An Introduction to Feminism

The second form of Feminism is sometimes called the “second-wave,” while I
prefer Radical Feminism. This form emerged in the 1960’s and sought (quite
consciously) to establish functional equality between men and women. According
to its proponents, women not only can do everything that men can do, but they should
do everything men can do. This sort of Feminism has been incredibly damaging to
the culture and its members.

Many people agree that this “second-wave” of Feminism was launched by Betty
Friedan in 1963 through her book, The Feminine Mystique. In her book,
Friedan argued that the traditional notion of women finding value and purpose
in being a wife and raising kids was incorrect. Rather, women should find their
identity in education and career. In essence she argued that in order to fully
develop as human beings, women need to go back to school and back to work.
Without doing this women can never find their identity and thus cannot become
fully human.

This should sound familiar to those of you who’ve studied psychology. Friedan
was a student of Erik Erikson, who was a student of Abraham Maslow, who was a student
of Sigmund Freud. (How’s that for a genealogy of bad ideas?) Maslow’s most
famous for his hierarchy of needs. His hierarchy depends on the fulfillment of
lower level needs before higher level needs can be met. At the lowest level are
our physical needs, like food, water, air, etc. The next level is safety, which
is sometimes sought above physical needs. The third level is love and
belonging. This includes both psychological/emotional needs as well as physical
needs. After these needs are met, one seeks the fourth level- value from other
people, or esteem. Finally, we pursue self-actualization. This is the driving
force of life. We grow as individuals as we realize and utilize our abilities.

Erik Erikson continued Maslow’s work in his 8 stages of human development. Each
of the 8 periods in a person’s life deals with different needs and will impact
the person’s life depending on if and how those needs are met. For instance, at
Stage 5 the adolescent (age 12-18) is faced with questions of identity. If the
person resolves their conflict identities they will lead mostly successful
lives. However, if they fail they will be indecisive and confused about their
role in life (like in vocation, sexual orientation, relationships, etc.)

There are at least two basic ideas that permeate all of these thinkers. 1) Human beings
evolved. The levels of needs and stages of development are applications of
naturalistic theory to the evolution of the self. 2) Human beings are basically
good. In order for human beings to realize their full potential they must have
the capacity for goodness. It is only those whose environments impact them
adversely who have great difficulty in self-actualization.

Betty Friedan’s work took these theories and applied them to the plight of the
woman. Self-actualization cannot be met, according to Friedan, through
motherhood or family. It can only be accomplished through pursuing education
and career. If a woman does not pursue these things she remains in some sense
sub-human. These ideas became the foundation of contemporary feminism (radical
feminism), and they can be found throughout the writings of feminists such as
Naomi Wolf and Marilyn French*.

After feminism achieves its goal of equality with men, then what? There is no
other place to go but inward. That is, the ideology will continually become
more self-centered and aimed at pursuing selfish desires (if that’s actually
possible). This fits right in with the contemporary definition of freedom. At
the founding of this nation it meant the ability to do what one ought to do.
Now freedom is the ability to do whatever one wants to do. Here we find that
radical feminism finds itself quite welcome among its postmodern neighbors
moral relativism, pluralism, and socialism.

Radical Feminism looks to revise our understanding of the past, present, and
future. For most feminists, women are actually better than men. They believe
they must reach into history and bring out the female stories that were
overlooked or overlook by men. While it’s important that we can access the
history of humanity, including men and women, feminist ideology has stolen
academics to the point that most courses are centered on feminist thought. One
only needs to look at the credentials of the English faculty at Cornell University
for evidence of this. Similarly most Christian institutions that have “Women’s
Ministry” departments do not have a “Men’s Ministry” counterpart. This
precisely how the Feminists like it, as it is in their minds what is due to
them for a history of male oppression.

This is only meant to be an overview of Feminist thought and history. Next week I’ll
look at the problems it's caused.