categories

A new publication called Fairer Disputations, part of the Wollstonecraft Project initiative of the Abigail Adams Institute, has as its goal the articulation of a new form of feminism “grounded in the basic premise that sex is real.” Gathering a group of scholars and writers who abide by the 18th-century feminist Mary Wollstonecraft’s “understanding of rights grounded in responsibilities,” the project seeks to facilitate the study of issues affecting women’s dignity and rights in the contemporary world. Today, there are countless instances where popular feminism has adopted a corporate, overly politicized framework which fails to address the real life-concerns of women – and alienated those who do not share the belief that gender is a choice. 

The girlboss has had her reign, and today she is usurped by a new queen: the bimbo. So claims a New York Times opinion essay, which catapulted the relatively obscure profile of various self-proclaimed “Bimbos of TikTok” into the national spotlight. These new pink-clad, scantily-dressed, dumb-playing personalities claim they are enlisting this traditional put-down for an attractive, dumb woman for the feminist cause – but what does this “new age of bimbofication,” with its emphasis on pink, sparkles, and overexposure have to do with women? Why have internet feminists eagerly exchanged the serious strivings of the girlboss for the bimbo in her vapid performance of hyperfemininity?

Recently, new findings from the Pew Research Center showed that the share of Americans who view single motherhood and cohabitation as negative for society rose significantly from 2018 to 2021. Meanwhile, various media, news, and entertainment outlets still sell “single motherhood by choice” as empowerment and disdain preferences for the traditional family structure as archaic or misogynistic. Why are Americans resisting this narrative and cementing their views that children need both mothers and fathers?

America’s declining birthrate has become the hot topic of late as President Biden, senators, and policymakers put forward their plans to alleviate the economic burdens on American families. While economics are an important driver of the decline, their role is only partial as the cultural tide has increasingly turned away from marriage and family. Among young women in their twenties, the New York Times notes an enormous decrease in childbearing from 2007 to 2019, suggesting that many women are having children later in life, and even then are less likely to be having them at all. This should come as no surprise, since more women are pursuing education, travel, and careers than ever before. But women are not impervious to the tug-of-war between fertility and personal enrichment, since they alone are biologically able to bear a child. Instead of focusing exclusively on policy questions, we should attend to the reasons why women delay childbirth regardless of desire.

Recently, two transgender athletes qualified to participate in women’s divisions at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. Though their formal approval by the International Olympic Committee would seem to indicate universal acceptance, athletes and onlookers alike have criticized the decision for what it is: giving unfair advantage to biological males and dissuading women from participating in sports. In one tragic instance, this has spelled early retirement for New Zealand weightlifter Tracey Lambrechs, who previously held significant records in her weight class until they were crushed over a single weekend by Laurel Hubbard, a biological male. This and other examples of female displacement in sports by transgender competitors reflect a distressing trend against women’s equal participation, since some activities require separation on the basis of sex in order to maintain an even playing field. How did we get to a place where some view sex as interchangeable, despite these obvious infringements of women’s privacy and equality?