Every wave of various feminist movements has been led for the most part by wealthy, privileged women who for the most part had no clue how ordinary people live; They didn't have to know as they had things done for them. And needing their own sense of purpose they jumped onto these movements. Who did they think was going to do all the work keeping 'centralized kitchens' and 'centralized childcare' etc going? - clearly it wasn't going to be them , but rather some other poorer women, but "shhhh" don't tell anyone. In our own modern period, I have to laugh every time I see Gloria Steinem held up as a beacon of 'female freedom'. This is a woman who was not only never a mother, but she also spent a good amount of her time trying to land a wealthy husband of which she was not successful. When the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was being drafted, Betty Friedan who was a mother of three wanted to include language extolling the role and importance of 'family' but Gloria Steinem would not have it. Feminism is dying as a movement - and rightfully so. Long live freedom to be what you want to be and not to have some Marxist or Communist corralling you into programs not fit for humans.
Irish elites have been on a crusade for years to remove anything Catholic, populist or communitarian from the constitution. Sometimes they can convince a majority, but this is one of those times when they just haven't read the room.
There is an aspect of all this 'Woke Meddling With Wording' that doesn't get enough attention from its exasperated opponents (who tend to frame their opposition entirely in terms of competing 'ideologies'). But the BIGGEST driver, in my view, is simply the bureaucratic mentality. Bureaucrats are notoriously mid-wit, boring and jobs-worth type people. Give civil service bureaucrats a brief to make everything "equitable" and this kind of bollocks is what they'll come up with.....not just in Ireland but right across the Anglo-West.
It really seems as if it is. All across the Western world, as the disgusting, destructive excesses of Leftism become impossible for ordinary people to ignore, we're seeing backlash against it at previously-unimaginable levels. Look at California and Oregon, of all places, rolling back major extreme-left policy achievements of recent years because people got a taste of the results and found them unpalatable. If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere, and it *is.*
Thank you to Rev. Katie for recommending this. I did an episode awhile ago on one of your essays, Mary, and enjoy your very nuanced view. I hadn't heard about the Irish vote but it seems like the next logical step in the process to force us all into working to make the rich richer, serving the ejaculations of men, with children as an inconvenient byproduct. Except for the pedo aspect, but that's a whole other story.
Feminism, imo, went in the wrong direction. Rather than women's labor serving the market, men's labor should have gone in the direction of serving family and community. My work has been designing an economy that puts children at the center, surrounded by women, surrounded by men. Here's one on economics, one on spirituality, and one on mothers:
Regarding the final paragraph: I'd suggest that there can be different kinds of egalitarianism - one which operates according to the "ideology of sameness" (a key phrase in this or any text - an effort seems underway to make everyone as similar as possible, perhaps for ease of algorithmic management amongst other things?); and another, which would seek to support all people to the same extent, albeit in the service of different ends where each is concerned.
How does the Irish state currently “ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home”? What specific protections does the state provide to ensure that mothers don’t have to engage in paid labor outside the home?
It seems like the social media Trad Wife/Stay-At-Home-Girlfriend trend, in bed (literally), with Capitalism solved all these conunudrums, at least for people who can afford it. If one is social-media-genic enough to attract a man who is willing to pay for your life while you spend your days online showing off form-fitting pastel outfits, online shopping hauls, and some easy-bake cookies, you will neither have to work for a living NOR do actual work in his home (yes, I said "his" home). The heavy lifting and drudgery is of course outsourced to maids, nannies and online meal delivery brands like Hello Fresh. It has to be because cultivating a social media brand that will turn an actual profit requires all your time. Scripting, filming, editing, etc is a full time job. Yes it brings in money (maybe more than he makes) but if your actually "trad" the money isn't yours to keep but will go in the household kitty. Even IF he "lets" you keep it all for yourself, when you get divorced (and most #TradWives will), the State divides it all down the middle as "unified household income" - which means HE gets half of everything.
The TradWife to Poverty Pipeline has already been exposed;
Every wave of various feminist movements has been led for the most part by wealthy, privileged women who for the most part had no clue how ordinary people live; They didn't have to know as they had things done for them. And needing their own sense of purpose they jumped onto these movements. Who did they think was going to do all the work keeping 'centralized kitchens' and 'centralized childcare' etc going? - clearly it wasn't going to be them , but rather some other poorer women, but "shhhh" don't tell anyone. In our own modern period, I have to laugh every time I see Gloria Steinem held up as a beacon of 'female freedom'. This is a woman who was not only never a mother, but she also spent a good amount of her time trying to land a wealthy husband of which she was not successful. When the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was being drafted, Betty Friedan who was a mother of three wanted to include language extolling the role and importance of 'family' but Gloria Steinem would not have it. Feminism is dying as a movement - and rightfully so. Long live freedom to be what you want to be and not to have some Marxist or Communist corralling you into programs not fit for humans.
