Evangelical Feminism

By Julie Ingersoll:

Once these girls are all clear on how bad feminism is, they’ll be taught to “fight like a girl” in a workshop on political activism. I am all on board with the idea that the meaning of words is contextual and that words change meaning over time. But when women like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann call themselves feminists, it’s not to promote feminism or women’s equality; it’s not just that they mean something different by the term; it’s disingenuous. The intention is really to subvert the term and undermine the values promoted by it in favor of a different set of values. It’s to win the debate, not with a better argument, but to silence their opponents by making language… well… impotent.