Feminists claim they stand for all women. They argue that their stances benefit all women at all times and that opposing any single one of them is tantamount to being anti-woman. The Women’s March reinforced this thinking by disinviting women’s groups who refused to adhere to leftist orthodoxy.
Finally, a mainstream outlet is allowing someone without a Y chromosome to call them out on their hypocrisy:
Within days of Donald J. Trump’s election, the American left, newly animated in opposition, settled on a rallying cry: “Love trumps hate.” Inherent in the slogan is the idea that Mr. Trump stands for division and discrimination, while his opponents stand for love and inclusion. Nowhere was this sentiment more visible than at the Women’s March on Washington the day after the inauguration.
Though the march was driven by the left, it claimed to speak for women in general, and indeed women of all ages, races and states poured onto the National Mall. Yet lost in the action, then and since, is any sense of what the movement stands for; ultimately, it settled for a sense of what the movement is against: not just a caricature of Mr. Trump as a misogynist hellbent on sending women back to 1950s America, but anything associated with him as well. Perhaps most pointedly, while the Women’s March claimed to stand for love, nonviolence and inclusion, its organizers staunchly refused to extend that “inclusion” to pro-life women.
We cannot overlook the significance of this act, because it reveals a fatal chink in the armor of the new feminist resistance movement: its radical position on abortion. This movement will thus be unable to unite American women because it rejects the position that most American women take on abortion — that it should be completely illegal, or legal but with significant restrictions.
According to the latest Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll, an annual survey of views on abortion, just over half of all women want to see further restrictions on abortion. To millions of women, including young people like myself, this is not just a policy stance; it informs many areas of our lives as women. To us, “resistance” has to include opposition to the lie that freedom can be bought with the blood of our preborn children.
We reject the notion that we need free abortion on demand without apology. We are offended by the news media’s belligerent efforts to portray the pro-abortion movement as normal, while turning a blind eye to the millions of us who believe that women deserve something better than abortion. We reject a vitriolic minority claiming to speak on our behalf and excluding us from the “women’s movement.”
The primary issue with feminism isn’t the idea that men and women should be treated equally, but that feminism only accepts leftist solutions to any and all issues. There’s no room for anything that’s not leftist.
The op-ed’s author, Lauren Enriquez, pretty much nails it, though her focus on abortion is understandable considering her focus is on pro-life issues. But feminism’s focus on purely leftist solutions extends beyond abortion.
Still, Enriquez is right. If feminism is going to claim to stand for all women, it might be nice if they actually did.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member