Righting Feminism: Conservative Women and American Politics

by Ronnee Schreiber

When we think of women's activism in America, figures such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan invariably come to mind--those liberal doyennes who have fought for years to chip away at patriarchy and achieve gender equality. But women's interests are not synonymous with organizations like NOW anymore. As Ronnee Schreiber shows, the conservative ascendancy that began in the Reagan era has been accompanied by the emergence of a broad-based conservative women's movement. And while firebrands like Ann Coulter and Phyllis Schlafly may be the public face of rightwing women's activism, a handful of large and established women's organizations have proven to be the most effective promoters of the conservative agenda.

Righting Feminism shows that one of the key--albeit overlooked--developments in political activism since the 1980s has been the emergence of conservative women's organizations. It focuses on the most prominent of these groups, Concerned Women for America and the Independent Women's Forum, to reveal how they are using feminist rhetoric for conservative ends: outlawing abortion, restricting pornography, and bolstering the traditional family. But ironically, these organizations face a paradox: to combat the legacy of feminism--particularly its appeal to the majority of American women--they must use the rhetoric of women's empowerment. Indeed, Schreiber amply illustrates how conservative activists are often the beneficiaries of the very feminist politics they oppose. Yet just as importantly, she demolishes two widely believed truisms: that conservatism holds no appeal to women and that modern conservatism is hostile to the very notion of women's activism.

Based on numerous interviews with colorful conservative activists and extensive analyses of organizational documents, Righting Feminism offers a new way of understanding the unlikely intersection of women's activism and conservative politics in America today.

Genres: Feminism, Politics, Political Science, Nonfiction, Womens, Gender

190 pages, Hardcover

First published June 16, 2008

Reviews

[Elevate Difference · Rating 2 out of 5]

The rise of politically active women in America is not relegated to the liberal sphere of feminism alone. Feminism’s ability to attract scores of women and media attention has not gone unanswered by the conservative right. Enter Ronnee Schreiber’s newest book, Righting Feminism: Conservative Women and American Politics. Through her analysis of two conservative groups, Concerned Women for America (CWA) and the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), Schreiber discusses the ways conservative women’s organization have served as a counterfoil to feminist organizations such as the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Schreiber writes about how the CWA and IWF successfully harness the power of identity politics, viewing their groups' ideologies as an alternative to feminist positions they claim constrict and repress women’s lives. CWA and IWF reframe typical feminist issues – such as reproductive rights, pornography, and child care – in a conservative light, using their sex to grant legitimacy to their positions. Simultaneously, they draw women who otherwise may not be active in conservative organizations by painting feminists as elitists who don’t "truly" represent women’s needs.

For example, the CWA has taken Bristol Palin's "choice" to keep her child under its wing, lauding the Palin family for "embracing this unexpected baby as a child worthy of love, a human being who deserves respect, a weak member of their family who needs their care" instead of "secretly snuff[ing:] out the child's life to avoid a high-profile embarrassment." Yet just a week later, CWA issued a statement urging parents to promote abstinence for the well-being of the nation's teens. This contradiction is exactly what Schreiber discusses in her book - praising a woman's "choice" and using their credibility as mothers to justify their position while using that same credibility to scorn others. (Schreiber writes more about the "good mother/bad mother" paradox in the book.)

I felt dissatisfied with Schreiber’s analysis of the conservative women’s movement because she limited her scope to just these two organizations. Although, as Schreiber asserts, they are the two most visible organizations, I could not help but be left with a sense that they did not represent the whole of conservative women’s voices. Furthermore, the two groups serve a very narrow demographic (white, upper middle class women) and Schreiber only briefly touches upon the implications of this. Such an absence of diversity was particularly missed during Schreiber’s discussion of reproductive rights and working mothers. What role do conservative women of color play in these issues?

Schreiber’s book served as a detailed analysis of two highly prominent conservative women’s organizations. To call it an exploration of conservative women’s political activism, however, would be going too far. While Schreiber’s research of IWF and CWA members does much to illustrate several key players in the conservative women’s movement, more is needed to paint a complete picture of these organizations and how they are changing the face of politically active women in America.

Review by Gwen Emmons

[Lashonda Slaughter Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers the history of the conservative women's movement and focuses on two groups, to me, the author attempts to give a fair shake to conservative women's groups but the problem in the argument is not her scholarship, but the obvious fact that many of these women's groups choose platforms that are not pro-female or pro-equality... lobby and argue against important women's issues like violence against women and reproductive health... and also pretty much regurgitate conservative party talking points to women... trying to appear as if they care about women's issues...

Just seems very insincere...

The author does make good points, like conservative women's groups need to be studied and the modern women's movement leaders need to take note of conservative women's groups because they should not be dismissed.

[Katherine]

Heard the author on "Fresh Air," 10/9/08, very interesting.