Conservative presents critique of feminist movement

When some people think of a feminist, they think of a left-wing, radical man-hater. In a recent poll, three out of four described the word "feminist" as an insult. In her speech last night, Janice Crouse explained the reasons for this phenomenon.

Crouse is a senior fellow for Concerned Women for America, the largest women's public policy organization in the country, and a speechwriter for former President George H. W. Bush. She discussed the intersection of conservatism and feminism in modern times in an event sponsored by the Organization of Women Leaders and the College Republicans.

Crouse, a strong conservative, argued feminism has lost touch with mainstream women.

"Women are growing more and more uncomfortable with the current feminist movement," she said.

She referred often to a "second wave of feminism," ushered in by feminists such as Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. Crouse said that wave often hated men, focused on competition with men and didn't care about the breakdown of the family.

Crouse paralleled the feminist movement in the West with the communist movement in the East. Both movements were fueled by discontent with inequality, she said, and both had utopian ideals. Though communism's ideas sounded inspiring, it actually ended in totalitarianism and the deaths of 100 million people.

Crouse also linked the goal of sexual liberation in the feminist movement to the high divorce, abortion and cohabitation rates in the 21st century.

"Modern feminism ignores the relationship between decisions and choices and consequences," she stated.

"Most women want to love and be loved, they want freedom and opportunity, but most are not really willing to have their ambition harm their relationships or damage their children," Crouse claimed.

She challenged the audience of approximately 40 students, both male and female, to usher in a new wave of feminism, to reconstruct it to focus not only on professional success but also on a fulfilling personal life and on traditional family values.

Jane McClintock '07, who considers herself a more radical feminist, said she could find some common ground with Crouse even though she has very different political opinions.

"I thought this was very interesting, because it's a viewpoint that I don't usually see, and I agree on the fundamental goal of equality," McClintock said.