An interesting article. Paglia thinks aloud:
…Is feminism intrinsically a movement of the left, or can there be a feminism based on conservative or religious principles?
Susan B. Anthony (wikipedia) was Christian, mind you, and extremely chaste:
“…feminist history has insufficiently acknowledged the degree to which the founders of the woman suffrage movement—that is, the drive to win votes for women—were formed or influenced by religion.”
Agreed…especially when so many feminists have embraced Marxism, pseudo-Marxism and continental philosophy as driving ideas.
..feminist theory has failed to acknowledge how much the emergence of modern feminism owes to capitalism and the industrial revolution”
In reading Paglia, one can see how difficult it is for thoughtful, independent-minded people (men or women) to confront collective anger, ideology, unclear reasoning and groupthink…though I’m not sure her own reasoning is sound.
Speaking for myself, it’s difficult to be sympathetic to a movement that attempts to exclude me by definition and through its actions can threaten many of my freedoms.
Addition: An interesting article from Britain (where socialism is a more powerful force) against feminism’s shortcomings: anti-men bias, the belief that the personal is polical, the consequent state intervention…
I agreed with you