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The REAL History Of Feminism That Leftists DON'T Want You To Understand — Transcript

by Ben Shapiro · 2,806 words · 424 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00it's hard to look at the world today and
0:01not to be confused why are so many
0:03people in favor of abortion on demand
0:04all the way up till birth why are so
0:06many people believers that men can be
0:07women and women can be men why is any of
0:09this happening the answer lies in the
0:11history of the feminist movement this
0:13video is brought to you by birch gold
0:16the term feminist has been used over
0:18time to mean a lot of different stuff
0:19for most people it means something
0:20pretty simple women should not be
0:22discriminated against just because
0:23they're women this doesn't mean that
0:24women and men aren't different and
0:25distinct it doesn't mean that women make
0:27the same choices that men do or that
0:29they ought to make those choices it
0:30doesn't mean that female biology works
0:32the same way as male biology or that all
0:34natural differences ought to be just
0:35obliterated in the name of false
0:37equality for most people feminism just
0:39means that we all ought to be treated
0:40the same in order to understand where
0:41the feminist movement has actually gone
0:43how it moved from that basic idea to
0:45what it is now we have to examine the
0:47history of feminism
0:53so we begin with first wave feminism a
0:56lot of people have used this metaphor to
0:57describe feminism it's a series of waves
0:58they're either three or four depending
1:00on how you define the waves first wave
1:02feminism was typically meant to
1:03encompass the enlightenment era
1:04philosophy that women ought to have the
1:06same basic rights as men like the right
1:08to vote the right to own property the
1:09right to speak freely the right to be
1:11considered on equal terms for jobs early
1:13feminists included women like mary
1:14wallstonecraft she wrote a book titled
1:16vindication of the rights of men in
1:171790. that was an attempt to fight the
1:19conservatism of edmund burke basically
1:21burke was arguing against the french
1:23revolution because he was saying that it
1:25was overthrowing these very important
1:26institutions and that rights couldn't be
1:28constructed out of whole cloth she was
1:30arguing that these institutions are an
1:32imposition on women and it's those
1:34institutions that have led to levels of
1:36authoritarianism it was a very rich
1:38ongoing argument but will stonecraft
1:40ended up being wrong politically even if
1:42she was right about the rights of women
1:43so wollstonecraft attached herself to
1:45the french revolution she led a really
1:46troubled personal life she had affairs
1:48and kids out of wedlock and all of this
1:49but her basic notion that women should
1:51be granted rights to vote that was
1:53actually in line with basic classical
1:55liberal ideals right that women should
1:57be treated as individuals and they have
1:59every power and ability to vote in 1848
2:02at the seneca falls convention you're
2:03now fast forwarding half a century 200
2:05women met at seneca falls in new york to
2:08talk about their goals that convention
2:09was the unofficial starting point of the
2:11first wave feminist movement some of the
2:12big figures here are elizabeth katie
2:13stanton and susan b anthony the movement
2:15was really really tied to abolitionism
2:17frederick douglass actually spoke at the
2:19seneca falls convention further
2:20developments within first wave feminism
2:22came courtesy of some reformers like
2:23jeremy bentham and jon stewart mill
2:25libertarians jon stewart mill wrote in
2:27the subjection of women in 1869 that
2:29women were subjected to duties of wives
2:31and mothers because the whole force of
2:32education enslaves women's minds to such
2:35roles so here you can actually start to
2:36see the beginnings of how first wave
2:37feminism eventually transforms into
2:39second wave feminism there's a
2:41difference between let's obliterate the
2:42obstacles to women being involved in
2:44jobs and being involved in voting
2:46there's a difference in that and let's
2:47get rid of all social institutions that
2:50actually forward things like motherhood
2:51and marriage even in first wave feminism
2:53there were the early hints that feminism
2:54would alter gender roles in order to
2:56establish quote unquote equality between
2:58the sexes and equality would eventually
3:00come to me not equality of rights but
3:01sameness that men and women have to be
3:03the same in 1916 as part of the first
3:06wave of feminist movement for example
3:07margaret sanger opened her first birth
3:08control clinic a major point in the sort
3:11of inflection of the feminist movement
3:13away from the idea that what we're
3:14really about is women voting and women
3:16being able to participate in jobs toward
3:17the idea that we have to change women's
3:19circumstances so they can do the same
3:21things as men in defiance of biology by
3:23the way worth noting here margaret
3:25sanger was anti-abortion she wrote
3:26explicitly about abortion she's in favor
3:28of birth control she's also in favor of
3:29eugenics a little bit but she really was
3:31not in favor of abortion soon the
3:33feminist movement became a full-scale
3:34attack on such gender roles
3:41now we're in the second wave feminist
3:42movement that really starts in 1949 with
3:45the second sex by simone bobaviere and
3:47simone blavier who is a socialist and a
3:50very far-left figure obviously de
3:51blavier argued that femininity was
3:53disconnected from biology are you
