Today’s political culture wants to polarize everything. You can hardly come across someone on either side of the aisle who is willing to acknowledge what the other side actually believes. If you have ever wondered why political conversations always turn into shouting matches within echo chambers, this polarization is the culprit. Of course, it is easy for a conservative to condemn the feminists who claim all conservatives want to keep women captive in their own homes. Obviously, that is not what anti-feminists actually believe. However, if conservatives want to be really effective, we have to take an introspective look as well.
Without a doubt, most of the biggest names in feminism have no good motives. They think the dynamic between men and women is a zero sum game and they are determined to make sure women “win.” Deeper still, most of them are using feminism as a Trojan horse to force abortion-on-demand at taxpayer expense on all of us. However, your Aunt Suzy or your neighbor or your officemate who claims to be a feminist probably is not a bra-burning fanatic. In all likelihood, she’s just been indoctrinated by the constant barrage of “equal pay” messaging that cascades from the internet, television and radio. She thinks that her choices are either to be a feminist or to be anti-woman.
The next time you talk to a feminist, try a different tactic. Rather than accusing her personally of having bad motives, just have a dialogue about what is meaningful to both of you. Let her know that conservatives want women to have all the choices in the world. Women in America can choose to get married or stay single. They can get a job or stay at home. Feminist leaders want to shame women into thinking that being a full-time homemaker is somehow less honorable than other professions. Their policies call for families with a full-time homemaker to lose important tax benefits which put them on an even playing field with their money-earning counterparts. There’s no need to polarize anything. An honest discussion about feminism will reveal that conservatives are the ones who truly want to empower women.
