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Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Feminist Nutbars Have Problems RecruitingHere's a terrific article by a young college student on her experiences at a "Young Feminist" gathering: It was painfully apparent that at the Young Feminist Summit, a majority of attendees were at least well into their 50s. I would argue that young women like me, a 19-year-old Bucknell University sophomore, aren’t turned off by the political aspect of feminism. Many college students are actively involved in politics, but we are reluctant to join a movement dedicated to bashing men, degrading our bodies, and obsessing with sex.
Amidst NOW’s “soap opera of feminism,” which included braless women, booths with banners declaring “I love female orgasms,” women who used to be men, current and former prostitutes, open displays of intimate affection, people referring to NOW President Kim Gandy as “my leader,” and an affirmative reply to a question asking if clothing is optional, the “veteran feminists” just couldn’t seem to figure out what was scaring off young people.
The “I’m Not a Feminist, but…” Workshop was designed to explore feminist stereotypes. The audience determined that the average person thinks feminists are butch, sex-crazed, pro-abortion lesbians who never want to get married or have babies. If NOW members want young women -- and the rest of the world -- to respect them and their ideas and not accept these stereotypes, they ought not to perpetuate them.
Based on my exposure to feminists at Bucknell, the Conference, however, was exactly as I expected it to be. Women with spiked hair and tattoos walked around clad in tee shirts reading “I love my vibrator.” They detailed inane grievances, like the fact that men get more magazines than women get in prisons. Many also showed their age by expressing anger that back in the '60s, everyone did drugs and that generation turned out fine, but now people spend years and years in jail for using illegal substances.
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