3:55starting to see how this evolves to
3:56where we are today she wrote the female
3:58is a woman insofar as she feels herself
4:00as such so it's an interior feeling some
4:02essential biological givens are not part
4:04of her lived situation for example the
4:06structure of the ovum is not reflected
4:07in it by contrast an organ of slight
4:09biological importance like the clitoris
4:11plays a primary role in it so notice how
4:13she's redefining womanhood to mean
4:14sexual pleasure as opposed to you know
4:16the most important biological function
4:18that any female of any mammalian species
4:20performs namely the bearing of children
4:21right the truth is that if you're trying
4:23to define just forget about humans if
4:25you're trying to find what is a female
4:27right the answer is the one that
4:28produces the egg in mammals is the
4:30female right so the ovum is actually
4:32significantly more important but in
4:33terms of biological definition of what
4:35makes a man versus a woman sperm versus
4:37egg is like the chief definition de
4:39blavia is putting that totally to the
4:40side because nature does not define
4:42woman is she who defines herself by
4:44reclaiming nature for herself in her
4:46affectivity right so the idea here is
4:47that to be truly a woman means that you
4:49have to overthrow all the institutions
4:51of society this is starting to get
4:53pretty radical pretty quickly so then
4:55the question becomes why do women seem
4:57to like being lives and mothers and what
4:59she says is they don't really like being
5:01lives and mothers it's really that
5:02they're indoctrinated to like being
5:03wives and mothers so she says everything
5:05helps to confirm this hierarchy in the
5:07eyes of the little girl historical and
5:08literary culture to which he belongs the
5:10songs and legends with which he is
5:12lulled to sleep are one long exaltation
5:14of man children's books mythology
5:16stories tales all reflect the myths born
5:18of the pride and desires of men thus it
5:21is that through the eyes of men the
5:22little girl discovers the world and
5:24reads their end her destiny actually de
5:26bravia one so far that she actually
5:27would argue that women should be barred
5:28from becoming mothers because too many
5:30women were opting to become mothers and
5:31this was undercutting her idea which is
5:34that women don't want to be mothers and
5:35they don't want to be wives and that all
5:36the institutions are forcing them to do
5:38that so she said you know no we have to
5:39stop women from making those choices
5:40quote no woman should be authorized to
5:42stay at home to raise her children
5:43society should be totally different
5:45women should not have that choice
5:46precisely because if there is such
5:48choice too many women will make that one
5:50it is a way of forcing women in a
5:51certain direction the heat in the united
5:53states really began not with the second
5:54sex but with betty friedan she wrote the
5:56feminine mystique in 1963 it sold three
5:58million copies for dan termed motherhood
6:00and marriage at the comfortable
6:01concentration camp very very famous
6:03phrase in american feminism she said
6:05that gender roles like motherhood and
6:07being a wife turned women into walking
6:09corpses this is a much more militant
6:11form of feminism the idea is that women
6:13basically shouldn't do the things that
6:15typically have characterized women for
6:16all of human history like bearing and
6:17rearing children and being wives to
6:18husbands instead this makes them into
6:20corpses what really is liberating for
6:22women is being just like men like you
6:23know going to work and having a job and
6:24not being married and not having any
6:25responsibility to the next generation
6:27the second wave feminist movement
6:28started to argue that every aspect of
6:30life was political and that gender roles
6:31were inherently stifling the only way
6:34that women could be free is to forcibly
6:36reject those roles
6:38in case you missed it last month
6:40treasury secretary janet yellen of the
6:42proudfoot family openly admitted to
6:43having completely missed the flashing
6:45red lights of impending inflation what
6:46goes without saying that you probably
6:48can't trust the so-called authorities on
6:49economic policy they're like oh we blew
6:51it but now we know they don't know this
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7:41and so you start to move from second
7:42wave feminism to third wave feminism one
7:43of these transitional figures is
7:45shulamith firestone basically what she
7:46predicted in 1970 is where we are in
7:482022. she said quote the end goal of
7:50feminist revolution must be unlike that
7:52of the feminist movement not just the
7:54elimination of male privilege but of the
7:55sex distinction itself genital
7:57differences between human beings would
7:58no longer matter culturally a reversion
8:01to an unobstructed pansexuality for its
8:03polymorphous perversity would probably
8:05supersede hetero homo bisexuality right
8:08complete sexual fluidity genital
8:10differences don't matter sex is not
8:11important anymore it's not that sex and
8:13gender are distinct it's that sex itself
8:14is completely arbitrary and does not
8:16matter firestone actually argued in
8:18favor of a time of artificial
8:19reproduction children being born to both
8:21sexes motherhood would be replaced all
8:23in order to end the tyranny of the
8:24biological family in 1970 cape millet
8:27radical feminist was writing similar
8:28stuff saying that sexual revolution was
8:30dependent on quote an end to traditional
8:32sexual inhibitions and taboos
