Gloria Steinem said that few people want to identify as “feminists” because of Rush Limbaugh. Seriously.
Late last week, the feminist activist was promoting her new book on “CBS This Morning” when she was asked why she believed people don’t want to identify as feminists. Host Norah O’Donnell noted that actress Meryl Streep won’t use the label and prefers the term “humanist.”
Steinem interrupted O’Donnell to claim that Limbaugh has diminished the term by talking “about ‘feminazis’ every day.”
The New York Post editorial board sees a different reason.
“Too many folks see ‘feminist’ as implying not just equality, but other ideas — that the sexes are the same, or should be; that women who stay home to raise the kids are making a bad choice,” the editorial board wrote. “Feminism got tied to one side in the abortion wars and countless other issues. It’s hard now to see it as more than another arm of the ‘progressive’ agenda.”
The editorial board added that those who brandish the “feminist” label appear to respect the choices of some women — especially women who espouse liberal beliefs — more than others.
I can say personally that is the reason I wouldn’t use the term as it applies today, especially since I’ve never listened to Rush Limbaugh.
The bottom line is that most Americans believe in equal rights, but the discussion has moved away from equal rights to equal outcomes. Men and women currently have equal rights, but not equal outcomes. The outrage brigade can’t point to a single actual right that men have (in America, at least) that women don’t.
Many women don’t want to be associated with today’s feminists because of comments like these — comments that tell women that if they don’t adhere to what women like Steinem say is acceptable, then they’re just mindless Limbaugh drones. That’s insulting, not empowering.
