In her article, called "Meet the Bold `New Feminists," Sue does—and I applaud her for this—put the term "New Feminism" in the quotes it so well deserves.
Because the women she's talking about—Helene Alvare, Kim Daniels, Terry Polakovic, Mary Meehan, Erika Bachiochi, The Feminists for Life women—to say nothing of women like, well, me and many others like me? We're not "new." We're the real deal.
Even my Apple Dictionary says so.
The issue of rights for women first became prominent during the French and American revolutions in the late 18th century. In Britain it was not until the emergence of the suffragette movement in the late 19th century that there was significant political change. A "second wave" [emphasis mine, but not the quotes] of feminism arose in the 1960s, with an emphasis on unity and sisterhood.
My Apple Dictionary doesn't mention "and on the right to abort children" but hell, this is my blog and I'm going to take up where my friend the dictionary leaves off.
The emphasis on the NEW feminism born in the 1960s had pretty much everything to do with the "right" to "terminate pregnancy"…and still does.
But I don't have to tell you that. Just google the phrase "abortion rights history" and you'll see those bell-bottomed, braless, long-haired, granny-specs-wearing babes carrying signs saying really intelligent stuff like "My body, myself," and "Abortion rights now"…soon to be added slogans include the delightfully "pro woman" attack on Catholicism's most venerated mortal (uh…she's a woman): "Keep your rosaries off my ovaries." (The newbies couldn't rhyme then and they're not all that talented now.)
However, Sue recovers nicely and slam-dunks her point.
Early suffragists…woman like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony…"were pro-lifers who opposed abortion as an exploitation of women," said Serrin Foster…"The same women who fought for the rights of slaves to be free and the rights of women to vote also fought for the unborn to be born…"
Serrin Foster follows up with a slam-dunk of her own:
…by embracing abortion, NOW [the National Organization for Women; I know, it's been a long time since they've had any impact at all and so therefore the explanation of whom they are, or rather, were. They're the group that couldn't get the Equal Rights Amendment passed even though every president in office at the time of their pushing it favored it…but I digress. Sort of.] essentially betrayed woman and let universities and workplaces off the hook. Rather than having to provide housing, maternity care, flextime and other resources to pregnant women, university administrators and employers could simply say "It's your baby, your choice. If you want to give birth, that's your private choice, but we have no further obligation to you."
In other words, the "tyro feminists" screwed women royally.
They still are. I mean, one of—if not the—main reason for "terminating a pregnancy? The baby's not the preferred gender…she's a girl. And I'm talking about you, Margaret Sanger, Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Melissa Etheridge, Uma Thurman, Demi Moore, Jane Fonda, and the rest of you. It's time for you to retire from the "feminist" scene. You're history. Worse? You're not even cool anymore!
So, ladies? Let's cut the bull and take our description back. Feminism: the advocacy of the rights of women to be equal to those of men on the grounds of the right to life, the right to have our say in the running of the country, the right to equal wages for equal work…and the right to bear children without economic and/or social punishment.
May God continue to bless you.
