Radical feminists have been hard at work for decades stressing the importance of women choosing career paths over homemaking, corner offices instead of kitchens, and power suits to replace aprons. To a certain extent, their message has been accepted and assimilated into mainstream society.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported in 2007 that “A record 68 million women were employed in the U.S.—75% of employed women worked on full-time jobs, while 25% worked on a part-time basis” and “Women accounted for 51% of all workers in the high-paying management, professional, and related occupations.” Yet a new movement of women is rising up with an age-old message countering the feminist focus on careers before kids. Though they recognize a woman’s choice between the corporation and kitchen, these women unapologetically choose domesticity.
At the forefront of the fight against radical feminism, the Network of Enlightened Women (NeW) seeks to emphasize the value of motherhood in response to their perception of its degraded worth per the feminist focus on careers. Karin Agness, founder of the 4-year-old organization, stated the following at their National Conference on June 27:
“In the 20th century, women have made great gains, but unfortunately the feminists have taken it too far to one extreme. They’ve opened the door to careers for many women, but relegated those women who choose motherhood and family to second-class citizenship. Rather than giving women a choice, they’ve made the choice for us…”
She continued,
“In NeW we are culturally conservative young women; we embrace our femininity, we embrace modesty. We recognize that there are differences between the sexes, and rather then measure a woman’s self worth solely by her career and what she does outside the home, we recognize the value of motherhood.”
Boasting speakers such as authors Danielle Crittenden and Dr. Christina Hoff Sommers, NeW’s events focus on topical women’s issues, as the organization aims to illuminate women’s choice of social roles and to eliminate cultural expectations of success as built by the feminist movement. NeW was born as a book club for conservative women in college, reading and discussing books such as “Who Stole Feminism?” and “What Women Really Want.” The club’s more controversial coverage began when members began to challenge the ever-divisive Vagina Monologues, performed across college campuses annually to raise awareness about violence against women. Protesting the play as vulgar and self-defeating, the conservative group’s clash with Eve Ensler’s staunchly-feminist play gained the attention of liberal women’s groups nationwide.
Today women are faced with a choice between career and family, feminism and NeW. Where the new generation of rising women will find their self-worth remains to be seen.
Rachel Paulk is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
