Amanda Marcotte: Destroying feminism one post at a time

When I think of feminism, I think of Amanda Marcotte.

Her name is forever etched in my mind. Years ago I came across her writing, and the hate in her message stunned me. I don’t remember the topic or any specific quote, but I made a mental note to advise my future teenage son to look out for women like her.

The Daily Caller offered a Marcotte quote made AFTER the charges in the Duke Lacrosse case were dismissed:

“I had to listen to how the poor, dear lacrosse players at Duke are being persecuted just because they held someone down and f**ked her against her will – not rape, of course, because the charges have been thrown out. Can’t a few white boys sexually assault a black woman anymore without people getting all wound up about it? So unfair.”

The Daily Caller on Marcotte:

“It is not possible to overstate the intellectual dishonesty, moral myopia, psychological ill health, ideological hypocrisy and logical bankruptcy in evidence throughout Marcotte’s writing.”

The feminist movement long ago was more inclusive and enjoyed bipartisan support. Today, this is not the case. Amanda Marcotte IS the face of radical feminism and  “feminism” is steeped in “paranoia,” victimization, hate, and intolerance.

Here’s proof:

“Femvertising”
The Terminator franchise produced my favorite fictional, and muscled, heroine: Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton). I am sure she never looked to television ads for motivation or inspiration. Sarah Connor was not soft or affectionate, but her love for her son and humanity compelled her to risk her life to save both.  She internalized female power, protected her son, and defeated a deadly enemy without the help of feminists. Just being a mother was enough to “empower” her.

Marcotte and other feminists portray women as victims in need of a savior, and it works. Companies have capitalized on this idea and pushed female-oriented ads. Feminists’ fingerprints are all over “femvertising,” because, you know, we need to be saved from ourselves. Feminists think: You need us to feel good about yourself.

We are different from men, with complementary strengths and talents. Instead of deriving confidence from that, we feel inferior and allow companies to take advantage of us. Companies make money and during a thirty-second ad, we FINALLY realize our self-worth.  Men may need guns or motorcycles or (insert here) to feel powerful, but you would never know it, because they don’t need to talk about it. We don’t hear men say,” I am man. Hear me roar.”

I have no problem with ads designed to target women, but I have a problem with the condescension behind “femvertising.” Why are they these ads needed in the first place? We are not victims in need of a targeted marketing campaign. Female power should be a state of mind, not a passing fad.

She’s just not that into you
To say Marcotte dislikes men is the understatement of the century. She holds special contempt for Republicans. She believes Republican men -men with mothers, sisters, and daughters- are motivated by hate and spend every waking moment plotting against women, and like some action-packed movie,  these men are racing against time to “turn back the clock on women’s progress before it’s too late.” Yet she somehow manages to stay silent when ISIS rapes, tortures, and murders females. Phyllis Chesler wrote a great piece about this titled “As ISIS brutalizes women, a pathetic feminist silence.” Feminists are too eager to hurl insults at Republicans but cannot muster any outrage when it comes to ISIS.

Kid (Un)friendly
Feminists are comfortable with determining who lives or dies.  As America absorbs different cultures, some states wanted to send a pro-life message by banning sex-selective abortions. To my surprise, Marcotte used her platform not to support sex-selective abortion bans, which help females, but to argue these bans are racist.

She fails to understand other lives are affected when a woman has an abortion, and she also  implies in her writing that  children ruin lives by interfering with career advancement. Marcotte may also view children with disabilities, like Down syndrome, as burdensome. Marcotte says (with an obvious lack of compassion):

“…But banning abortions for fetal abnormalities could negatively affect all sorts of women—and their husbands—including those that tend to vote Republican.”

In the next sentence:

“No one is well served when children with disabilities are forced on families that know they don’t have the emotional or financial resources to help them”

Sisterhood? Yeah, right.
If you claim to be a feminist but do not embrace liberal doctrine, you are not welcome. I spent several afternoons reading her work, and in addition to her feelings toward men and children, I concluded she cannot relate ( evidence here and here) to stay-at-home mothers or their ability to find joy in caring for their families. To Marcotte, only women who remain single, childless, and career-driven know true freedom and happiness.

Maybe I overestimate Marcotte’s influence, but based on the amount of traffic her writing receives and the condemnation of her comments by others, Marcotte may have some influence on culture. Debate topics (war on women) awareness campaigns ( campus rape), and pop culture infiltration tactics (fashion magazines) are born and bred in liberal circles. One constant source of irritation in my life is  with all this robust activity on the left, conservatives aren’t motivated to come up with new ideas or initiatives.

Marcotte wrote “Stop Trying to Make Conservative Feminism Happen” to remind her readers that if you don’t share her worldview, you are not welcome. For once, I agreed with her.

The reason why right-leaning women would try to piggyback on to a movement hijacked by radicals escapes me. There are many more reasons, other than what’s listed above, to avoid joining forces with modern-day feminists, even if its in name only. Yes, we should collaborate with women across the ideological spectrum, but we want to partner with reasonable people.

Anyone is free to read her columns and draw their own conclusions. I wish I could adopt a positive tone, because Marcotte has mellowed since the Duke Lacrosse quote. Whether that is by choice or recommendation is unclear.  Amanda Marcotte may enjoy irritating others, but her intolerance doesn’t come without costs.

In a recent Economist/YouGov.com poll, most people are reluctant to label themselves feminists. The percentage did change after reading the dictionary definition, which defines a feminist as “someone who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.”

It seems the definition of feminism is more palatable than the movement.

.