This One's For the Girls: Women in Politics and the Feminist Angle (Plus a Rant!)

Read this! (OK, now I wrote that blog title, I have that Martina McBride song stuck in my head.)

Also: How dare you, Ms. Hirshman. How dare you impose asinine, arbitrary "litmus tests" on any woman to see if she "qualifies" for your august approval?

This is the sort of behavior that is properly labeled "femisogyny." Yep, attacking and beating down women in the name of "feminism." Even better are arguments that some successful women (the biggest lightning rod is of course Sarah Palin) are bad for women in general, especially if the ladies in question have ideas different from the self-proclaimed feminist banner-carriers' pet policies. Pfffffft. I have no patience for this sort of "commentary." It's the burbling of the self-involved and intolerant, of idiots and scoundrels. Oh, and idiots and scoundrels who happen to be women are still -- guess what -- idiots and scoundrels. Hirshman, by the way, is a retired professor. Of philosophy. I am -- somehow -- not surprised.

Guess what, self-proclaimed guarantors of the "purity" of feminism. There's no such thing. Not if your definition of feminism means letting women make free and independent choices about everything concerning their lives. Sometimes, they'll choose things you won't like -- like choosing to oppose ObamaCare or choosing to join the tea party movement. That does not make them any less women than you are, and if you can't see the difference, then I'm nothing left to say to you. The point to feminism should NOT be the idea that women should all think the same (and vote the same, heh) just because they all happen to have ovaries and uteri.

Look, the contemporary leftist feminists' hand-wringing moaning, obsessive "analysis," and general angst about the increasing public visibility and success of conservative and libertarian women is itself indicative of their own intellectual bankruptcy. Their angst is, I dare say, existential angst. And somewhere kicking around is that awful, terrifying thought that there are ladies out there who can be successful without ever having anything to do with them or needing their sanction or aid.