{"id":18528,"date":"2018-01-04T16:13:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T16:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/?p=18528"},"modified":"2018-01-10T23:03:56","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T23:03:56","slug":"fruits-of-feminism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/?p=18528","title":{"rendered":"Fruits of Feminism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Aging, Sagging Fruits of Feminism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patrice Lewis shares lament from single woman longing for life\u2019s milestones<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ain\u2019t feminism great? It\u2019s opened so many doors for women. No longer held back by the male patriarchy, women are free to compete in the most cut-throat professions, to seek the most prestigious careers, to run for the highest political offices. Women today are far more educated, well-read, erudite and independent than their sad, sorry sisters of 50 years ago. Wonderful, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Feminists got what they wanted, but \u2013 and I know this comes as a shocking surprise \u2013 they aren\u2019t happy.<\/p>\n

Yet happiness, according to many progressive sources, was never a goal of feminism. Instead, feminism is meant to increase women\u2019s \u201ccontrol, self-respect and privacy\u201d and construct women as \u201chealthy, independent and assertive.\u201d Some saw women\u2019s liberation as an \u201coppressed people raising their consciousness toward something that is the other side of anger, something bright and smooth and cool.\u201d Feminism allows women to reach their \u201cfull potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dismissing as flawed a 2006 study that determined a \u201ctraditional\u201d model (with primary male breadwinner) made women happier, Pamela Haag noted in the Huffington Post<\/span><\/a>: \u201cBut, more to the point, the [study\u2019s] headlines blame feminism for not achieving a goal that wasn\u2019t feminism\u2019s to begin with. It\u2019s like saying pole vaulting has failed to solve the health-care crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there you have it, folks. Feminism was never meant to make women happy!<\/p>\n

I supposed this is good, because feminists sure aren\u2019t (happy, that is). They got what they wanted \u2013 independence \u2013 and it appears they don\u2019t like it. They remain bitter, vitriolic, angry, hostile and \u201cinsane\u201d (that adjective was my husband\u2019s contribution).<\/p>\n

They have figuratively and literally divorced themselves from the benchmarks of womanhood: Husband, children, domesticity, hearth, home. They chose instead to concentrate on their education, their careers, and their eternal and imaginary fight against male dominance.<\/p>\n

But once in a while, the fa\u00e7ade of unified \u201csisterhood against the patriarchy\u201d cracks, and a glimpse of naked raw emotion oozes out.<\/p>\n

Consider this heartbreaking essay by a feminist named Aim\u00e9e Lutkin entitled \u201cWhen Can I Say I\u2019ll Be Alone Forever?<\/a>\u201d <\/span>in which she mourns her \u201cstrange single purgatory\u201d:<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know that it really matters why I\u2019m single, nor am I particularly interested in the eternal back and forth over who has it better: couples, singles, the hardworking polyamorous \u2013 we all suffer and benefit from our respective situations. \u2026 Looking ahead, if I really am riding this train to the end of the tracks, I don\u2019t see any of the grand events in my future that help ground and timeline human existence, the events being in love provides. After my best friend got married she told me she cried all the next day, overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection from everyone she knew. She deserves it all, but years later, still single, I\u2019ve realized that there will be no similar ceremonious acknowledgment of my life or my relationships with friends and family. Until I\u2019m dead, I guess, but that won\u2019t be very fun for me. Anchoring my existence without the signposts of commitment, or children, is a lot of work, and sometimes I feel myself giving up on it, drifting off into a gray directionless space in danger of floating completely away.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Correct me if I\u2019m wrong, but this strikes me as a lament for the very things feminists purport to be against: the warmth of domesticity, the love of a good man, the legacy of children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously not a \u2018good life,\u2019 as Aim\u00e9e is miserable,\u201d notes Lee Jackson<\/span><\/a> with deadly precision.<\/p>\n

The feminist worldview she still espouses and advocates for is leading her to the grave lonely and childless. Marriage and children are indeed \u2018anchors\u2019 of existence, giving meaning, purpose and focus outside one\u2019s own thoughts. She instinctively knows what she\u2019s missing, yet cannot find it. Keep your daughters from the poison of feminism so they don\u2019t end up in the same state as Miss Lutkin. Your progressive worldview will never love and cherish you, no matter how committed you may be to it. It will never hug your leg tightly and say \u2018I love you, mommy.\u2019 It won\u2019t be there to hold your hand in your old age. The fruits of feminism are loneliness, bitterness and a lasting heartache that Merlot and cats can never fill.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So what happens when a feminist ages?<\/p>\n

Many of us fondly remember the sagging cheeks and silver hair of our grandmother. She baked us treats, read us stories on her lap, lavished us with affection and kissed us goodnight in the guest bed on those cozy sleepovers when Mom and Dad went off on a special overnight trip.<\/p>\n

But elderly feminists \u2013 if they\u2019ve stayed pure to the ideal that women need men like fish need bicycles \u2013 have no such reputation. Their sagging cheeks and silver hair frames a bitter mouth and angry eyes. They\u2019ll somehow blame the \u201cpatriarchy\u201d for their lifetime of spinsterish solitude, while envying the younger feminists who are out marching the streets for free abortions. But they can\u2019t join the march because they can\u2019t move fast enough with their walkers, particularly so soon after their hip replacement.<\/p>\n

So they\u2019ll stay home and stew, lamenting the fact that no one remembers or respects their sacrifices while still bitterly lambasting the traditionalist women turncoats who are honored and loved and cared for by their families and children.<\/p>\n

But who cares? With a lifetime of sisterhood under their belts, these aging feminists can take solace in their supposed solidarity. Arguing against the need for happiness as an outcome of feminism, Pamela Haag concludes: \u201cI pull out Gloria Steinem\u2019s 1973 essay, \u2018Sisterhood,\u2019 from my private archive. She wrote, \u2018I have met brave women who are exploring the outer edge of human possibility, with no history to guide them and with a courage to make themselves vulnerable that I find moving beyond words.\u2019 Cool. That beats happy any day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have at, sister. I\u2019m glad you found what you were looking for.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2017, Patrice Lewis WND<\/a><\/span>-All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Here another interesting post: Will Manliness Make A Comeback In<\/a> 2018?<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

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The Aging, Sagging Fruits of Feminism Patrice Lewis shares lament from single woman longing for life\u2019s milestones Ain\u2019t feminism great? It\u2019s opened so many doors for women. No longer held back by the male patriarchy, women are free to compete in the most cut-throat professions, to seek the most prestigious careers, to run for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":18554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-family","8":"wp-image-borders","9":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/feminsim-23456.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4bgnN-4OQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18528"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18556,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18528\/revisions\/18556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}