Phyllis Schlafly went down to Furman University in South Carolina last week to spread her unique brand of militant anti-feminism and reiterate her belief that married women cannot be raped by their husbands while warning that feminism leaves women childless, bitter, and lonely:
Feminists are “bitter, unhappy and not successful women.”
These words were spoken to a packed house in the Watkins Room in the University Center on Wednesday, Jan. 20, as the Conservative Students for a Better Tomorrow hosted 85-year-old conservative activist and author Phyllis Schlafly … Schlafly made two main points in her lecture. First, that feminism is unnecessary and there is no such thing as a glass ceiling for American women. Secondly, women who are feminists will end up unhappy and alone.
In discussing the radical and superfluous nature of feminism, Schlafly argued that American women are the most fortunate class in history.
“The number one problem with feminism is it teaches women to be the victim,” Schlafly said. She continued that there was no need for further feminist legislation or movements due to the ability for women in current times to receive an education and work in whatever field they wish, adding that feminism was never really necessary because her mother was able to receive an education from Washington University in 1920.
Many in the audience laughed when Schlafly proposed that women couldn’t possibly be oppressed because they lived, on average, eight years longer than men, and again when she offered the success of Sarah Palin as proof that there was no limit for women.
Schlafly challenged the legitimacy of a variety of social programs and legislation put in place by feminist agenda, including abortion, shelters for battered women and sexual harassment counseling. She also said that welfare was a financial incentive for women to have children out of wedlock.
Other controversial comments included Schlafly’s denial of the existence of spousal rape, as well as her statement that individuals shouldn’t be able to “check out” of marriage.
Schlafly ended by discussing a women’s biological clock and need for children. Her argument was that if women focus on careers first, they will end up forty, single and desperately wanting a child they can no longer produce.
