thedrifter
06-14-06, 07:30 AM
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex and Feminism
By Jamie Glazov
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 14, 2006
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Carrie Lukas, the Vice President for Policy and Economics at the Independent Women’s Forum. She is a Senior Fellow at the Goldwater Institute and a contributor to National Review Online. She is the author of the new book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex and Feminism.
FP: Carrie Lukas, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Lukas: Thanks for having me.
FP: So what motivated you to write this politically incorrect guide?
Lukas: I’m 32 years old, married, and recently had my first child. Looking back I realized just how many critical decisions a person makes in the ten years following college—decisions that really determine the course of your life. I’ve talked to a lot of college women. Listening to their hopes and concerns, I was reminded of some of the confusion that I faced when I was graduating more than ten years ago. I made many mistakes along the way—I feel extremely fortunate to be where I am today. I wrote this book in hopes of providing women and those who love them with information that is often left out of the national conversation. Information that I wish I had ten or fifteen years ago. Information that exposes the insidious lies that feminists have been peddling for years.
FP: What lies brainwash young women?
Lukas: The two biggest lies are that men are the enemy and that government is the answer to our problems. Women’s studies programs in particular are often guilty of making it seem as though all of women’s problems are the result of the dreaded “patriarchy” and that if only men would start doing the laundry or if only government would pass some new law then women would be on easy street.
What we need to realize is that all people have choices they must make—there are only twenty-four hours in a day, you can’t be two places at once, and you only have one life to live. You’re going to have to make tradeoffs in allocating your time. Government can’t save us from that, it’s just the reality of being human.
FP: What do you think women still prefer really about men even though it may not be politically correct?
Lukas: Studies have shown, and common sense observation supports, that most women still prefer men to be the family bread winners. In spite of all of our complaining, most women want to be the ones who take primary responsibility for raising children. I’m not saying I’d complain if my husband started doing more dishes, but basically gender roles aren’t something cooked up by men to keep women down. The radical feminists desperately want women to believe this, but most of know it is bunk. Women want men who act like men—or better yet, like gentlemen.
FP: What is it that radical feminists want? What is their ideal vision of society?
Likas: Radical feminists tend to want a “genderless” society – a world where men and women are essentially interchangeable and are equally represented in all walks of life. The problem is, real men and women don’t act this way. Men and women often have different preferences. It drives feminists crazy, but women still tend to want to spend more time raising children than men do. Women tend to prefer jobs that are more personally fulfilling and flexible, and accept lower pay to have those kinds of jobs. Women are less interested in sports than men. Most people don’t see this as a problem—in fact, I think we should celebrate the differences between men and women. But these natural differences are a problem for feminists who want men and women to be the same.
FP: What in your own life brought you to your views? For instance, why are you not a leftist feminist? Tell us a bit about your own intellectual journey.
Lukas: I definitely went through a liberal phase. Not long ago, I was sorting through a box of papers I’d written in college. I found one on the misogynistic themes in fairytales—and I was quoting feminist icon Andrea Dworkin as if she were an unbiased source. Really vapid, terrible stuff. Naturally I got an “A” on that paper.
But shortly after graduating college, I began reading a broader range of political philosophy. I was first fascinated by Ayn Rand. Then I began reading books on economics—a subject I’d avoided while in college—such as F.A. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom and Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom. That’s when I decided to move to Washington and look into working in the free market movement. I was fortunate to get my start at the Cato Institute as an administrative assistant.
The more I worked in DC, the more I became concerned about the role that women play in politics and public policy. Organized feminist groups love big government—they want government to take over healthcare and to subsidize daycare and they fight initiatives like Social Security reform and school choice that would give individuals more control of their lives. The media usually assumes that organized feminist groups represent most women. I joined the Independent Women’s Forum to combat that notion.
FP: Leftist feminists and organized feminist groups etc. posture as though they really care for women, but what I find curious is that when it comes to concern for, let us say, women that are victims of Islam’s gender apartheid and its brutal instruments of female genital mutilation, wife-beating, forced marriage, honor killing, segregation, denial of education, etc., these feminists and groups are deafeningly silent. If they really care for women, why do they say and do absolutely nothing for women who truly suffer in this world?
Lukas: It is amazing what trivia consumes the feminist movement. The National Organization for Women recently has been waging a campaign to bring back “Commander in Chief,” the TV show starring Genna Davis as the first female President, and protesting the fact that Elizabeth Vargas decided not to continue as the anchor of “World News Tonight” so she could spend more time with her kids. These are the most important issues facing women?
I’m proud to work for the Independent Women’s Forum, a group that has been actively reaching out to women in Iraq and helping train them to participate in a functioning democracy. IWF is working to raise awareness about the problems that women face around the world, such as sex trafficking, and to make the case that societies function better when women have the right to own property, vote and work. This is really where the true “women’s movement” focuses its attention.
FP: What do you think of Hillary Clinton?
Lukas: Boy, I think that’s a topic for another book. It’s tough to answer in just a few words, but I’ll try. Basically, I think Hillary Clinton is a feminist stalking horse. The media buys Hillary’s posturing as a moderate, but at her core, Hillary is a big government liberal. If she becomes President, she’ll advance the feminist agenda, including a government take-over of healthcare, more government regulation of the workplace, and more federally funded daycare.
FP: Carrie Lukas, thank you for joining us.
