Eagle Forum head Phyllis Schlafly, unsurprisingly, is not a fan of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, Lean In. Schlafly dedicated her last radio alert to criticizing Sandberg’s “feminist arguments” for being “at odds with what most women really want out of life” and starting a “war with Mother Nature.”
The media have given a lot of attention in the past few weeks to a new book called Lean In by Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. Of course she is a feminist, and she makes the typical feminist complaint that not enough women are CEOs and in other important business and political positions. However, there is a lot in her book that shows what’s wrong with feminism. Sandberg is troubled by what she views as women’s lack of professional ambition. She thinks women “sabotage” themselves by not pursuing career opportunities as aggressively as men do.
However, Sandberg’s feminist arguments and conclusions are at odds with what most women really want out of life. A lot of smart women have different priorities and they make trade-offs to order their lives around marriage and children. Sandberg is disappointed when she sees women making career decisions to fit with having a family. But smart young women know they will probably want to work fewer hours in order to be at home with their own babies.
It’s smart to plan ahead and not do as feminists and women’s studies courses advise which is to plot a career without any space for husband and children. Too many women come to their senses only after age 40 and then find it’s too late to have a husband or children. Feminism is at war with Mother Nature, and Mother Nature is still winning.
