Posted by
Playful Walrus on Monday, March 24, 2008 3:40:45 PM
The Los Angeles Times printed some interesting letters about a recent commentary on feminism, which I blogged about here.
Beth Donnelly of Austin, Texas wrote in:
I think Elizabeth Wurtzel's ideas are strange. Would an actual feminist portray a woman choosing to raise her children properly over the supposed opportunities of corporate grind as "opting out"?
Yup. Feminists are all about “choice”, unless you choose what they don’t like.
This writer may be conflicted over whether she should be the madonna or the whore, but I'm having no such internal argument. Women like Wurtzel denigrate what women do and then bemoan the loss of the perky boobs they once allowed to be shown in every half-priced bookstore in America.
It's true, something has gone wrong with the "Girls Gone Wild" thing. But if I look over the top of my paper for only a moment, I see what women are up to: I see real art, healthy families, strong friends and even business leaders.
Exactly.
Robin Mearns of Rancho Palos Verdes, California wrote:
I have news for Wurtzel: This is 2008, and women can accomplish whatever they set out to do. Women were put into boxes in the 1950s, and now Wurtzel is disappointed that they don't want to be in her box.
Precisely!
Did it ever occur to her that women who opt out to raise their children do so because it brings them more fulfillment? Maybe that doesn't advance her agenda, but I thought feminism was about women making their own choices. I had a career before I had my son, and frankly, I don't miss the workforce one bit. Yet she calls that ruining my life. What arrogance.
Bullseye!
I'll tell Wurtzel where she and her feminist lot went wrong. Instead of embracing women's unique qualities, they decided to be just like the worst of men. So, yes, promiscuity, casual sex and "Girls Gone Wild" are the new "world that feminism hath wrought."
I wholeheartedly agree with Ms. Mearns.
Shannon Carreiro of San Diego adds:
The movement allowed itself to be co-opted by the strange and the strident, including women who wanted to eliminate "man" from the language, women who abused men for such acts of civility as opening a door and women who browbeat other women for wanting to be wives and stay-at-home mothers.
Keep up the good work, ladies. Let’s keep things good for men and women who “get it” and not let the men and women who hate each other ruin things for us anymore.