Meet the feminists your professors never told you about

If someone asked, "Are you a feminist?" how would you respond? Most Americans—including large majorities of women—say no. In the AEI book, "Freedom Feminism: Its Surprising History and Why it Matters Today," Christina Hoff Sommers seeks to recover the lost history of American feminism by introducing readers to feminism's forgotten heroines. She demonstrates that a new philosophy of "freedom feminism"—in which women are free to employ their equal status to pursue happiness in their own distinctive ways—holds the key to a feminist renaissance.

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[Sevta]

The reason I don't consider myself a feminist is because I see no need to name my views and lump them with the views of everyone who associates themselves with the same movement, and then waste my time explaining that that I don't agree with everything that is being said in the name of that movement.

I believe in women's rights, however I don't believe men and women are equal in everything.

[drooleybob]

GUYS THIS IS BASED MOM! WHY THE MANY DISLIKES!!

[Dezzantibus]

"make it male friendly"? How about dropping the term FEMinism? Why not egalitarian or humanist?

[prschuster]

The irony of the comments here, is that Christina Hoff-Sommers has been panned mercilessly by contemporary feminists, on the one hand, while MRAs are ripping into her from the other side of the spectrum. It doesn't matter that she has endorsed Warren Farrell and that she supports the men's movement, or that she wrote about the war against boys, or that she acknowledges that the gender pay gap is mostly due to different career choices. All she has to do is call herself a "feminist" and the radicals on both the left & right get their panties in a bunch (although for different reasons).

[Furzkampfbomber]

Maybe so many women do not identify with this "movement for emancipation", because this movement is not about emancipation anymore?

[Drudenfusz]

The first step has to be to throw the paranoid idea of patriarchy theory out, after that we can talk.

[MrsSunshineinabag]

I also like that she pointed out about conservative women. We get dismissed easily because we are "brainwashed by men."

[checkmarkdatter]

You're all aware this is THE Based Mom correct?

[williamgrand]

No we shouldn't take back feminism. We should abandon it, and move onto something more inclusive, like logic and empathy. Why must we label everything?

[ryanbray]

I’ve started using the term “equalist.” Equality is critical for society, but I really don’t want to be associated with the extremist parts of feminism which, as Christina pointed out, is the part that gets the most attention. I love Sommer’s cool headed, real approach to gender issues.

[DoomRulz]

Hearing Christina say it gives it more meaning and credibility. She's the only true example of NAFALT. But, I do wonder she insists on being labeled as a feminist, considering how toxic that term has become. 

[robotmilker]

I have a hard time letting go of 'feminism' because I had the good fortune of being raised by people like you. I actually think about my parents every time I watch your videos! I hope that I get to shake your hand sometime and tell you how much you mean to people like me and how much I love you!

[wizardadmin]

"Most women want their rights but they don't want to be men" in other words, most women want their rights but they don't want to be bothered with responsibilities and duties

[cellasedui]

Thank you for being here, for being with us. You're such an inspiration!

[andgate]

i have a workmate who's a feminist.... i never open the door for her or anything similar... after all women are capable of doing anything! i call it equality.

[SmultronsyltNatha]

I don't think it will be possible to take back the term 'feminism'. I have not read your book (maybe I should), but as far as I know, feminism has always focused on women's issues and the idea of the patriarchy is central to the movement.

Before the feminist movement, we had a society and norms which was largely discriminating against women (but also against men, in some cases). Then, feminism grew and flipped everything (as much as possible - at least in terms of norms). With the problems we had back then, they couldn't afford to be sceptical, acknowledge nuances and complexity, or be moderate. However, now is the right time to be sceptical (to patriarchy, some feminist ideas, some "self-evident" norms), to acknowledge the nuances and complexity of the gender issues, and to find a more moderate level. I don't think this is possible if we insist on keeping the term 'feminism'.

Compare this to communism. Few people today thinks that communism is a good idea, but it was a reaction to an unfair system, which made some people very rich and didn't care about the poor. We wouldn't reclaim the word 'communism' and use it for the ideas we borrowed from the communist movement (like not letting people work for almost no money and making sure the poor don't starve to death). In Sweden, the term 'socialism' is used, but I know it means something different in the U.S.

I don't think it is unusual that a flawed system gets a strong reaction, which is then replaced by a more moderate version which addresses the previous flaws without creating new (unnecessary) flaws. I think Steven Pinker writes about this in his book "The Blank Slate".

[GabrielKnight]

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - George Orwell

[cullenkelley]

This was the only result I got searching reasonable feminists.

[DaedalEVE]

I had a guy friend who's mom attacked him and started strangling him. He called 911 and the police arrived. When they were there one of the officers actually started to threaten to arrest HIM as if HE was the attacker! Here he was, the victim, the one who made the call, but because he was a guy, and because he was bigger than his mom the police somehow thought it was ok to treat him like crap. Nothing happened btw. She wasn't arrested. You know if he attacked her they'd have arrested him.

[OrlinBojanov]

Great job Christina Hoff Sommers. I really admire what are you doing. Thank you!