Antifeminism

For the Japanese band, see Anti Feminism.
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Antifeminism is opposition to feminism in some or all of its forms. Modern antifeminists say that the feminist movement has achieved its aims and now seeks higher status for women than for men.[1][2][3]

Contents

History

In the nineteenth century, the centerpiece of antifeminism was opposition to women's suffrage. Opponents of women's entry into institutions of higher learning argued that education was too great a physical burden on women. In ''Sex in Education: or, a Fair Chance for the Girls (1873), Harvard professor Edward Clarke predicted that if women went to college, their brains would grow bigger and heavier, and their wombs would atrophy.[4] He based his prediction on the observation that college-educated women had fewer children than non-college-educated women. Other antifeminists opposed women's entry into the labor force, or their right to join unions, to sit on juries, or to obtain birth control and control of their sexuality.[5]

Contesting the term

Writers such as Camille Paglia, Christina Hoff Sommers, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Katie Roiphe and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, who define themselves as feminists, have been labeled "antifeminists" by others[6][7] because of their positions regarding oppression and lines of thought within feminism.[8] Authors Patai and Koertge argue that by labeling these women "anti-feminists", the intention is to silence them and prevent any debate on the state of feminism.[9]

Antifeminist stances

Some antifeminists argue that feminism has resulted in changes to society's previous norms relating to sexuality, which they see as detrimental to traditional values or certain religious beliefs. For example, the acceptability of homosexuality, pornography, and casual sex are mentioned as negative consequences of feminism.[10][11]

Others oppose women's entry into the workforce, political office, and the voting process, as well as the lessening of male authority in families. Antifeminists argue that a change of women's roles is a destructive force that endangers the family, or is contrary to religious morals. For example, Paul Gottfried maintains that the change of women's "has been a social disaster that continues to take its toll on the family" and contributed to a "descent by increasingly disconnected individuals into social chaos".[12]

See also

Further reading

Literature about antifeminism

Antifeminist literature

References

  1. ^ Wattenberg, B (1994). "Has Feminism Gone Too Far?". MenWeb. http://www.menweb.org/paglsomm.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-30. 
  2. ^ Pizzey, Erin (1999). "How The Women's Movement Taught Women to Hate Men". Fathers for Life. http://www.fathersforlife.org/pizzey/how_women_were_taught_to_hate_men.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-30. 
  3. ^ Janice Shaw Crouse (2006). "What Friedan Wrought". Concerned Women for America. http://www.beverlylahayeinstitute.org/articledisplay.asp?id=10088&department=BLI&categoryid=dotcommentary. Retrieved 2006-09-30. 
  4. ^ Clarke, Edward H. (1873). Sex and Education. Wildside. p. 96. ISBN 9780809501700. http://books.google.com/?id=_MceYURa3VcC&pg=PA10&dq=Sex+and+Education+1873#. 
  5. ^ Kimmel, Michael (2004). "Antifeminism". In Kimmel, Michael. Men and Masculinities: A Social, Cultural, and Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 35–7. 
  6. ^ Judith Stacey, Is Academic Feminism an Oxymoron?, Signs, Vol. 25, No. 4, Feminisms at a Millennium. (Summer, 2000), pp. 1189-1194
  7. ^ Elizabeth Kamarck Minnich, Review: 'Feminist Attacks on Feminisms: Patriarchy's Prodigal Daughters', Feminist Studies, Vol. 24, No. 1. (Spring, 1998), pp. 159-175
  8. ^ BITCHfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine,by Margaret Cho (Foreword), Lisa Jervis (Editor), Andi Zeisler (Editor), 2006
  9. ^ Patai and Koertge, Professing Feminism: Education and Indoctrination in Women's Studies, (2003)
  10. ^ Mary A. Kassian, The Feminist Mistake (2005) ISBN 1581345704
  11. ^ Carrie L. Lukas, The politically incorrect guide to women, sex, and feminism, Regnery Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1596980036, 9781596980037
  12. ^ Gottfried, Paul (2001). "The Trouble With Feminism". LewRockwell.com. http://www.lewrockwell.com/gottfried/gottfried9.html. Retrieved 2006-09-30. 

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