Giving Up the Driver's Seat: Where Feminists Got it Wrong

May I begin by saying that I believe the women's movement was originally inspired. Anyone who knows me (and my mouth) would have no trouble envisioning me at the head of the suffragette movement.

I believe women are equal to men. I just don't believe we are the same as men, nor should we be; but sadly, somewhere along the line, our movement was hijacked by those who do. More ironic is the fact that these same women seem to despise men, blaming them for the ills and subordination of our sex; however, when it comes to asserting our rights they seem to think that requires giving up our feminine nature and playing the "men's game."

They insist that we are not only equal to the opposite sex, but, in fact, we are the same. Just look at a 1996 issue of Elle magazine that "urges us to 'deconstruct the stereotypes of gender,' reminding us that ''femininity is a social construct' and that 'men have defined femininity since its inception.' Since men have defined femininity since its inception, there is only one thing left for the liberated woman to do: become masculine, of course" (Shalit, 107).

This outrageous lie was made worse when combined with the sexual revolution. Now women are "free" from sexual mores of the past. Not only can we jump in and out of bed with whomever we choose, keeping score with notches on our own bedposts, but we are expected to. There must be "something wrong" with the "prudes" who insist on saving themselves for something special. As early as the late 1800's, early feminist Madame Celine Renooz called "sexual modesty 'an outrage to [the female] sex,' really just 'masculine shame attributed to woman'" (Shalit, 111).

Lucky for us we have shaken off those hideous shackels of sexual modesty! See, to be feminine and powerful in the culture of today means that we are instructed by Cosmo on the "203 Ways to Drive a Man Wild in Bed." We are taught how to "accept and love" our bodies by shortening our skirts and showing more skin ala Jennifer Lopez and even given guides on oral-sex how-tos at student health offices on college campuses. Oh, yes. We can be just as casual as men about sex. So casual, in fact that we require nothing of them and give them exactly what they want. We hook-up, split the check, and have sex with no strings attached. Tell me: Who's in the driver's seat now?

*Works Cited: Shalit, Wendy. A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue. Touchstone, 1999.

(Nope. Not done yet. Oh, what I wouldn't give for uninterrupted thinking time. But it's Griffin's turn on the computer apparently.)