Phyllis Schlafly, a long time anti-equal rights advocate for her fellow women, hosted the "How To Take Back America" Conference last weekend and made some pretty startling comments. Let's take a look below.
This is a sample of her speech, decrying feminism as the root of all ills in society. As if feminism killed Andy of Mayberry and Ward Cleaver:
I submit to you that the feminist movement is the most dangerous, destructive force in our society today. [...] My analysis is that the gays are about 5% of the attack on marriage in this country, and the feminists are about 95%. [...] I’m talking about drugs, sex, illegitimacy, drop outs, poor grades, run away, suicide, you name it, every social ill comes out of the fatherless home.
Let's get real here, okay? What she's saying is that because women demanded equal rights under the law, and because women demanded to be treated as equals in society...that leads to fatherless homes. Which leads to a breakdown in society. Please. Women's rights and the modern feminist movement have nothing, nothing whatsoever to do with drugs, suicide, teen pregnancies, and drop out rates. What it does do is encourage women to seek an equal place at the table, to have an equal say in our national discourse, and to bring women's issues to the forefront of that discourse. So her argument is, quite easily, torn to shreds.
So...how did republicans respond to her bullshit? Take a look:
At the closing ceremony, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) thanked Schlafly for her critical support of his candidacy last year, and Mike Huckabee stood by as she was presented with the "American Hero of the Century" award. "God bless you," said Huckabee, "and God bless Phyllis Schlafly most of all."
Yes, indeed. God does look after drunks, little children, and confused, backward-thinking conservatives. The problem here, I think, is a lack of appropriate perception. People who think like this also think that the fifties was a really keen decade, one during which Americans were not so lazy and did not scream about violations of their rights, and we were all huddled in our middle-class suburban homes with nothing to fear but fear itself. But the Cleavers weren't real. That's the crux of the problem. There was rampant and widespread violence, hatred, and bigotry against women, homosexuals, blacks, etc. Just because there were those that had the courage to stand up and say "No More!" and just because the bigots lost does not mean that society went to hell. Get a grip, Conservatives. Nobody took your country. Those you sought to keep under your bootheel just threw you off and declared themselves to be Americans, too. Ooooh scary, I know. Get over it.
Here's the video: