Feminism

A friend was discussing Christian fiction the other day and reminded me of the Frank Peretti books. I read the first two years ago, though for the life of me I can't recall why I read two. Reading the first was enough.

The discussion was about how Christian fiction tends to demonize feminism. The antagonist is often a feminist, who is sometimes gay, always pro-abortion, and possibly into witchcraft. It all sounds like a Pat Robertson joke, I know.

The Peretti books certainly did that--as well as demonizing anything non-Christian or non-conservative. But the conservative attack on feminism really bothers me. I am frankly a little tired of it. It galls me everytime I see someone like Michelle Malkin or Ann Coulter (fascist bitch that she is) belittle feminism, I wonder if they even see the irony. If their conservative backers had their way, Malkin and Coulter would never be the jet-setting public speakers and authors that they are today.

When I teach, I often ask my class if anyone self-identifies as a feminist. Sometimes I am one of the few to raise my hand. Many of the women often say that they might agree with some feminist ideas, but are not "feminazis." Thanks, Rush, for adding that thoughtful term to our vocabulary. When I ask how many support equal pay for equal work, or the idea that women can pursue whatever degree or occupation they want, and everyone agrees. But they don't identify them with feminist ideas.

I am sure part of that is the fault of certain well-known feminists, but most of it has come from what the backlash. So, we get national figures like Phyllis Schaffly and Beverley LaHaye lecturing women on why they should be in the home. Without feminism, they would be ignored. And those college student women are there because feminism argued that women could attend more than a teaching college or study nursing. Nothing in the world wrong with those professions--in fact they are great and needed--but neither are they uniquely feminine.

Thanks to feminism, people rarely comment that their doctor is a woman, or that their attorney is female. There is no need to make a big deal about the woman professor or CPA. We don't even blink at those, and thank God for that. Yet, somehow feminism continues to be disparaged.

The conservative christian community is not doing anyone a service by bashing feminism. No, there is nothing wrong with staying home with kids. I hate to tell them this, but I know feminists who have done that, just as I know feminists who oppose abortion. In fact, I have yet to meet a feminist who was "anti-family," because all of them had families and were concerned about the same issues that self-proclaimed non-feminist women are. They don't want their kids to be sexualized too early, they worry about crime and drugs. They want their kids to have a good education and a supportive environment where they learn the skills and values necessary to be productive citizens. Where is the "nazi" part of that word?

So, unless you want women to only have the choice of marriage and kids, to not have professional aspirations or options, to not speak out on the issues of the day, to not have any authority or voice--you need to stop bashing feminism. Now.