A celebration of true feminism

A celebration of true feminism

I teach at an all-girls private school, so feminism comes up all the time. Some students proudly self-identify as feminists, others cringe at the label, others have no idea what it really means. When it comes up in class, I always require the students to define the term before using it. It's important, I think, to constantly define labels like these because they are so often picked up and used with abandon; their original meaning left to be desired.

As I think about today's anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, I can't help but think that this willful mislabeling has once more deceived many well-intentioned people. Modern feminism seems to benefit men much more than women and doesn't seem to truly empower women, especially when it comes to issues of sex and childbearing. Men can walk away from sex largely without consequence, thanks to contraception and abortion. If a woman finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, every choice she faces is a difficult one. Feminism began as a movement to achieve equal political and social rights for women, but the feminist movement and its language have been co-opted.

Feminism and abortion: What would Susan say?
Abortion

Feminism and abortion: What would Susan say?

Erika Bachiochi

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Birthplace Museum of the great American suffragist, and pro-life advocate, Susan B. Anthony. She and Elizabeth Cady Stanton led the fight for women's suffrage in the late 19th century, a cause that would result in the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, years after Anthony's death.

As I stood before the museum wall dedicated to their pro-life advocacy, especially as enunciated in their weekly women's rights newspaper, the Revolution, I shuddered to think how these two courageous women would have responded to the amicus briefs offered to the Supreme Court this month by today's feminist groups.

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