Hegemonic
Feminism
May 19, 2002
Psychologists have come up with a new
epithet to describe men who are too macho: "hegemonic masculinity."
Like other concepts of new-age psychology, psychologists can't really
define "hegemonic masculinity," but with a knowing smile, they say it
has something to do with the way that alpha males impose their way of
thinking on others.
So let's put the shoe on the other foot.
Let's look at some statements by feminists on the topic of marriage
and child-rearing:
- "No woman should be authorized
to stay at home to raise her children. Society should be totally
different. Women should not have that choice, precisely because
if there is such a choice, too many women will make that one." --
Simone de Beauvoir, quoted in The Saturday Review, June 14, 1974,
p. 18
- "You become a semi-nonperson when
you get married." -- Gloria Steinem
- Heterosexual intercourse is the
pure, formalized expression of contempt for women's bodies." --
Andrea Dworkin
- Since marriage constitutes slavery
for women, it is clear that the women's movement must concentrate
on attacking this institution. Freedom for women cannot be won without
the abolition of marriage." -- Sheila Cronan
- "Being a housewife is an illegitimate
profession... The choice to serve and be protected and plan towards
being a family-maker is a choice that shouldn't be. The heart of
radical feminism is to change that." -- Vivian Gornick, University
of Illinois, "The Daily Illini," April 25, 1981
- "The end of the institution of
marriage is a necessary condition for the liberation of women."
-- from "The Declaration of Feminism," November 1971
- "In order to raise children with
equality, we must take them away from families and communally raise
them." -- Dr. Mary Jo Bane, associate director of the Wellesley
College Center for Research on Women
In the above statements, feminist leaders
characterize housewives as "non-persons" who are in an "illegitimate
profession."
Both Simone de Beauvoir and Vivian Gornick
explicitly call for removing women's "choice" to be a homemaker. Two
women forcefully call for "the abolition of marriage" and "the end of
the institution of marriage." And Mary Jo Bane advocates the removal
of children from their mothers and fathers.
It is important to note that these feminists
are not merely advocating that women should have the option to pursue
a career. Rather, they denigrate women who want to get married and demonize
the concept of marriage.
In short, they are advocating the elimination
of women's choice to become a wife and mother. That's hegemonic feminism.