8:34particularly those that most threaten
8:35patriarchal monogamous marriage
8:37homosexuality illegitimacy adolescence
8:39and pre and extramarital sexuality and
8:40so this is the argument second wave
8:42feminists are making contraception
8:43abortion sexual promiscuity fluidity of
8:45sexual behavior abolition of the family
8:47then you get the third wave feminist
8:48movement so you can already start to see
8:50the transition away from man these
8:51institutions are forcing women into
8:53marriage and having kids by the time you
8:54get to the third wave feminist movement
8:56they're like no no no none of this
8:57matters anymore sex doesn't matter many
8:59people sort of posit that the third wave
9:00feminist movement begins in the 70s and
9:02continues until today there's some
9:03people who try to date the third wave
9:04feminist movement from the 70s until
9:06like the 2010s ill-defined but even more
9:08radical than second wave feminism third
9:09wave feminism extended beyond the idea
9:11of the female entirely and now argued
9:13that gender was entirely performative
9:15it's just a role it was disconnected
9:16from sex men could be women women could
9:18be men the trans movement is an
9:20outgrowth of third wave feminism it
9:21sounds like schulich firestone so is the
9:23idea of total androgeny replacing gender
9:25altogether now the early leaders in this
9:27movement included robert stoller who's
9:29the author of a book called sex and
9:30gender in 1968 he argued that sex and
9:32gender were entirely distinct stoller's
9:34inspiration was of course john money was
9:36a perverse human being he was the
9:37founder of the johns hopkins gender
9:38identity clinic in 1965. money became
9:40famous because he was given a boy who
9:44had a botched circumcision the parents
9:45came to him and said what do we do he
9:46said well cut off the rest of it form a
9:48fake vagina and then pretend that this
9:50kid is a girl and this kid of course
9:53ended up in teenage years saying wait
9:54hold up i'm a boy end up committing
9:56suicide money argued that quote the
9:58gender identity gate is open at birth
10:00for a normal child no less than one born
10:01with unfinished sex organs it stays open
10:03for at least over a year after birth and
10:05then he would extend that window right
10:06this is how you see the trans movement
10:07now which is like you don't even today
10:09you could be a woman today you could be
10:10a man judith butler went even further as
10:12a founder of so-called queer theory she
10:14argued that even transgenderism is a
10:16problem it's not radical enough
10:17transgenderism because transgenderism
10:19relies on the gender binary right if
10:20you're transgender you are saying that
10:22you're a man in a woman's body or a
10:23woman in a man's body but this relies on
10:25the idea of two genders right she says
10:27no no we don't need any of that stuff so
10:28she relied on the perverse and
10:30disgusting post-modernist michelle
10:31foucault who saw all descriptions of
10:33ideas as a reflection of power dynamics
10:35so she argued for total gender fluidity
10:38full individual's pursuit of
10:39self-definition you can be fully
10:40biologically male you can be a female or
10:42you can be nothing right you can be just
10:44a gender non-binary cat you can be
10:46whatever you want to be she says society
10:48has to approve and celebrate such
10:50self-definition because we are not
10:51carving out a place for autonomy if by
10:53autonomy we mean a state of
10:55individuation taking a self-persisting
10:57prior to and apart from any relations of
10:59dependency on the world of others what
11:00she's saying there is that true autonomy
11:03means i get to define myself any which
11:05way i choose and you have to clap and if
11:07you don't clap you're denying my
11:09identity
11:14there are questions as to whether there
11:15has been a fourth wave if there is a
11:17fourth wave it probably dates to like
11:19right about now and the fourth wave is
11:21basically the idea we're now beyond
11:22gender completely we're now beyond sex
11:24completely and now it's about political
11:26power and how we form coalitions of the
11:28oppressed under intersectionality so we
11:30don't just have to worry about male
11:31female binaries we don't just have to
11:32worry about the patriarchy we have to
11:34see how issues of race and issues of
11:36class intersect with issues of gender
11:38and sexuality and it's kind of a
11:40mishmash and that's how you end up with
11:41the pride progress flag with like
11:43everything in it okay so we went from
11:45the feminist movement directed towards
11:47something namely achievement of rights
11:48for particular individuals toward a
11:51movement directed against and the
11:52movement directed against is all
11:54tradition it is biology it is reality it
11:57is language it is your ability to speak
11:59freely the evolution of feminism over
12:00time is really a devolution it's not an
12:02evolution at all it starts with certain
12:04high ideals and it ends with the
12:05complete destruction of all roles sex
12:08gender all of it it ends up the
12:10destruction of all that in the name of
12:11autonomy the only problem is of course
12:13that that does not generate anything
12:15remotely like human happiness which is
12:16why you see skyrocketing rates of
12:18simultaneous self-identification as
12:20lgbtq plus minus divided by sign and
12:22simultaneous skyrocketing rates of
12:24mental illness and suicidal ideation
12:26specifically in areas that take these
12:28sorts of ideas incredibly seriously

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