Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women Quotes

“That is the corrosive paradox of gender feminism's misandrist stance: no group of women can wage war on men without at the same time denigrating the women who respect those men.”
― Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women

“Truth brought to public light recruits the best of us to work for change. On the other hand, even the best-intentioned "noble lie" ultimately discredits the finest of causes.”
― Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women

“American feminism is currently dominated by a group of wome n wh o seek to persuad e the public that American wome n are not the free creatures we thin k w e are. Th e leaders an d theorists of the women's movemen t believe that ou r society is best described as a patriarchy, a "male hegemony," a "sex/gender system" in whic h the dominan t gender works to keep wome n cowering an d submissive. The feminists wh o hold this divisive view of ou r social an d political reality believe we are in a gender war, an d they are eager to disseminate stories of atrocity that are designed to alert wome n to their plight. Th e "gender feminists" (as I shall call them) believe that all ou r institutions, from the state to the family to the grade schools, perpetuate male dominance . Believing that wome n are virtually under siege, gende r feminists naturally seek recruits to their side of the gender war. They seek support . They seek vindication. They seek ammunition.”
― Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have Betrayed Women

“An illiberal authoritarianism is implicit in the doctrine that women are socialized to want the things the gender feminist believes they should not want. For those who believe that what women want and hope for is “constrained” or “coerced” by their upbringing in the patriarchy are led to dismiss the values and aspirations of most women. The next step may not be inevitable, but it is almost irresistible: to regard women as badly brought-up children whose harmful desires and immature choices must be discounted.”
― Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women

“Question: How many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Feminist answer: That’s not funny.”
― Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women

“The transformationist leaders are not men, but they are white, they are “European,” they are middle-class. Minority women have begun to deny that the leaders of the women’s movement have any right to speak for them. Most members of the women of color caucus boycotted the 1992 Austin National Women’s Studies Conference I attended for its failure to recognize and respect their political identity. The slighted group sent the conferees an African-American women’s quilt made from dashiki fabrics, as both a reprimand and a “healing gesture.” The assembled white feminists sat before it in resentful but guilty silence. In the game of moral one-upmanship that gender feminists are so good at, they had been outquilted, as it were, by a more marginalized constituency.”
― Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women

“Feminist critics have looked at the metaphors of “male science” and found them sexist. I recently heard a feminist astronomer interviewed on CNN say in all seriousness that sexist terminology like “the Big Bang Theory” is “off-putting to young women” who might otherwise be interested in pursuing careers in her field.”
― Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women

“Playing on the biblical double meaning of knowing to refer both to intercourse and to cognition, Ellman and MacKinnon claim that men approach nature as rapists approach a woman, taking joy in violating “her,” in “penetrating” her secrets. Feminists, says MacKinnon, have finally realized that for men, “to know has meant to fuck." In a similar mood, Sandra Harding suggests that Newton’s Principles of Mechanics could just as aptly be called “Newton’s Rape Manual.”
― Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women

“The California State Department of Education has issued guidelines called “Standards for Evaluation of Instructional Materials with Respect to Social Content.” According to Education Code section 60040(a) and 60044(a), “Whenever an instructional material presents developments in history or current events, or achievements in art, science, or any other field, the contributions of women and men should be represented in approximately equal number.“ In effect, this law demands that the historian be more attentive to the demands of “equal representation” than to the historical facts. Needless to say, histories and social studies presented in this “fair” but factually skewed manner constitute an unworthy and dishonest approach to learning.”
― Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women