Thoughtful women are fighting back against gender feminism's
"war on men." One indication that they are succeeding is the
malicious backlash they encounter. A few years ago, women
opposing gender feminism would have been ignored.
The latest target of the backlash gender feminists are
unleashing against their critics is the renowned gender-feminist
critic, Christina Hoff Sommers. Sommers was recently silenced by
government officials who told her to cease her presentation at a
tax-funded conference to which she had been invited. Sommers'
transgression? She called for scientific studies to evaluate the
effectiveness of government programs. During a Q&A session,
professor Jay Wade, an expert on "listening skills" at Fordham
University, shouted for Sommers to "shut the f--- up, b--ch!" The
audience laughed. The organizers made no objection.
Women who object to gender feminism are accustomed to such
abuse. Trudy Schuett, publisher of The DesertLight Journal,
crusades for fathers' rights in custody suits. As a result,
Schuett states, "I've been called a 'fathers' rights whore,' and
I've had the obligatory death threat — goes with the territory."
A recent book by former National Organization for Women
insider Tammy Bruce — The New Thought Police: Inside the Left's
Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds — documents the witch hunt
against dissenters that has been standard operating procedure
for years. But the openness of their attacks is new.
For example, after I lectured at a recent seminar, an
anonymous poster on the NOW Web site's bulletin board announced
that I'd had an "affair" with a student — an accusation not only
false but also damaging to my career. My husband protested this
libel in an e-mail to the webmaster but he was ignored. When I
sent a similar objection suggesting I may be moved to take legal
action, the posts were deleted.
The NOW bulletin board became a moderated forum monitored by
the NOW staff supposedly to control the excesses of members who
posted inappropriately. The bulletin board shut down about a
month ago after a poster called for members to harass a family.
The family's personal data, including their address, was posted
on the board, and the family consulted a lawyer. As of now, NOW
has no active bulletin board on their site.
For victims of feminist malice to successfully fight back is
another new development. For example, in response to a public
outcry on behalf of Sommers, an official in the Bush
administration issued a letter that amounted to an apology. If
Sommers had been male, however, it is not clear whether the
gesture would have occurred.
Men have been so maligned by our society that they are not
taken seriously when they protest. The process began in the
mid-70s. In her 1976 book Our Blood, gender feminist Andrea
Dworkin wrote, "Under patriarchy [white male culture], every
woman's son is her potential betrayer and also the inevitable
rapist or exploiter of another woman." This is what the
politically aware mother was supposed to see when she looked
down into the face of her newly born son.
Bias against men has become rampant. Even critics of gender
feminism often embrace a subtle anti-male message: For example,
the belief that women are the victims of domestic violence even
though Department of Justice statistics indicate that each sex
attacks equally.
The bias is absorbed almost by osmosis ... gender feminists
dominate the university system and have done so for over two
decades. Government agencies — especially under Bill Clinton —
offer them mega-tax dollars for gender studies and research. An
uncritical media broadcasts the studies. And so, an anti-male
bias in ideology and methodology trickles downward to those in
the "helping professions," such as the social worker who now
suspects every father to be a potential child abuser.
Warren Farrell — author of The Myth of Male Power, among
other books — has been a strong voice in calling for fairness to
men. Elected three times to the board of NOW in New York City,
Farrell was a feminist hero in the '70s because he epitomized
"the enlightened man," a man who argued for their goals. Farrell
is still enlightened, but NOW no longer deigns to notice,
because he disagrees.
In a recent book challenging men to speak up — "Women Can't
Hear What Men Don't Say" — Farrell distinguishes two forms of
feminism: adolescent and adult. Adolescent feminists focus on
rights while ignoring responsibilities; adult feminists assume
responsibility.
In addition to emphasizing the need for men to speak up,
Farrell urges women to defend the men in their lives against a
campaign of slander. Just as society would protest statements
such as "blacks are violent," so too should people object to
messages such as "men oppress women." In today's political
environment, the voices of women are the only ones that will be
heard. They can create what Farrell calls "a tear" because
dissenting women reveal a damning truth about gender feminism:
The ideology is also anti-woman ... if the woman has a mind of
her own.
As a Christmas present to the men in your life, make a
commitment to stand up for them. Do not tolerate slander
directed toward those you love. The infant son you hold in your
arms is not an inevitable rapist or exploiter of women. The
father who worked every day to make you safe and comfortable is
not an enemy. The husband with whom you are planning a future is
not a part of "the rape culture." They are family, friends and
good neighbors.
To all my readers: Happy Holidays, and good will toward men.
