Many feminists in the academy and in the major women's groups are knocking down open doors. It's 2016, not 1950. But you wouldn't know that if you looked through a typical women's studies textbook or website. Christina Hoff Sommers More Quotes by Christina Hoff Sommers More Quotes From Christina Hoff Sommers Now you ask a group of young women on the college campus, 'How many of you are feminists?' Very few will raise their hands because young women don't want to be associated with it anymore because they know it means male-bashing, it means being a victim, and it means being bitter and angry. Christina Hoff Sommers college mean hands There are a lot of homely women in women’s studies. Preaching these anti-male, anti-sex sermons is a way for them to compensate for various heartaches - they’re just mad at the beautiful girls. Christina Hoff Sommers girl beautiful sex Women are not children. We are not fragile little birds who can't cope with jokes, works of art, or controversial speakers. Christina Hoff Sommers bird children art We are turning against boys and forgetting a simple truth: that the energy, competitiveness, and corporal daring of normal, decent males is responsible for much of what is right in the world. Christina Hoff Sommers energy simple boys We must have moral education in the schools, anti-bullying programs, but this does not mean programs to feminize boys. Christina Hoff Sommers bullying mean school Young women at our elite colleges are among the safest, most privileged and most empowered of any group on the planet. Yet, from the moment they get to campus - and now, even earlier - an endless stream of propaganda tells them otherwise. They are offered safe spaces and healing circles to help them cope with the ravages of a phantom patriarchy. Christina Hoff Sommers circles college healing Of course, intersectionality theory is a confused muddle. It fights racism and sexism by classifying everyone according to race and sex. It views race and gender privilege as the root of all evil, while ignoring the role played by dogmatic ideologies held by all genders. And it is unfalsifiable - to its adherents, criticism and rejection of the theory actually demonstrate its truth, by showing how deeply we all have internalized our oppression. Christina Hoff Sommers confused fighting sex I'm concerned that boys have become politically incorrect, that we are a society in the process of turning against its male children. Christina Hoff Sommers males boys children The serious work for feminism in the 21st century is across the globe. Instead of retreating into "safe spaces" and focusing on their own imagined oppression, today's feminists should be reaching out to women's groups in the developing world. Christina Hoff Sommers feminism feminist space There is a theory behind the culture of victimhood: It's called "intersectionality." This theory posits that racism, sexism, classism, ableism, etc. are interconnected, overlapping, and mutually reinforcing. Together they form a "matrix of oppression." Christina Hoff Sommers racism together culture There is too much ideological conformity in gender studies. The true-believers fashion the theories, write the textbooks and teach the students. When journalists, policymakers, and legislators address topics such as the wage gap, gender and education, or women's health, they turn to these experts for enlightenment. For the most part, they peddle misinformation, victim politics, and sophistry. They claim that their teachings represent the academic consensus, but that is only because they have excluded all dissenters. Christina Hoff Sommers fashion teaching writing A fair and just society offers equality of opportunity to all. But it cannot promise, and should not try to enforce, sameness. Christina Hoff Sommers opportunity trying promise Trigger warnings and safe spaces are an infantilizing setback for feminism - and for women. Christina Hoff Sommers feminism space warning Toy companies aren't interested in ideology, they want to sell toys. If they would sell a toy that both boys and girls would buy, it doubles profits. Christina Hoff Sommers girl want boys Boy's natural play is rough and tumble play, it's the universal play of little boys. And it's very different from aggression. And we are a society that's failing to understand the distinction. Christina Hoff Sommers different play boys I think the fallacy is to think that Women's Liberation meant that men and women would become interchangeable. That has not happened, and most men and women would not want it to happen. Christina Hoff Sommers want men thinking It's good to raise awareness that men and boys are struggling, at least many of them are. But why say men are finished? It's too harsh, too sweeping, and it happens to not be true. Christina Hoff Sommers struggle men boys You have to be literate in today's world. We're not going to get away with not teaching boys to read. Christina Hoff Sommers teaching today boys We reject creationism because there is no evidence to support it. By contrast, the notion that biology is at least partially the basis of gender is an empirically supportable, and even well-supported, proposition. The gender scholars reject it on ideological, not evidentiary, grounds. Christina Hoff Sommers gender biology support I think the rules will change and I think more and more young women are going to decide that having a family and taking care of a home is not a bad choice, but how do we subsidize it - not necessarily European-style socialism. It'll have to be a new more creative, dynamic and local solution. Christina Hoff Sommers creative home thinking
