"Women do not need men." This was the cry of the feminist
movement. The point was to relinquish the thought that the man brings
home the money, and the women's place is in that home. The basic ideas of the movement were correct, but the ideas died out and the madness took over as is what happens with most extended movements. The author of "The Failure of Feminism" was correct in her argument.
The author uses a personal experience to begin the essay. This is useful because it shows how her statement can be applied to real life. The one basic point of her tale of her blind date is that feminism caused men to become richer, while women were left divorced and living in poverty with their children. This is the complete opposite of the basic ideas and reasons for the beginning of the feminist movement. Women wanted freedom from men, but in this freedom came a worse prison. Women were forced to pay their own way and spend hours trying to prove their superiority over men.
Kay Ebeling goes on to say that the whole down fall of feminism is a "biological thing." According to Miss Ebeling in order for feminism to truly work, women would have to neglect their natural biological callings to become a mother. I agree with this statement, because in order to maintain the same hours and working standards set up in today's society, they would most ceraitnly not be able to have a child in their midst. This argument does not require the female part of society to completely leave the work force.
Miss Ebeling states this fact and adds the fact that it would be helpful.
The reason it would be helpful is that it would open a large number of jobs for unemployed men. These men would in turn be able to support their wife and child. This would take a large strain off society by decreasing the price of welfare, and this would bring up the economy of the United States immensely. The few jobs which would be kept by women would allow for them to work out of their homes. She states that men and women were built for different jobs. Men were built for the strenuous twelve hour days. Women were built for the work they did before feminism. Women should be allowed to work, but it should not interfere mentally or physically with their "biological clock."
Men and women were not created, evolved or whatever you particular belief is, equal. Women were built for particular work. Men were built for other work. These areas may overlap, but they rarely do. The feminist movement gave women everything they did not want, and a few freedoms to make it appear for a short while that they may have succeeded. Women wanted more freedom, but somewhere during the battle were given more repression. Feminism failed!