Is feminism the root cause of America's (and the rest of the West's) problems?

Continued from the previous entry Are Some Conservative Targets More Important than Others?: A (too outlandish?) theory of mine discussed at "Webster's":

Terry Morris said...
[...]
Is feminism the root cause of America's problems? I don't know. I do tend to believe that feminism and leftism, multiculturalism and all the other isms that are destroying America are all closely connected. Did feminism (the empowerment of women) kick it all off? Quite possibly.

Your theories are very interesting. Thanks again for the great comments.

-Terry
September 2, 2008 4:06 AM

Terry Morris said...
Nora's comment is so lengthy and wide ranging that I may have to address her points separately in separate posts. For the time being let me address this,

Nora writes:

(And don't you dare telling me that the husbands-to-be want anything like that as well!) Or the obscene prom-cult, or the even more obscene beauty pageant cult, where teenagers look like seasoned expensive hookers and little girls just grown out of their nappies like cheap hookers. Anybody who says that fathers want anything like that for their daughters needs his head examined.

I can't speak for other "husbands-to-be", but when I was one I definately didn't want all of that. Nor can I speak for other fathers, but again, I certainly don't want that for any of my daughters, nor does my wife.

But more than anyone who says that fathers want this for their daughters needing their heads examined, fathers who actually do want this for their daughters most definately need their heads examined. They probably oughta be institutionalized.

Everytime I see one of those commercials late at night advertising the "Girls gone wild" videos, or even think about them, I simply get sick to my stomach as I'm always reminded that these girls have dads and brothers and uncles and grandfathers, none of which, if he's halfway in his right mind, could ever approve of such.
September 2, 2008 4:33 AM

The_Editrix said...
Did feminism (the empowerment of women) kick it all off? Quite possibly.
Definitely!

Discussing feminism is akin to opening Pandora's Box.
September 2, 2008 5:04 AM

Terry Morris said...
Nora, I've said many many times that women can be the most ruthless people on the face of the earth. They can also be the most loving, caring people on the face of the earth. But your comments about women seeking to regain their ancient power over life seems to indicate that you believe with me that women have a ruthless base nature about them - a nature men have nothing on, incidentally - that, unless men exercise a restraining power over, will eventually be let loose in all its ugliness and fury.

I personally think it's more radical to say what I just said above about the ruthlessness of women, than it is to say that feminism is primarily responsible for our current levels of hedonism.

When I trace America's history back, I can't not notice that the ratification of the fourteenth amendment paved the road to woman's suffrage in America, and that America has been in a steadily increasing state of decline ever since.

But is it your opinion that feminism was responsible for the fourteenth amendment?...
September 2, 2008 6:23 AM

Call Me Mom said...
Well, don't I feel special now, as a woman who had no engagement ring, borrowed a blue dress from her mother in which to get married and got married at the local courthouse, followed by dinner with close family at a restaurant. I have to agree with the_editrix that the wedding culture is way out of hand in our nation.

However, getting back to the point of this post, I have always held that the only point at which a woman has a choice in whether or not to give birth, is when she chooses to engage in those activities whose natural result, given the Lord's blessing, is conception. (This opens up the whole rape/incest can of worms, but to my way of thinking, the lack of "choice" in those instances is not the baby's fault. He/She is just as much a victim of the rapist/incestuous party as the mother and perhaps more so. The mother, after giving birth, can choose to give the child up and put it all behind her, but the child can never forget that they are the product of a violent act.)

I am wondering how you view the latest announcement that Mrs. Palin's unmarried daughter is pregnant. Of course, this news was only released to quell the rumors that her youngest child is actually her daughters. This gets me thinking. The rumor was that the daughter of the VP candidate had a child out of wedlock and that affects the VP's credibility in character issues. So the solution is to release news that the VP's child is currently pregnant with a child out of wedlock. Mrs. Palin's baby couldn't have been the result of an out of wedlock pregnancy for her daughter because her daughter is currently pregnant out of wedlock. This makes Mrs. Palin look better than the rumor, how?
September 2, 2008 1:04 PM

The_Editrix said...
CMM, you say that, different from its mother, a child conceived through rape can never forget that it is "the product of a violent act". That is true. But only because there will always be some grown-up heartless moron who is unable to keep his (or her) trap shut.
September 2, 2008 1:46 PM

Call Me Mom said...
Editrix,
You are right in that.
However, I tend to believe that the truth is better in all circumstances than a lie. Which would be ultimately more harmful to such a child/person - to tell them the truth right off with the reassurance that God wanted them here so much He went to extraordinary lengths to get them born, or to cover it up and let "some grown-up heartless moron" use it against them later?
September 2, 2008 1:54 PM

The_Editrix said...
...you believe with me that women have a ruthless base nature about them...

I do indeed. I used to work semi-professionally with horses when I was younger, now with gundogs, and they are living with me in the house. Everybody who has closely watched animals will have lost any delusion about female frailty and submission. Different from human females, they just can't put on an act, act coquettish or coy. They are sheer and undiluted ruthlessness.

I personally think it's more radical to say what I just said above about the ruthlessness of women, than it is to say that feminism is primarily responsible for our current levels of hedonism.

It is indeed. I, personally, find the word "hedonism" much too weak for the current state of society anyway.

When I trace America's history back, I can't not notice that the ratification of the fourteenth amendment paved the road to woman's suffrage in America, and that America has been in a steadily increasing state of decline ever since.

But is it your opinion that feminism was responsible for the fourteenth amendment?...

Terry, I am not knowledgeable enough about American history to have an informed opinion here, so all I can do is to speculate. On one hand, women, with their mixture of ruthlessness and sentimentality have always been at the forefront of any "progressive" cause. Harriet Beecher Stowe and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" certainly boosted the abolitionist movement considerably.

On the other hand, I don't see how due process could be denied to the former slaves for any prolonged period of time after the decision was made not to deport them to Africa.

But, to quote Obama, the question is really above my pay grade.

It would be interesting to speculate whether woman's suffrage (helped by fourteenth amendment) INEVITABLY led to gender feminism of the destructive sort we are now suffering.
September 2, 2008 2:45 PM

The_Editrix said...
CMM, I do not have any children and I may be wrong. But I seriously think that a child should have already reached a certain level of maturity before it is told. But whatever, I like the concept of reassuring them "that God wanted them here so much He went to extraordinary lengths to get them born" very much indeed. If a child is mature enough to understand that, it is mature enough to be told about his origin.
September 2, 2008 2:57 PM

Call Me Mom said...
Editrix,
I concur with the required level of maturity. I am also in agreement with you about the ruthlessness of women.
September 2, 2008 3:20 PM

Make sure that you don't skip the interesting side-issue about children conceived by rape and the excellent point Call Me Mom makes.