The overwhelming majority of American women endorse gender equality, but don’t necessarily call themselves ‘feminists’. What drives this antipathy? What’s so objectionable about public safety and equal pay? Neoclassical economists would emphasise financial interests. Stay-at-home mothers may see feminists as threatening their husband’s earnings. But this is too materialist. It fails to explain
I think that explains white women quite well. But do these patterns hold up for Black women? It's common knowledge that Black women vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic party, including in Alabama. But do they identify as feminists much more than white women do? This Ipsos poll would indicate no:
If Ipsos is to be believed, partisanship and media echo chambers are clearly not the underlying cause. Instead, the primary driver appears to be education, along with partisan identification. My suspicion is that in the US, feminism has become so closely identified with the priorities and beliefs of highly educated liberal women, that many others do not relate to the movement at all.
Why don't more American women identify as feminists? Mostly because they see it as a rich (or white) women's movement---unconcerned with them and their needs. Feminism as a movement (rather than a practice) in the U.S. revolves around fundraising, lobbying, and 501c3 orgs. It fights hard for abortion rights, but practically nothing else. Lack of childcare is the number one reason women lose their jobs in the U.S., and the feminist movement devotes no meaningful political energy towards solving that problem (or to a related problem, paid sick leave). Feminism as a movement in the U.S. does NO organizing among working class women---it keeps all its energy for college campuses. Working class women were scapegoated as the reason the ERA didn't pass. And this continuing ignoring of the majority of American women is why the movement itself it so weak. Contrast this with how the civil rights movement and labor movement built themselves.
Part of the problem with surveys like this is that they exclude the middle. Some people who read 'People who work hard can find success no matter what situation they were born into' and 'Some people's situation are so challenging that no amount of hard work will allow them to find success' nod and agree with both of these. Most people, they think, can find success if they are willing to work for it. But there do exist a small number of people -- those with certain disabilities come to mind -- who cannot find success no matter how hard they work at it. So you end up scratching your head and wondering which statement is 'more true'.
Feminism is the ideology of UMC professional women with more masculine outlooks that desire no or fewer children.
It has very little appeal to someone that wants to be a SAHM with three kids. If anything it tends to advocate against their interests (for instance, it loves free daycare but hates the idea of paying SAHM).
Unless feminism was as banal as 1+1=2, I wouldn't expect everyone to support it. But since feminists typically advocate changes to the status quo, it should be expected that not everyone would endorse it. Of course, there's a question of how to define "feminism" which Bryan Caplan would have a particular perspective on, and others would differ:
Nice graphics but you have echo chambers of your own. I don’t see any discussion of the obvious...men think differently than women. I spent most of my life in all male environments. You can see it as sexism or you can stand up for yourself in overt or covert ways. Women tend to tear each other down but team sports helps change that model of extreme individualism. Cultural norms were finally seeing a shift when the “activist “ became the norm. Activists make me cringe. Insulting people doesn’t trump dialogue. Shouting down opposing viewpoints won’t win any supporters.
I think that explains white women quite well. But do these patterns hold up for Black women? It's common knowledge that Black women vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic party, including in Alabama. But do they identify as feminists much more than white women do? This Ipsos poll would indicate no:
https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/american-women-and-feminism
If Ipsos is to be believed, partisanship and media echo chambers are clearly not the underlying cause. Instead, the primary driver appears to be education, along with partisan identification. My suspicion is that in the US, feminism has become so closely identified with the priorities and beliefs of highly educated liberal women, that many others do not relate to the movement at all.
Why don't more American women identify as feminists? Mostly because they see it as a rich (or white) women's movement---unconcerned with them and their needs. Feminism as a movement (rather than a practice) in the U.S. revolves around fundraising, lobbying, and 501c3 orgs. It fights hard for abortion rights, but practically nothing else. Lack of childcare is the number one reason women lose their jobs in the U.S., and the feminist movement devotes no meaningful political energy towards solving that problem (or to a related problem, paid sick leave). Feminism as a movement in the U.S. does NO organizing among working class women---it keeps all its energy for college campuses. Working class women were scapegoated as the reason the ERA didn't pass. And this continuing ignoring of the majority of American women is why the movement itself it so weak. Contrast this with how the civil rights movement and labor movement built themselves.
Part of the problem with surveys like this is that they exclude the middle. Some people who read 'People who work hard can find success no matter what situation they were born into' and 'Some people's situation are so challenging that no amount of hard work will allow them to find success' nod and agree with both of these. Most people, they think, can find success if they are willing to work for it. But there do exist a small number of people -- those with certain disabilities come to mind -- who cannot find success no matter how hard they work at it. So you end up scratching your head and wondering which statement is 'more true'.
Feminism is the ideology of UMC professional women with more masculine outlooks that desire no or fewer children.
It has very little appeal to someone that wants to be a SAHM with three kids. If anything it tends to advocate against their interests (for instance, it loves free daycare but hates the idea of paying SAHM).
Unless feminism was as banal as 1+1=2, I wouldn't expect everyone to support it. But since feminists typically advocate changes to the status quo, it should be expected that not everyone would endorse it. Of course, there's a question of how to define "feminism" which Bryan Caplan would have a particular perspective on, and others would differ:
https://betonit.substack.com/p/aaronson-versus-dystopia
Nice graphics but you have echo chambers of your own. I don’t see any discussion of the obvious...men think differently than women. I spent most of my life in all male environments. You can see it as sexism or you can stand up for yourself in overt or covert ways. Women tend to tear each other down but team sports helps change that model of extreme individualism. Cultural norms were finally seeing a shift when the “activist “ became the norm. Activists make me cringe. Insulting people doesn’t trump dialogue. Shouting down opposing viewpoints won’t win any supporters.