What is a “New Feminist”?

Perhaps you have heard the term and have been wondering about what this “New Feminism” stuff  is all about. Many have pegged it a “Catholic-thing” since the name is largely attributed to a quote by John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) where he calls for  a ‘new feminism’.

However, New Feminism is not just something for us Catholic girls. It is for all women. The principles of New Feminism should resonate with all women because at the heart of it all is a call for us to embrace our feminine call to mother. We are all called to mother, not always physically, but always with great love and acceptance for others. Our feminine contribution of unconditional love for others is what will bring about a true Culture of Life. New Feminists mother the world. Mother the World

So how did we go so terribly far from our purpose as women? Why is this movement called NEW Feminism and not just plain old Feminism? This movement has been a long time coming as women have struggled to find the heart of femininity and couple it with how to be honored as women. Let’s go through a brief primer of the women’s movements here in the United States and get everyone up to speed.

In Feminist “herstory” (cute, I know) the commonly accepted genealogy of feminism begins with the First Wave Feminists, or Suffragists as they were called during their lifetimes.  This First Wave began roughly around the time of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 and lasted until the Nineteenth Constitutional Amendment legalized voting rights for women (the primary goal of the movement) in 1920.

The Second Wave of Feminism doesn’t have quite as clear of a start date, but many of the ideas and foundational building blocks were already being promoted in society as early as the 1910s-20s.  Margaret Sanger was already hard at work bringing birth control to our country. Interestingly, however, she was never allied with the work of the suffragists even though they were working at the same time. Their missions never overlapped and, as far as I can tell, there were no friendships or even working relationships between Sanger and the Suffragists. In fact, the main Suffragist magazine, The Revolution, even prohibited advertisements for abortifacients and other birth control methods that Sanger was advocating for. This point, along with dramatic ideological differences, has led me to believe that the “Waves” theory of Feminism is flawed and that what actually emerged as “Second Wave Feminism” had little or nothing to do with the work of “First Wave of Feminism”.

Defining Feminism in waves assumes that each subsequent movement grew out a previous movement with the same basic goals or ideas. I do not think that what Second Wave Feminism promoted was at all in keeping with the intentions of the The First Wave. To say that these completely different groups of women with completely different sets of standards are as closely related as “waves” or ripples from the same stone is a leap at best, and in reality is a complete hijacking of the success of a previous movement of women.

First Wave Feminists were largely family oriented. They were often Prohibitionists, as they saw alcohol as the downfall of many good family men. They explained their family planning decisions as “voluntary motherhood”, meaning they accepted that fertility and children were part of the vocation they signed up for in getting married. They did not speak of their children, or the children of poor women as millstones around their necks, but rather individual people who deserved love and respect and good families to bring them up. Their principles called for responsibility and patriotism. Things that Second Wave Feminists abhorred and fought with all their strength against.

Second Wave Feminism is almost synonymous with the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s-1970s. Foundational principles to this movement include access to birth control and abortion, promotion of women in the workforce, the notion of “equality” between the sexes, and the liberation of women from marriage and motherhood. All of these ideas were central to the groundbreaking Feminist book, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Frieden, which is often credited with sparking the Second Wave of Feminism.

In this book Frieden points back to the Suffragists movement and said that the women of her day, the 1950s,  needed to do something similar in demanding new “rights” for themselves. They must create an escape from the “comfortable concentration camps” of their families and homes. They must demand the right to live as their husbands did and be free to work outside the home, have their own money, place their children in daycare, or not have any children at all.

Right there is where the entire ideology from First to Second Wave Feminism breaks apart. First Wave Feminists recognized that men and women were different by nature. They were not threatened by the roles of their husbands and brothers, but rather saw them as complimentary to what they were doing with their lives. They saw men as partners, not competitors. New Feminists also hold this complimentary view of men, but we’ll get into that in a little more depth shortly.

We are currently living in the Third Wave of Feminist thought. As far as I can tell that means that Second Wave Feminists have moved from grassroots activism into political activism and have entrenched themselves in positions at Universities to assure the continuance of their ideological doctrines. This next generation of young women (and men) to adopt and expand on this ideology are considered the Third Wave.

Third Wavers have forged strategic partnerships with other social movements to strengthen their force and Feminism is now often associated with sexually charged agendas, including the homosexual rights movement. For those of us in this generation who do not subscribe to these views of women and think there is more to our femininity than our sexuality, there seems to be little room for our voices in the Third Wave.

Here is where I going to be bold and say that because Second and Third Wave Feminists have not listened to their sisters and have betrayed their own sex’s natural capabilities and strengths, a Fourth Wave of Feminism, or a “New Feminism” is now dawning.

After nearly seventy years of watching our daughters and mothers second-guess and belittle their very nature, we are tired of living the lies of “old Feminism”.

