Shermer tries to fix feminism again

Shermer’s on a roll with the feminism thing. He’s not saying anything you could call new, but…well by golly he’s saying it. He’s got a theme. His theme is that the degenerated feminists of today are whiny weaklings compared to their awesome get-it-done predecessors many decades ago. I still say it’s suspiciously convenient to admire feminists who were active more than a century ago while pouring scorn on the ones who are around now to make nuisances of themselves. I’m pretty sure there were plenty of men more than a century ago who didn’t find their contemporary feminists quite so inspiring.

Be that as it may – it’s familiar stuff, and it’s clueless. It’s Ben Carson – pull yourselves up by your bootstraps. Stop complaining and just try harder. That’s how to feminist the right way.

Libertarianism in a nutshell. Don’t focus on anything but your own personal success. Don’t talk about the institutions and ways of thinking that hold back a whole class of people, just Do What You Want. Don’t be slowed down or exhausted by obstacles, just forge ahead like a superhuman. Don’t object to sexist hiring practices, just try ten times as hard as Normal People have to. Don’t let those unwanted pregnancies get you down, just drop the kid and then give it to…er…someone else, and get back to work, until the next one.

Above all don’t give a shit about anyone but you, ever. If you can make it, it doesn’t matter that millions of others can’t. Pay no attention when they point out all the obstacles in their way, because that’s just complaining. Never talk about patriarchal rules and expectations that limit women’s opportunities no matter how hard individual women try to ignore them. That would be political, that would involve solidarity, and we can’t have that, can we.

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