Challenging Eve

Carrie Lukas, Washington-based author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex and Feminism," was keynote speaker when the college-based Network of Enlightened Women (NeW) held its second annual national conference on Saturday.

"NeW has the potential to do one of the most important things for the conservative movement, which is to change the climate on college campuses," said Miss Lukas, a senior fellow at the Goldwater Institute and vice president for policy and economics for the Independent Women's Forum.

"The feminist movement has done damage to our conception of women. It has done even more damage to our conception of men," she told attendees.

"NeW is first and foremost a book club, so having an author speak was particularly appropriate," NeW Founder Karin Agness, a graduate of the University of Virginia (UVA), told Inside the Beltway. "A few of our chapters read her book this past semester."

Three chapter presidents spoke at the conference, including Christa Byker of UVA, Sara Byrd of Mary Washington University, and Catherine Smith of Arizona State University (ASU). The chapter of the year award was presented by NeW to ASU for its success in "standing up for conservative principles and encouraging students to challenge the liberal campus atmosphere."

The chapter during the past year had read "What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us: Why Happiness Eludes the Modern Woman," by Danielle Crittenden, and also challenged Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" by distributing handouts.

Miss Agness now counts 15 NeW chapters nationwide, with more in the formation stages.

"Radical feminists dominate college campuses and NeW is a club for women who realize that those radical feminists do not speak for all women," she told us.