To the Editor:
Re “The Future Isn’t Female Anymore,” by Michelle Goldberg (column, June 19):
While reading this article I couldn’t help but think about the world my 21-year-old daughter experiences and the one I experienced as a now 60-year-old doctor, mother, daughter and wife.
Some of feminism’s decline mirrors public health successes like vaccines: Many of the problems have been eliminated, so the success is not appreciated. I grew up in a world in which girls’ options were far more limited. The younger women don’t know the battles, so how can they see the benefits?
Feminism has ended too soon. We are left with, as the famous perfume commercial of yesteryear sang: “Taking home the bacon.” frying it up in a pan — exhausted, overworked, and still doing the majority of home and child care, as many studies have revealed. Feminism allowed us to be free, but it also gave us a life that is in many ways more difficult than our mothers.
Katherine Frederick Galarza
Kinnelon, N.J.
To the Editor:
Michelle Goldberg, as usual, evaluates cultural and political situations thoughtfully and incisively. I agree with her analysis. There is something different about younger and older women, as well as how they engage with feminism.
I believe she has missed two important points. The first is the larger context in which we are all experiencing profound exhaustion. For the past five years, right-wing forces have been attacking us all. We must be careful with how we use our energy. Second, much of this energy is directed towards saving democracy, especially by women.
This might have seemed a bit extreme to me a few years back. Saving democracy? Oh get over yourself. Today, women are leading grass-roots groups that recruit Democratic candidates for local office from school boards (now so important) and up. We are working on state level races. We are the leaders in groups that register new voters. We are there to protect the vote.
Once we have stabilized democracy, defeated the terrifying autoritarian forces we will be able to return to the fight against women and feminism. Join us until then.
Isabel Byron
Brooklyn
To the Editor:
I am a Republican and a male. It doesn’t really matter what identity labels we have today, I have been following the feminism movement for a while now. I support equal treatment of all people and women. I have, however, found that feminism tends to put all women in the same basket — they should all think alike and support the same issues.
Women, just like men, have different ways to think, different values, and backgrounds. The feminist movement wasn’t and isn’t inclusive of others who are more moderate or conservative. The era when feminism was focused on equal treatment and the workplace was when it thrived and could be supported and supported by all women. That has changed to encourage liberal, sometimes radical (woke) views and has become irrelevant to many females.
Bruce Buechner
Mobile, Ala.
To the Editor:
As a former editor of Ms. magazine and a former reproductive rights organizer, I could point to the changes within my own lifetime as a result of feminism that younger women might have forgotten or not even know about: credit in our own name, recognition of marital rape as a crime, job listings that don’t differentiate by gender, and so much more. However, intersectionality and reproductive justice have been added to feminism. These terms acknowledge that gender equality must be achieved despite racial, ethnic, and other differences.
I have seen it all and I agree with Michelle Goldberg that the movement has always experienced “cycles of matricide; what is liberating to one generation is often mortifying to the next.” What we need to remember is that backlash is endemic to change and that self-searching is essential to movements.
The alleged infighting among feminists is because we haven’t reached our goal. We are frustrated and angry that women remain second-class citizens. We have not given up fighting.
Ellen Sweet
New York
To the Editor:
My mother advised me 40 years ago to join the American Association of University Women and League of Women Voters wherever my family moved. I heeded her advice and joined many different branches of these then vibrant organizations committed to women’s education, political campaigns and a host of other women’s issues.
However, the average age of members was at least one generation older than mine at the time. P.T.A. was a popular program for young women. These groups are primarily concerned with the challenges of balancing career and family.
They were able to take part in these issues with relative ease, as the Colorado River wasn’t about to dry up and school shootings weren’t common. My impression is that young women are now not only trying to balance work and child care, but also interested in non-gender issues such as climate change and gun control.
I believe that the feminist movement has to evolve to grow. One way to do that is by interviewing young women and finding out their concerns. Don’t take anything for granted. Get the facts, and you can be responsive to a whole new generation of young women.
Sarah Mognoni
Waterford, N.J.
To the Editor:
Re “Feminism Made a Faustian Bargain With Celebrity Culture. Now It’s Paying the Price,” by Susan Faludi (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, June 20):
It occurred to me that I knew what feminism looked and felt when I was young in the 1970s. It looked like my mom reading Ms. magazine, and after work attending feminist book readings and meetings, when her top goal was “equal pay for equal work.”
Now, at 56 years old, I don’t know what feminism is. Celebrity feminism, as Ms. Faludi suggests, has distorted all perceptions of the movement. What are feminist goals Who are the feminists? What do they want to fight for and how can they help? Where are they? Certainly they’re not floating in the ether of internet culture.
I understand that feminism can be found on the ground and not through a hashtag. But, what can women do to make it happen? Now Do you want to get involved? What are you trying to achieve after so much wasted time? Is it too late?
Rebecca Skolnik
Corona Del Mar, Calif.
To the Editor:
The thought-provoking essays by Michelle Goldberg and Susan Faludi decry the rise in anti-feminist sentiment exemplified by the Supreme Court’s opinion overturning Roe v. Wade and the backlash against the #MeToo movement.
As a longtime historian of feminism I have tracked the rise and fall of women’s struggle for equality through many generations. It has become apparent to me that periods of high feminist protest are often followed by antifeminist backlash. This is despite the fact that not all of the hard-won freedoms were reversed.
These losses can be heartbreaking, but it is important that we look back at the whole of history. Our journey is not defined only by what we have lost but also by how far we have travelled and what has changed.
Miriam Schneir
Montclair, N.J.
The writer is the editor of “Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings” and the author of “Before Feminism: The History of an Idea Without a Name.”
To the Editor:
Re “Looking Back at Ms., Age 50” (Opinion Round Table, Sunday Review, June 19):
We are grateful for the wonderful interview with Ms. magazine’s founders. The conversation was a reminder about how far women have come, and how far we still have to go.
From 2003 to 2005, I was the last person to hold Ms. magazine’s title of editor-in-chief. My mission was to save the magazine from being closed, to increase circulation and to regain its editorial prominence.
We did. Ms. was awarded a National Magazine Award 2005 with a small staff. We published writers like Amy Bloom, Sharon Olds, and Alice Walker. We also featured women such as Wanda Sykes and Queen Noor on the covers. Julia Child was one of her last interviews. I braved several television interviews on Fox News with Bill O’Reilly.
The rise in circulation was a boon. From so-called flyover land, letters began to flood in. One letter said: “I drove 30 miles to the bookstore to buy your magazine. Wow! It’s real!”
We reached out to women from the other side of the political spectrum. We encouraged discussion on controversial topics. We were open to discussing opposing views, even those on abortion. Some of us even considered revising some of our positions.
I salute Gloria Steinem, my friend, and heroine, and the founders of Ms. Magazine. We have much more work ahead.
Elaine Lafferty
New York
To the Editor:
Thank you very much, for your article about the 50th anniversary Ms. Magazine. Your article clearly demonstrates how important this magazine was to many women like myself. I vividly remember the excitement of reading the magazine from cover to cover. What an explosion the magazine caused in mainstream culture!
I enjoyed hearing the thoughts of the pathfinders behind the magazine. This thoughtful retrospective made history come alive for your readers.
Patricia Scanlon
Media, Pa.
Source: NY Times