"Breadwinner women" idea bothers feminists

Submitted by Mastodon on Sat, 2012-12-29 07:40

Article here. Excerpt:

'She was celebrated as a feminist success story, lifted aloft for shifting the gender imbalance in women’s favour, for showing that providing financially for ones’ family is no longer just a man’s job.
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But cultural anxieties about what this shift means for the workplace, for parenting and, especially, for men meant successful women were as torn as ever. The female breadwinner talk became all about men and their inevitable decline.

In her book The End of Men and the Rise of Women, Hanna Rosin, a senior editor at The Atlantic, argued that “at this unprecedented moment, women are no longer merely gaining on men; they have pulled decisively ahead in every measure,” and lit a match under the simmering gender wars, angering a surprising cohort: Feminists themselves.

“[After that book came out] there were a number of feminist academics who really felt like they had to come forward and pound that idea, ‘How dare you say that the end of men is occurring — men still rule, men still oppress, women are still victimized, you’re wrong,’” said Ms. Mundy in an interview. “It seems to me some members of the feminist establishment are actually uneasy when you argue that women are making progress.”'

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The more women can claim they are victims of men, the more power women gain. As victims, they can justify special treatment for themselves and ill treatment of men. Since about forever, women have sought out alpha males because those men had the most power, which they could use to provide for and protect women. The difference today is women seek the government to provide for and protect them instead of individual alpha males. But it's the same game: I'm a poor helpless victim of circumstance and you--the big strong man or the big strong government--must help me. A few tears, a little cleavage and the average men melts and gives her what she wants.

The problem is, the more women succeed in obtaining financial or political power, the less this game succeeds. Paradoxically, women lose power the more power they have. Thus, the feminists are caught in a trap: they have to keep portraying themselves as victims and men as villains in order to keep the goodies flowing. Otherwise, they might have to start providing their own goodies or start providing them for men. In short, their con game would be over.

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Submitted by el cid on Sun, 2012-12-30 15:12