The academic feminist left has scared the dickens out of mainstream men and
women for so long, the liberal establishment is terrified to contradict
feminists' nigh-upon-theological conviction that female authenticity is
measured by one's blind loyalty to left-wing talking points. This is a
version of the Marxist doctrine of "false consciousness," which holds that
you aren't an authentic member of the proletariat unless you agree with
Marxism.
It works like this: If you don't agree with feminist scolds, you're not a
real woman, even if you're a very feminine working mom. But even if you're
an actual man - never mind a childless feminist who looks like a Bulgarian
weightlifter in drag - you're a "real woman" solely because you nod your
head like a windup clapping monkey every time you read the latest editorial
in Ms. Recall how they christened Bill Clinton the "first female president,"
too.
But here's the fun part. Feminists are hooked on their own Kool-Aid; they
actually believe the stuff they say. The shrill, angry women you see on
MSNBC claiming to speak for all women actually think they do. But they
don't. They speak for a few left-leaning women in faculty lounges, editorial
boardrooms and that's about it.
Mainstream liberals have been in captivity for so long, eagerly accepting
their ritual beatings, that they've gotten Stockholm Syndrome and convinced
themselves that Gloria Steinem and Co. are the authentic voices of women
everywhere.
Stop laughing.
The reality is that there is an actual reality out there, and it doesn't
look anything like what feminists see beyond the rims of their ideological
blinders.
For instance, immediately after the Palin announcement, the priestesses not
only ruled it "sexist" for McCain to pick a woman but also said it was
strategically dumb - "insulting to women!" - to think any real women would
switch support from the beatified Obama to that old devil McCain.
Well, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, there's been a 20-point
swing among white women from Obama-Biden to McCain-Palin. Did this
"ideological brain rape" suddenly induce an epidemic of false consciousness?
Of course not. Nor are women mindlessly switching loyalties because there's
a woman on the ticket. What the Palin pick has demonstrated, however, is
that the Feminist-Industrial Complex is a fraud. Disagreeing with
self-described feminists doesn't mean you're anti-woman. Usually it just
means you're sensible.
And for that lesson alone, we should all be grateful.