Irish elites have been on a crusade for years to remove anything Catholic, populist or communitarian from the constitution. Sometimes they can convince a majority, but this is one of those times when they just haven't read the room.
I agree--I sense ripples under the ocean. I think a powerful maternal feminism is beginning to coalesce.
There is an aspect of all this 'Woke Meddling With Wording' that doesn't get enough attention from its exasperated opponents (who tend to frame their opposition entirely in terms of competing 'ideologies'). But the BIGGEST driver, in my view, is simply the bureaucratic mentality. Bureaucrats are notoriously mid-wit, boring and jobs-worth type people. Give civil service bureaucrats a brief to make everything "equitable" and this kind of bollocks is what they'll come up with.....not just in Ireland but right across the Anglo-West.
Hurray for Ireland - perhaps there’s hope for us all yet (and not just women and mothers).
The discussion of women transferring their "domestic" roles to the state is interesting.
In Britain women are:
77% of psychologists
83% of social workers
76% of teachers (86% of primary school teachers)
77% of NHS employees.
82% of social care workforce (2018).
So essentially women have got the state to pay them for doing this work, which is a neat trick and considerable political success.
When reading the above, I was reminded of this article that I read almost a year ago, touching on some of the same ideas. https://www.firstthings.com/article/2023/04/sex-realist-feminism
> Perhaps the pendulum is swinging
It really seems as if it is. All across the Western world, as the disgusting, destructive excesses of Leftism become impossible for ordinary people to ignore, we're seeing backlash against it at previously-unimaginable levels. Look at California and Oregon, of all places, rolling back major extreme-left policy achievements of recent years because people got a taste of the results and found them unpalatable. If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere, and it *is.*
Thank you to Rev. Katie for recommending this. I did an episode awhile ago on one of your essays, Mary, and enjoy your very nuanced view. I hadn't heard about the Irish vote but it seems like the next logical step in the process to force us all into working to make the rich richer, serving the ejaculations of men, with children as an inconvenient byproduct. Except for the pedo aspect, but that's a whole other story.
Feminism, imo, went in the wrong direction. Rather than women's labor serving the market, men's labor should have gone in the direction of serving family and community. My work has been designing an economy that puts children at the center, surrounded by women, surrounded by men. Here's one on economics, one on spirituality, and one on mothers:
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/five-feminine-economies
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/masculine-and-feminine-spirituality
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/having-words-peter-duke-and-jasun
Thanks again and I'll definitely be including this in a future episode!
"Male pattern violence" -- touché! My kinda word play.
https://open.substack.com/pub/hickeym/p/ireland-no-longer-swayed-by-virtue?r=2bg32v&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web This is a reaction from closer to the Irish cultural cliff face.
Regarding the final paragraph: I'd suggest that there can be different kinds of egalitarianism - one which operates according to the "ideology of sameness" (a key phrase in this or any text - an effort seems underway to make everyone as similar as possible, perhaps for ease of algorithmic management amongst other things?); and another, which would seek to support all people to the same extent, albeit in the service of different ends where each is concerned.
Ireland’s taoiseach Leo Varadkar is a fecking commie.
What has happened to Ireland?
How does the Irish state currently “ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home”? What specific protections does the state provide to ensure that mothers don’t have to engage in paid labor outside the home?
It seems like the social media Trad Wife/Stay-At-Home-Girlfriend trend, in bed (literally), with Capitalism solved all these conunudrums, at least for people who can afford it. If one is social-media-genic enough to attract a man who is willing to pay for your life while you spend your days online showing off form-fitting pastel outfits, online shopping hauls, and some easy-bake cookies, you will neither have to work for a living NOR do actual work in his home (yes, I said "his" home). The heavy lifting and drudgery is of course outsourced to maids, nannies and online meal delivery brands like Hello Fresh. It has to be because cultivating a social media brand that will turn an actual profit requires all your time. Scripting, filming, editing, etc is a full time job. Yes it brings in money (maybe more than he makes) but if your actually "trad" the money isn't yours to keep but will go in the household kitty. Even IF he "lets" you keep it all for yourself, when you get divorced (and most #TradWives will), the State divides it all down the middle as "unified household income" - which means HE gets half of everything.
The TradWife to Poverty Pipeline has already been exposed;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6RjGTBNxME