There was some division s among “New Feminists” about using the name “Feminism” at all since it came out of the Second Wave and was only retroactively applied to the Suffragists. Some New Feminists prefer to be called “Complementarianists” as we value men and see our roles as complimentary. However most of these doubts and differences were dispelled when in 1995 Blessed Pope John Paul II now famously said,

“In transforming culture so that it supports life, women occupy a place, in thought and action, which is unique and decisive. It depends on them to promote a “new feminism” which rejects the temptation of imitating models of “male domination”, in order to acknowledge and affirm the true genius of women in every aspect of the life of society, and overcome all discrimination, violence and exploitation.” (Evangelium Vitae, n. 99)

He went on to echo the lines of the Second Vatican Council’s closing statement concerning woman’s important role in our world (emphasis mine):

“”Reconcile people with life“. You are called to bear witness to the meaning of genuine love, of that gift of self and of that acceptance of others which are present in a special way in the relationship of husband and wife, but which ought also to be at the heart of every other interpersonal relationship. The experience of motherhood makes you acutely aware of the other person and, at the same time, confers on you a particular task: “Motherhood involves a special communion with the mystery of life, as it develops in the woman’s womb . . . This unique contact with the new human being developing within her gives rise to an attitude towards human beings not only towards her own child, but every human being, which profoundly marks the woman’s personality”.  A mother welcomes and carries in herself another human being, enabling it to grow inside her, giving it room, respecting it in its otherness. Women first learn and then teach others that human relations are authentic if they are open to accepting the other person: a person who is recognized and loved because of the dignity which comes from being a person and not from other considerations, such as usefulness, strength, intelligence, beauty or health. This is the fundamental contribution which the Church and humanity expect from women. And it is the indispensable prerequisite for an authentic cultural change.” (ibid)

His call to “New Feminism” has resonated with many and we now see the beginnings of this young movement taking root and reclaiming authentic femininity as the “New Feminist” mantra.

New Feminists ascribe to the “feminine geniuses” of:

  • empathy
  • interpersonal relations
  • emotive capacity
  • subjectivity
  • communication
  • intuition
  • personalization

These are characteristics that women were created to excel at naturally. When women embrace their own natural gifts, it provides a balance to the masculine traits of protection, ambition, sacrificial giving, leadership, physical strength, and objectivity. Without the balance of woman, man is left to fight his own temptations void of the ability to see their effects on others. As Pope Paul VI pleaded and implored women in the 1965 Second Vatican Council’s closing address, “Reconcile men with life and above all, we beseech you, watch carefully over the future of our race. Hold back the hand of man who, in a moment of folly, might attempt to destroy human civilization.”

New Feminists are needed to restore the balance that has been lost in recent decades. When woman decided to grasp at masculine qualities and abandon her own “feminine genius,” our world lost sight of “otherness” and became exceptionally self-focused. We ended up with abortion, contraception, and divorces ripping families apart. Children have suffered terribly in this world where feminine responsibility has been eschewed.

Our world needs motherhood. This is not to say that women can only live out their femininity in the home caring for children; it simply means that to be female is to be a sort of mother to our race, in whatever profession you happen to have. Motherhood does not have to be physical motherhood. The qualities that women naturally possess also lend themselves to spiritual and adoptive motherhood of those all around us. A woman in politics, a woman in the business world, and a woman raising children all have the same responsibility to teach others about universal human dignity. We need people who simply love humanity unconditionally and will fight for every one of us like our own mothers would.

New Feminists think every person is worth love, respect, and care simply because they exist. Our message is simple and resonates with many, yet our progress will be slow in a world so over-saturated with male-dominated ideas and values. As author Katrina Zeno says in her book, Discovering the Feminine Genius: Every Woman’s Journey, 

While productivity is valuable, helpful and necessary, New Feminists claim that it is a very masculine way of looking at actions. New Feminists assert that we must also be fruitful – a process that takes longer, requires patience and the cooperation of others, and is appreciated not measured. Every act of service is a witness to the worth of the human person and thus promotes the progress of the whole human race.”

We will not change the world tomorrow, but I for one think this is a worthy investment and invite you to join with me in little ways to rebuild our culture and create a “New Feminism” that will bring about a better world for us all.

Leah Jacobson

Leah Jacobson

Leah Jacobson, foundress of The Guiding Star Project, is dedicated to creating a Culture of Life through the implementation of Guiding Star Centers nationwide. These centers will promote New Feminism and Natural Law and are the next stage for the pro-women and pro-life movements to collaborate in a holistic, comprehensive approach.

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3 thoughts on “What is a “New Feminist”?”

  1. Pingback: So What If We Suffer Here? - BigPulpit.com

  2. Pingback: The Christian Feminist Podcast, Episode # 3.2: “I’m not a feminist, but…” - Links Personal Philosophy Podcast - - The Christian Humanist

  3. The problem with feminism is that it can be defined as anything a woman wants it to mean and it can be attached to any ideology.

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