Lukas: Thank you.
Ellie
By Jamie Glazov
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 14, 2006
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Carrie Lukas, the Vice President for Policy and Economics at the Independent Women’s Forum. She is a Senior Fellow at the Goldwater Institute and a contributor to National Review Online. She is the author of the new book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex and Feminism.
FP: Carrie Lukas, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Lukas: Thanks for having me.
FP: So what motivated you to write this politically incorrect guide?
Lukas: I’m 32 years old, married, and recently had my first child. Looking back I realized just how many critical decisions a person makes in the ten years following college—decisions that really determine the course of your life. I’ve talked to a lot of college women. Listening to their hopes and concerns, I was reminded of some of the confusion that I faced when I was graduating more than ten years ago. I made many mistakes along the way—I feel extremely fortunate to be where I am today. I wrote this book in hopes of providing women and those who love them with information that is often left out of the national conversation. Information that I wish I had ten or fifteen years ago. Information that exposes the insidious lies that feminists have been peddling for years.
FP: What lies brainwash young women?
Lukas: The two biggest lies are that men are the enemy and that government is the answer to our problems. Women’s studies programs in particular are often guilty of making it seem as though all of women’s problems are the result of the dreaded “patriarchy” and that if only men would start doing the laundry or if only government would pass some new law then women would be on easy street.
What we need to realize is that all people have choices they must make—there are only twenty-four hours in a day, you can’t be two places at once, and you only have one life to live. You’re going to have to make tradeoffs in allocating your time. Government can’t save us from that, it’s just the reality of being human.
FP: What do you think women still prefer really about men even though it may not be politically correct?
Lukas: Studies have shown, and common sense observation supports, that most women still prefer men to be the family bread winners. In spite of all of our complaining, most women want to be the ones who take primary responsibility for raising children. I’m not saying I’d complain if my husband started doing more dishes, but basically gender roles aren’t something cooked up by men to keep women down. The radical feminists desperately want women to believe this, but most of know it is bunk. Women want men who act like men—or better yet, like gentlemen.
FP: What is it that radical feminists want? What is their ideal vision of society?
Likas: Radical feminists tend to want a “genderless” society – a world where men and women are essentially interchangeable and are equally represented in all walks of life. The problem is, real men and women don’t act this way. Men and women often have different preferences. It drives feminists crazy, but women still tend to want to spend more time raising children than men do. Women tend to prefer jobs that are more personally fulfilling and flexible, and accept lower pay to have those kinds of jobs. Women are less interested in sports than men. Most people don’t see this as a problem—in fact, I think we should celebrate the differences between men and women. But these natural differences are a problem for feminists who want men and women to be the same.
FP: What in your own life brought you to your views? For instance, why are you not a leftist feminist? Tell us a bit about your own intellectual journey.
Lukas: I definitely went through a liberal phase. Not long ago, I was sorting through a box of papers I’d written in college. I found one on the misogynistic themes in fairytales—and I was quoting feminist icon Andrea Dworkin as if she were an unbiased source. Really vapid, terrible stuff. Naturally I got an “A” on that paper.
But shortly after graduating college, I began reading a broader range of political philosophy. I was first fascinated by Ayn Rand. Then I began reading books on economics—a subject I’d avoided while in college—such as F.A. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom and Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom. That’s when I decided to move to Washington and look into working in the free market movement. I was fortunate to get my start at the Cato Institute as an administrative assistant.
The more I worked in DC, the more I became concerned about the role that women play in politics and public policy. Organized feminist groups love big government—they want government to take over healthcare and to subsidize daycare and they fight initiatives like Social Security reform and school choice that would give individuals more control of their lives. The media usually assumes that organized feminist groups represent most women. I joined the Independent Women’s Forum to combat that notion.
FP: Leftist feminists and organized feminist groups etc. posture as though they really care for women, but what I find curious is that when it comes to concern for, let us say, women that are victims of Islam’s gender apartheid and its brutal instruments of female genital mutilation, wife-beating, forced marriage, honor killing, segregation, denial of education, etc., these feminists and groups are deafeningly silent. If they really care for women, why do they say and do absolutely nothing for women who truly suffer in this world?
Lukas: It is amazing what trivia consumes the feminist movement. The National Organization for Women recently has been waging a campaign to bring back “Commander in Chief,” the TV show starring Genna Davis as the first female President, and protesting the fact that Elizabeth Vargas decided not to continue as the anchor of “World News Tonight” so she could spend more time with her kids. These are the most important issues facing women?
I’m proud to work for the Independent Women’s Forum, a group that has been actively reaching out to women in Iraq and helping train them to participate in a functioning democracy. IWF is working to raise awareness about the problems that women face around the world, such as sex trafficking, and to make the case that societies function better when women have the right to own property, vote and work. This is really where the true “women’s movement” focuses its attention.
FP: What do you think of Hillary Clinton?
Lukas: Boy, I think that’s a topic for another book. It’s tough to answer in just a few words, but I’ll try. Basically, I think Hillary Clinton is a feminist stalking horse. The media buys Hillary’s posturing as a moderate, but at her core, Hillary is a big government liberal. If she becomes President, she’ll advance the feminist agenda, including a government take-over of healthcare, more government regulation of the workplace, and more federally funded daycare.
FP: Carrie Lukas, thank you for joining us.
Lukas: Thank you.
Ellie