It’s Funny How Feminists Never Change

I’ve known this friend for over 20 years, or so I thought. Her Facebook page is adorned with the Ukrainian flag (still to this day), she thinks Joe Biden is the most moral man she has ever encountered, and she is pretty sure Trump stole the 2024 election from Kamala Harris. She has Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) and she is certain she is on the right side of history. Most certainly.

I am the epitome of opposite to her views, yet the two of us have made a pact to keep going to dinner (thank God wine is involved) to keep talking, no matter how much we disagree. And we disagree on many things, but surprisingly, agree on a few very important things.

In our last sushi-laden dinner, as I listened respectfully to her views, my mind drifted off a bit (most certainly because of the wine) to a story I remembered about foreigners visiting Russia around 1917. They were astounded to find out that women were the true supporters of the Bolsheviks, at their early beginnings, before they killed the czar and his family. I think my friend is misguided, and I think the Russian ladies were, too.

It’s interesting, because the Bolsheviks’ main plank so to speak was a revolution of the working class, yet it was the elite women of Russia – the upper and middle classes – who bought the ideology hook, line and sinker. The working class was too busy – you know, working. Were the elite women bored and in need of a cause? My friend is recently retired and very bored, so that’s why I ask the question.

Well-educated women from professional and intellectual families fueled the Bolshevik fire. As one book on the topic noted: “they were present at the birth and were crucial in the final stages of delivery.” They used their social networks to engage politically. Even before 1917, these women were deeply involved in organizing and publishing pro-Marxist ideas. They had the motivation and the means.

They advocated for many of the same things that we once again see white, “liberated” women promoting: sexual liberation, “maternity protections” (translation: abortion rights), and socialized childcare (a la Hillary’s “it takes a village”), which is nothing more than making sure your children are Marxist-indoctrinated by the state. Remember that in a Marxist ideology, your children don’t belong to you. It is exactly what we see today. Parents don’t need to be notified that your elementary school child is being taught about oral sex, or that your high school student is undergoing gender surgery without your knowledge. Because that child does not belong to you, it belongs to the state.

The Russian elite women had a hard time. Working-class women eyed them with suspicion. The same is true today: the elitist, Ivy League educated woman doesn’t resonate with a hard working female rancher in the heartland. Those are two different worlds. Bolshevik men didn’t really accept the elite women either, downplaying their feminist ideals as secondary to the main revolutionary goals.

Certainly, these women fought hard for the Bolshevik cause. Perhaps they were unfulfilled and they need a cause to fill that lonely gap. I get it, but that’s where “choose wisely” comes into play. I’m sure they thought they were on the right side of history as well. How did they feel when the Bolsheviks murdered the entire Russian czar and his wife and children in cold blood? Maybe they were horrified. Maybe they applauded it.

The Modern Bolshevik Equivalent

Today’s equivalent is the group of upper class elite white women who hate President Trump. It is interesting because in 2024, white voters made up approximately 70% of voters – still the largest voting bloc even with the country’s diversification.

The white vote is traditionally conservative and leans Republican, but major gender and education gaps do exist. White women voted for Kamala Harris, and because they represent 17% of the voting bloc, that is formidable. However, I simply can’t understand this. At all. I would love to see a female president, but Kamala Harris is as dumb as a fence post. Maybe dumber. To me, it is a detriment to all women to vote for a dumb fencepost just because of her gender. I literally cannot understand why any woman would vote for her. I’m sure my friend did, and even worse, she is waiting for the day when it will be proven that Trump stole the election from Kamala, and she is then ushered into office.

Humble Beginnings

The women’s Bolshevik movement actually had humble and noble beginnings. The movement started in 1905 as a suffrage movement to gain women the right to vote. During and after World War I, women made up 40% of the Russian workforce, but only 13% were literate. They were subjected to the rule of their husbands and their male bosses. They worked long hours for a pittance of pay. Many were single widows left to care for families with very few resources. However, these things often did not apply to the liberal women.

And as is often the case, over time the movement became radicalized. What would the women of America’s suffrage movement say today?

Conservative women are speaking out against transgender ideology and not subjecting their children to LGBTQ drag queen shows in school. Many of the women who attend freedom movement events are grandmothers concerned about their grandchildren (and their liberal daughters who just don’t get it). But where are the liberal women? The ones that used to burn bras? As my own mom once said, “I was all for women being able to work, but my bras cost too much to burn.” Well said, Mom.

Why are the liberal ladies not speaking out against men in women’s sports? Instead, they are speaking for abortion and are in favor of arresting fellow women who pray in front of abortion clinics. Are they not disturbed that drag queens are twerking in front of five year olds? Their silence says it all.

The Great Reckoning

I’ve thought about this a LOT: what will it take for my friend and I to be on the same page? Answer: the truth. We’ll both have to understand the truth in our hearts, and I am sure that will happen.

Here’s a great example of the truth. How many people know that Gloria Steinem, the leader of the feminist movement, was a CIA agent? Steinem has spoken openly about being employed by the Independent Research Service, a CIA front organization. Steinem described the CIA as “liberal, nonviolent and honorable,” and describes herself as a young, energetic, global representative for American values and freedom in the 1950s and 1960s. She had her own brand of social revolution, promoted by American tax dollars to counter Soviet-sponsored messaging. Steinem says, “If I had a choice I would do it again.”

Soviets and Steinem aside, how many feminists who were inspired by Steinem know that she was employed by the CIA? I think the truth would have made a difference. The entire feminist movement centered around women’s lack of fulfillment as homemakers. Women had achieved the right to vote and own property, and now wanted to pursue higher education and careers. That’s great! But it wasn’t enough for some feminists, just as it wasn’t enough for some Bolshevik female supporters. The hard-core feminists said women had a choice between poverty or sexual/financial exploitation. Really? Nothing in between? Happiness in a traditional role wasn’t on the table? These ladies pushed women to refute traditional marriage, take the pill, have sex outside of marriage or be single moms. Women who wanted a traditional family and role were demonized and shamed. I thought feminism was being any kind of woman you wanted to be?

Fast-forward 60 years, and the women who could finally achieve the freedom and happiness that had been available to men for millennia are now often the most unhappy and unfulfilled. “In survey after survey, it turns out that people who espouse a secular worldview, people who identify as liberals, and people who never attend religious services report the lowest levels of personal satisfaction, but they also report the highest levels of support for feminist ideals.”

Gloria Steinem worked for the CIA and had ulterior motives for feminism. The Bolshevik women pushed working women into areas they didn’t really want to go. My friend is very traditional, but seems very unhappy. And we’re still pretty far apart politically. I really think she is unsettled and thinks she knows why. But she is unsettled for a different reason. Truth is coming. I think a big revelation of truth about many things is coming, and I hope after the initial shock, she embraces the truth to be happier. Actually, I hope we embrace the truth together, and finally realize we’re not that far apart after all. It’s just that women like the Bolsheviks and feminists have convinced us that we are.