Feminism is not a progressive liberal movement. It was initially established to end any and all forms of gender discrimination. This is something my three conservative daughters and one liberal daughter all embrace and I support. It is the essence of the extension of classical liberalism (not progressive liberalism) to women’s rights. Simply said women have all the same rights and privileges as men… no more and no less.
Some feminists have attempted to take this movement and politicize it into a tool of the Democratic party. It no longer stands for women rights, but rather a way to motivate women voters to support Democratic candidates. And so several feminist organizations have barred women from participating in various events if they don’t agree with the political ideology of the progressive liberal movement. In doing so these feminists have alienated half of all women in this country simply because they don’t share the same ideology as the progressive liberal movement and undermined their movement core values.
It is time women reject these actions as political and not in the interest of women. Women are not “pawns” to be stuffed into an identity group and then used on the political chessboard. This is another form of sexism and manipulation. Feminism above all else should defend a woman’s right to think and act on her own behalf rather than pressure women to conform to a given ideology. If women are pressured to conform then how does that promote equal civil liberties and independence of thought.
On the Biden issue, women should not be told to support Biden or Reade. A true feminist would argue both should have the right to give their side of the incident and bring forth the facts and then let the people including other women decide for themselves how they feel about what happened. Feminism is not “picking a side based on gender” or “based on politics”, but reserving the right for each woman to be an individual capable of deciding for herself what she thinks.
Biden should be considered innocent until proven guilty, the same standard that should have applied to Kavanaugh.
Gender should not determine truth. No matter how many Democratic women wanted it to be so at the time of Kavanaugh. The same applies to Biden, no matter how many conservative women want it to be so at the present.
But just as the public heard all the testimony and facts that could be brought out during the Kavanuagh hearing (while some claimed the hearing was rushed, no new evidence has arisen since then suggesting there was nothing to wait for), this same standard should apply to Biden. Let him be put under an intense interview by unfriendly people seeking the truth just as Kavanaugh was. Let everyone including every woman hear him speak under this intense scrutiny and the same goes for Reade.
Reade is asking is her “day in court”, all women should support her in this… and by the way… all men should also. Men should not protect Biden because he is a man. Biden’s claim should be we protect him from being deemed guilty without a “day in court” or simply because he is male. So I appeal to all “true” feminists to put down the ideology. Demand both Reade and Biden be subject to tough questioning by someone prepared to pursue the truth. Any other outcome is a travesty to equal justice and that is a travesty to feminism.
