by Stephen Carter

Created on: September 06, 2007

Feminism has morphed into radical feminism, which is constituted by the nihilism of Marxist discourse.

It is instructive to remember one of feminism's most notable early victories. In the US the campaign to extend the vote to women was a fight waged by the Republican Party against the Democrats, who were determined to deny women the vote.

Recognition of women's intrinsic value, as women, was a movement supported, largely, by conservatives, and repudiated by the left.

We need only remember Marxism's five primary elements, and then apply them to the feminist enterprise.

One, it maintains that society can only be understood as an opposition, or struggle, between 'oppressors' and 'victims'. In its original formulation, this of course referred to landowners and factory owners exploiting (i.e. oppressing) the rural peasants and factory workers.

Two, institutions systematize the oppression, in the form of those institutions that formalize the economy (capitalism), political space (the state), education (universities), and defense of the nation (the military), etc.

Three, other institutions exist which erode people's will to resist the oppressor, i.e. the Christian religion ('opiate of the masses').

Four, a citizen's responsibility is to wage class struggle against the oppressor, i.e. resistance.

Five, political transformation and transcendence occur through the medium of 'revolution'.

Can this then be credibly applied to feminist discourse? Let's see.

One, the oppressor/victim opposition has been posited by radical feminists as patriarchy vs. women, the former exploiting the latter.

Two, a Marxist radical feminist would argue the institutions that systematize the oppression include much of state and popular culture: politics, business, sports, entertainment, media, and academia. It would be suggested that all such institutions define the male as normal, and install patriarchy as the defining agent.

Three, the institutions that erode women's will to resist are quite clearly said to be the values of female chastity and the nuclear family. Moreover, because these values are promulgated by the Christian religion, religion is then deemed to be the primary agent that facilitates female subjugation. This explains the polarization of the abortion debate. The Church's opposition to abortion is invariably interpreted not as the protection of life but rather an effort to restrain women's rights.

Four, the struggle of resistance for feminism is defined as the responsibility to negate and re-define the above-noted codes of maintaining female chastity and the family. The responsibility to 'resist' means in practice the responsibility to 'not' be chaste, not exhibit loyalty within a relationship, and not adhere to loyalty to the family. The result, regrettably, is the moral chaos we see around us now in the Western world.

Five, 'revolution' for radical feminists becomes the female prerogative of overturning male hegemony. What this is rapidly becoming, however, is a society based on gender nihilism.

Feminism's original, worthwhile social project was to bring about an equality of opportunity between men and women, a goal that has been predominantly achieved.

The project has now morphed into the nihilism of Marxist radical feminism, focused on the eradication of a coherent society in which men and women can live side by side in peace and mutual respect.

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