1 00:00:00,390 --> 00:00:04,750 I want to talk to you about a new feminism for the 21st century. 2 00:00:04,750 --> 00:00:08,600 There are three pillars to this new feminism: Dignity. 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:13,290 The word "no." And men. That's right, men. 4 00:00:13,290 --> 00:00:17,990 But before I expound on these three ideas, you need to know something about me. I was 5 00:00:17,990 --> 00:00:22,630 very involved in the feminist movement, including being on the board of directors of the National 6 00:00:22,630 --> 00:00:29,099 Organization for Women. For this I feel much pride and some guilt. Pride because feminism 7 00:00:29,099 --> 00:00:35,559 has pushed forward some very important and needed changes; and guilt because it also 8 00:00:35,559 --> 00:00:41,559 has done a lot of damage. My work now is to reverse that damage. 9 00:00:41,559 --> 00:00:46,410 In that spirit, let's talk about the first pillar of this new feminism: dignity. 10 00:00:46,410 --> 00:00:53,190 Dignity is at the core of what feminism should always be about. Dignity means that a woman 11 00:00:53,190 --> 00:00:59,320 should be able to freely choose her own path in life. That's what feminism once held. 12 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:05,939 But does it still? Ask almost any female college student today what she aspires to be and she'll 13 00:01:05,939 --> 00:01:12,229 list any number of career choices. The one she won't list is wife and mother. In fact 14 00:01:12,229 --> 00:01:18,030 any time someone has the temerity to suggest that a woman might want to look for a husband 15 00:01:18,030 --> 00:01:24,020 while in college, as a very successful Princeton grad recently did in a letter to the school's 16 00:01:24,020 --> 00:01:30,290 newspaper, feminists go nuts. A new feminism will value and respect all 17 00:01:30,290 --> 00:01:35,710 responsible choices. And while we're talking about dignity, I can't 18 00:01:35,710 --> 00:01:40,950 think of anything less dignified for women than the feminist belief that in the sexual 19 00:01:40,950 --> 00:01:47,850 arena, women are like, and therefore ought to act like, men. Is this what the truly liberated 20 00:01:47,850 --> 00:01:54,490 woman wants? To have casual sex and think nothing of it like men do? That's what feminism 21 00:01:54,490 --> 00:02:01,490 aspires to? Sad to say the answer has too often been yes. So, let's add this up: Feminism 22 00:02:03,380 --> 00:02:08,420 has downplayed the desire for women to have a family while at the same time hyping the 23 00:02:08,420 --> 00:02:15,420 rewards of career and casual sex. Not exactly a recipe for success or happiness. 24 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:21,430 The second pillar of a new feminism is the word "no." It's very much tied in with the 25 00:02:21,430 --> 00:02:25,470 first pillar. Throughout history women made great use of 26 00:02:25,470 --> 00:02:31,340 the word "no." Of course many times women said "yes" when they should have said no, 27 00:02:31,340 --> 00:02:37,230 and that's the basis of more than a few classic stories and novels. But this was the exception, 28 00:02:37,230 --> 00:02:43,269 not the rule. There is great power in that word "no." And women, for the most part, knew 29 00:02:43,269 --> 00:02:49,500 how to wield that power. But in the last few decades they've lost it. And the consequences 30 00:02:49,500 --> 00:02:53,909 have been catastrophic. Women, who fought not to be treated as sex 31 00:02:53,909 --> 00:03:00,080 objects, have become more objectified than ever. You see it everywhere: in music videos, 32 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,459 on billboards, in the hookup culture on campuses. 33 00:03:03,459 --> 00:03:07,760 And now we have the tawdry spectacle of teenage girls sexually 34 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:14,650 pursuing teenage boys the way boys pursued girls. How did this happen? Because feminism 35 00:03:14,650 --> 00:03:20,030 began to advocate that women should behave like men. Whatever men did and however they 36 00:03:20,030 --> 00:03:26,099 did it, that's what women should do. Feminists were angry at men - but they wanted to be 37 00:03:26,099 --> 00:03:31,879 like them at the same time. No wonder our society is so confused. 38 00:03:31,879 --> 00:03:37,250 Women are robbing themselves of the ability to say no; the solution is to take that power 39 00:03:37,250 --> 00:03:43,810 back. This is especially true for young women. Saying "no" means, I will not be defined by 40 00:03:43,810 --> 00:03:50,810 anyone else - not by feminists, and not by men's sexual desires. That's female power. 41 00:03:51,390 --> 00:03:57,280 This is a good segue to my third pillar of a new feminism - men. It is easy for feminists 42 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:02,860 to forget this, but it was men who gave up their monopoly on political power and gave 43 00:04:02,860 --> 00:04:08,599 women the right to vote, men who invented birth control, the refrigerator, the washing 44 00:04:08,599 --> 00:04:13,340 machine, and so many other devices that liberated women. 45 00:04:13,340 --> 00:04:19,260 And men are different from women. Academics like to speculate that men and women are basically 46 00:04:19,260 --> 00:04:25,880 the same, that they're only socialized differently, but as George Orwell famously noted: that's 47 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:32,410 an idea that only an intellectual would be foolish enough to believe. Moreover, the sexes 48 00:04:32,410 --> 00:04:37,290 need each other. For example, women civilize men. It's what we are supposed to do. 49 00:04:38,970 --> 00:04:43,850 But in order to accomplish this critical task, We must preserve our dignity, 50 00:04:43,850 --> 00:04:49,540 Not be afraid to use the word no, And, see men as partners, not as competitors, 51 00:04:49,540 --> 00:04:53,380 let alone oppressors. That's the way to a new feminism. And the 52 00:04:53,380 --> 00:04:56,470 way to a better world for both sexes. 53 00:04:56,470 --> 00:05:00,030 I'm Tammy Bruce for Prager University.