Feminism is not a “women’s movement.” Women have been its most outspoken and visible proponents, but men have enthusiastically embraced its central ideas and worked to fulfill them.

Men may even be the greater feminists today. Feminism has meant a loss of status, of political power and of earning potential for men, but these are things they have willingly conceded for other benefits. Women have succeeded in ways they never could have imagined in convincing men that the central project of a woman’s life is easy and relatively unimportant.  One of the principle ideas of the feminist interpretation of history is that men are innately threatened by women in positions of power.  Recent history shows this is not true.

Many men complain about the arrogance and machismo of powerful women, or the stupidity of affirmative action, while at the same time accepting and furthering the culture of feminism. Some do so out of respect for women, or what they consider to be respect, and a desire to atone for the sins of their fathers. The past is entirely disgraceful, and the life of the traditional woman a veritable hell. The thousands of years in which women devoted themselves to home, children and community were one long period of barbarity.

Ready sex without marriage is hard to turn down. Obviously, many men approve of the sexual freedom feminism has granted. The ancient dream of a chaste bride lives on, but is now rarely fulfilled.  It’s still a private dream, but there is no widespread, publicly-expressed regret.  There is no visible worry or hand-wringing that working wives have many more opportunities for intimacy with men than traditional women at home.

Men today want their wives to earn money and studies show they often choose wives based on their earning power.  Internet discussions are filled with the testimonials of women whose husbands will not agree to their staying home and caring for their children full-time.

Many of these husbands act out of sincere concern for their families. They sometimes do face near-poverty without an extra income. In many cases, they face not poverty, but a simpler life. It has become difficult for many women to persuade men that their presence at home is worth even considerable loss of material comfort. This is the great immeasurable, the fact that cannot be easily quantified when surrounded by healthy and functioning children from homes run by working women.  Men do not possess the same maternal intuitions, making them all too often the more enthusiastic feminists today.

The candidacy of Sarah Palin showed the extent to which men embrace the idea that a woman’s work at home is a beautiful hobby and nothing more.  Many men, as well as women, consider the life of a woman at home too boring and stultifying for an educated woman. The repetitive, but economically remunerative chores of being a tax attorney or a marketing executive or even a vice president are rarely mentioned. Men need to be more honest about the nature of their support for feminism.  Are they truly concerned about the welfare of women when they trumpet equality?

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