Feminism in decline

Catherine Seipp gets to the heart of what's gone pear shaped with feminism. Apparently a special Sunday opinion section in the LA Times last week featuring four women writers, two from the left and two from the right, really got former Dukakis henchperson Susan Estrich's knickers in a twist.

Sounds pretty reasonable no? Unfortunately, the LA Times had the audacity to feature the piece by Charlotte Allen who laments the decline of feminine intellectualism from heights reached a generation ago. Allen reasons that rigorous intellectualism has declined to prattling incessantly from the current 'feminist' catechism.

Estrich fumed that [Allen ]is "a feminist-hater I have never heard of...her only book was about Jesus and religion". A crime indeed. Michael Kinsley, the opinion editor at the Times who Estrich maligned for having the audacity to have replaced an African-American woman, responded with a zinger:

"I'm sorry that [Estrich] has 'never heard' of Charlotte Allen, but I think it may be possible to be a woman even if Susan Estrich has never heard of you." And: "If Susan wants to boycott media institutions that don't adequately reflect her progressive feminist values, maybe she should start by resigning from Fox News."

Susan Estrich, Nancy Hopkins (who started the Summers tempest in a teacup) and fellow travelers have hijacked feminism to suit what they believe. Shouldn't feminists have celebrated Condoleeza Rice's appointment as Secretary of State? A black woman from segregated Alabama at the top of Cabinet. Odd.

Despite what the race and gender peddlers desperately try to sell its not about race or gender and hasn't been for a long, long time. It's a battle over ideas. And on ideas they are severely lacking.