The behaviour of AWARE in recent years has caused me rethink my position on feminism. When I was younger, I naïvely thought all feminist groups were filled with courageous women (and men!) who were willing to stand up for the rights of women to ensure they were given equal rights and opportunities, for example, equal civil rights to own property and vote, and equal access to higher education. They lobbied the government to protect the interest of women, children and the family, and they spoke out whenever government policies were harmful or discriminatory.
However, groups like AWARE, seem to be modelled on a different kind of feminism. From their recent headlines in the newspaper, they seem to care more about promoting a liberal, comprehensive sex education in schools and eradicating any kind of talk on abortion time limits than they caring for women in our community.
On the contrary, a liberal, facts-based sex education would only encourage promiscuity among youth leading to higher rates of sexually transmitted infections, harmful sexual experimentation, and teenage pregnancies.
Without a strong values-based anchor, young men and women would not learn about the consequences that come with sexual intercourse – a special act of love and commitment that should take place with marriage, and instead be encouraged to view it as an fun activity with no strings attached.
Furthermore, a liberal sex education would serve to reinforce negative attitudes towards the value of women (and of life!) and by normalising emergency contraception (morning-after pill) and abortion (a crime against humanity).
Likewise, AWARE’s attempt to stamp out all discussions on abortion time limits does not, in any way, help to advance the feminist cause. In fact, they are only helping to advance the scourge that is male chauvinism (Ben Sherman and #BroChoice anyone?) because, after all, men’s sex lives would be disrupted if abortion wasn’t readily available. A national catastrophe indeed!
There is such a thing as a pro-life feminist. Those two terms are not incompatible. In fact, it has a 200 year old history. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, forerunners of the feminist movement in the USA, saw abortion as a violation of basic feminist principles. Mary Wollstonecraft, acclaimed author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women, also was anti-abortion.
They were against abortion because they believed would result in the oppression of women. They were against abortion because it was sign there was something wrong with society. They were against abortion because women deserve better.
If AWARE truly believes in the rights of women to make responsible choices, they should be the at the front lines educating women and men about the terrible physical and mental health consequences of abortion, and how they can prevent abortions, which disproportionately targets baby girls, from taking place.
They should be rallying the government, communities, and public and private institutions to move towards creating a safe, nurturing environment for all women so that expectant mothers would not feel trapped and have no other choice than to kill the baby in their womb.
If one of AWARE’s values is to ‘respect the individual and the choices she makes in life, and support her when needed’, I demand that AWARE speak up for me! A woman who believes abortion no matter what the circumstances is murder of an innocent child, a woman who believes my freedom of choice ends when another life is conceived in my womb, a woman who believes society should be pro-life because, frankly, women everywhere deserve better.
Related articles
- ANNE NUSSE: Women deserve better than abortion (lacrossetribune.com)
- The Rediscovery of Mary Wollstonecraft (womenshistory.answers.com)
- Value-Based Sex Education (singaporeldw.wordpress.com)
- Men pining for the feminism of yesteryear is ironic and unnecessary (telegraph.co.uk)
SingaporeLDW 
Modern feminists also ignore household chore equality and the fact that women are faced with the double burden and men just get to watch TV once they get home. Yes, a career is so darn liberating. Now a woman is so busy she has no time for her own development and hobbies. Don’t get me wrong I am a feminist, however, I am an individual feminist I feel women have the right to choose whether they want to work or not. I feel women should not be shamed for wanting to be stay at home moms, and career women should not be seen as better. I am sick of modern feminists who shame and spit on housewives, because hey housewives have one job – and they intelligently have chosen that job. Career women are miserable because they are stuck with two jobs, the double burden. Now i feel a woman should have a career if she wants to and hey if she is willing to be a fool, she should deal with the problem of the double burden herself. Because rarely do feminists talk about household chore equality, that is sad.
I am completely against sex education, I am pro-abortion however I do not believe the school curriculum should not be filled with useless classes like sex education. Sex education is something that should be left to the parents. The educational system is a mess already and the liberals are trying to destroy it even more. And yes liberals do encourage promiscuity, but who are we to stop the sluts? The smart girls will learn well that it is better to be a virgin rather than a cheap slut. But there is nothing wrong with being a slut with your husband or a life long partner. 🙂 Sex possitivity requires a smart handle and rational basis, such as a woman who is fully aware of her sexuality and who is completely in control of her body. Now a woman who is a cheap sluts who has sex with a ton of guys, is not in control of her body. She is the patented property of society, to be used and exploited. That’s modern feminism for you, the woman is exploited more than ever before.
Hi Gemini Gemma, thanks for dropping by and commenting. I completely agree with your point that many modern feminists groups tend to ignore the double burden women have when it comes to career and family. Without strong support from her husband with regard to household chores and responsibilities in child-rearing, the woman will inevitably have to choose one over the other. My own mother had a full-time job so I am very familiar with how ‘liberating’ a career can be. Watching her juggle her highly-demanding job along with the sometimes thankless task of raising my siblings and me has made me more wary of the proclamation that ‘women can have it all’.
One possible solution to this mess is to bring back the men into the picture instead of shutting them up and out (as liberal feminists have traditionally done). Only when boys and men are taught to share the household workload, and are given good role models to follow, will this double burden on women be mitigated. If we only could encourage men to invest time, effort, energy and love in the home, I think our families would emerge stronger and happier for it.
Like you, I also dislike the trend of shaming housewives and stay at home mothers; this double standard of ‘choice’ is hypocritical and should stop immediately. Women can only progress once we stop pulling each other down and start giving our fellow sisters a helping hand. I applaud the women who choose to devote their time to their families as much as I applaud women who choose a difficult career be it in Science, Technology, Medicine, Politics or Law.
As for sex education, I totally agree with you that it should take place at home. However, with so much evidence of poor parenting around us these days, and with many fathers and mothers abdicating their responsibility to teach their children about love, sex and relationships, I think a more practical approach would be for the schools and parents to play equal, complementary roles in educating their children. Promiscuity among young women is indeed troubling and we need new solutions to combat this problem. Modern liberal feminism is exploitative and I hope more women and girls will stop buying into the whole faux empowerment they are peddling.
Hello —
I am one of the editors for an upcoming book on Pro-Life Feminism. We would like to talk to you about submitting a chapter. Please contact me asap at PLFtodaytomorrow@gmail.com for more info.
Thank you!