Feminism has left middle-aged women like me single, childless and depressed

The Telegraph ^ | 25 April 2024 | Petronella Wyatt

[Vigilanteman]

I increasingly feel that feminism has failed my generation. It is a peculiarity of the West that it is divided into sets which differ profoundly in their beliefs. This state of affairs began with the Reformation and has grown more pronounced ever since. There were Protestants and Catholics who differed fundamentally not only on faith but on practical matters. It was among Protestant communities that feminism first emerged, and it is in Protestant countries such as America and Britain in which feminist beliefs have been at their most vocal and strident in tone, like a religion with no dilution of agnosticism. Margaret Thatcher, though she would have denied it, was a feminist de facto, and no Catholic country could have produced her like.

. . .

Where, for instance, does it leave women like me, when we have reached the age of 54, as I have, and find ourselves both single and childless? Hugging the collected works of Proust, or engaging in furtive sojourns to the pub that bring remembrances of things pissed? One in 10 British women in their 50s have never married and live alone, which is neither pleasant nor healthy.

[Jim Noble]

Feminism didn’t do that to her.

She did it to herself.

[Albion Wilde]

Between 2000 and 2004, the author Petronella Wyatt had an affair with the then editor of The Spectator and Conservative MP Boris Johnson. Johnson had promised to leave his wife, and the affair had resulted in a terminated pregnancy and a miscarriage...

Sounds like she "gave him the best years of her life." What a fool. She has no room whatsoever to complain, after trying to rob another woman's nest. It's ludicrous that she blames the trail-blazing woman PM instead of PM Boris Johnson for her condition.

[Noumenon]

Yep. Too late for these feminist cows. You can't undo that toxic garbage.

[Albion Wilde]

The West’s marriage rate and birth rates have declined - as has people’s self reported happiness... This is the true legacy of 3rd wave feminism.

She was 2nd wave, the Gloria Steinem/Germaine Greer era from the mid-1960s to 1990s. Third wave is the ludicrous man-hating, false claims of rape and oppression, and persecutions of men coming out of the universities and courtrooms after the 2nd wave became professors and judges.

[Albion Wilde]

[Albion Wilde]

"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy." - George Orwell '1984'

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.
And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
—2 Timothy 3:1-7

[rlmorel]

Very cool! How can I keep tabs on that?

[Billthedrill]

There is nothing new about making life decisions and having to face their outcomes. One thing that hinders that is clinging to a fantasy despite what one's own lying eyes reveal in the real world. For one thing, not every successful woman is so due to feminism and would not have been so in its absence. Thatcher is a prime example. The author insists she was a feminist despite her disdain for that dubious title. No. And clinging to that fantasy is damaging the author's grip on the real world. My own late Mother, with both family and a successful career behind her, put it like this: "You can have it all, yes, but not all at once. My God, that's what we tell small children about birthday cake."

It is one of the sadnesses of maturity to reflect back on one's life and realize that the principle obstacle to having it all is the desire itself. Youth is impatient, and unfortunately biology closes windows of opportunity for both men and women despite our stubborn refusal to recognize them until it's too late. But isms don't do that, people do.

[Libloather]

The first one? Really? A pass for me. Petronella Wyatt -

[dfwgator]

There’s nothing Feminine about Feminism. It’s about women who want to be more “masculine”.

[ClarityGuy]

I have to plug Mallory Millett's website as one of the greatest online resources for the historical background to feminazism. MM's sister Kate was a co-founder of the NOW. Of special note is Mallory's long interview about her sister that is equal parts personal and political/historical. First:

... She was five when I was born and our elder sister Sally says that once I arrived, Kate was hanging over my bassinet plotting my murder ...

But her insider's history of American feminazism is more directly significant to FReepers:

I was with them at that table as they founded the Women’s Movement and NOW. The entire stated point of their activities was to destroy the American family ...

Highly recommended reading for Christians and patriots.

[steve86]

“A few women are fine with being alone. They’re antisocial.”

Sometimes you see ‘antisocial’ used that way but it isn’t the best choice. A better choice would be unsociable or asocial.

Antisocial properly implies some degree of psychopathy or sociopathy; both involving some kind of malevolence to others.

[Kathy in OC]

I am a feminist too. I am married, have children, grandchildren, a successful career, and just want equal rights and opportunities for women.

[CaptainK]

You can’t blame depression on being childless.
I’ve known many married women who with children and they were depressed and miserable.

[MinorityRepublican]

Sometimes you see ‘antisocial’ used that way but it isn’t the best choice. A better choice would be unsociable or asocial.

Good point. Condolezza Rice is a good example of thar. She realized that she didn't want to get married and raise a family. She would rather get more involved in her career. And that's what she did.

[Rummyfan]

Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem wreaked a lot of havoc. My older sister subscribed to MS for a time - as a 14-year old I loved the lingerie ads! Thankfully she quickly outgrew it (and Playboy was much more explicit).

[Rummyfan]

Just like the AWFLs of today: Affluent White Female Liberals…

[Rummyfan]

Q: How do you write such wonderful women characters?
A: I think of a man, and I remove reason and accountability.

[Rummyfan]

Petronella Aspasia…. One of her parents hated her! It sounds like a disease.

[Rummyfan]

Some women are able to get attention from guys with their physical beauty and initial conversations….

Physical attraction is a starter, but there needs to be more. Intelligence and attractiveness is the ultimate combination.