little feminist clones as they are today. If that concept sticks in your craw, if you feel that you cannot support such a sexist effort, then you need to buff up your honesty to the point where you can clearly admit that you are a feminist and stop spreading the lie that you are not!