One of the greater misconceptions about feminism is that men can fix the problems feminists are complaining about. What isn’t understood is the base impulse, envy of men and the associated resentment, is unfix-able and doesn’t spring from injustice. Christians should understand this, because we know that Eve was dissatisfied in Eden! Why did God get to keep the knowledge of good and evil all to Himself? Why couldn’t she have it too? The best that can be done is women can learn to recognize this temptation and manage it. Helping women recognize and manage this temptation is something loving we men can do for women. But we tend to fail in exactly the same way Adam failed; we see the pouty face and go along with it.
As just one example of the omnipresent temptation to feel that someone is unjustly keeping something from them, see the feminist carping about the lack of pockets in women’s clothing. Racked.com created a video complaining about the men of the patriarchy mysteriously keeping women from having pockets.
Hillary Clinton wore a deceptively simple suit when she took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to accept the party’s nomination for president. Its impeccable tailoring announced Clinton’s authority; its snowy whiteness connected her to the suffragette movement; and, with no designer claiming it, the suit seems to transcend fashion — unnamed, it belonged to every woman. All of these points make Hillary’s white suit a significant garment, but the suit did more than make Clinton look powerful. One omission in Clinton’s suit whispered a long, questionable history, and that is this: It has no pockets.
The silliness of this is hard to fathom. The reason Hillary Clinton didn’t have pockets in her multi thousand dollar custom pantsuit (assuming this is true) is because Clinton didn’t want pockets. This isn’t just true for powerful women wearing custom made clothing, it is true for women’s fashion across the board. Women don’t want pockets because if they put something in their pocket it makes the outfit less flattering. If women were really clambering for pockets, someone could make a mint filling this mysteriously untapped demand. The women at Racked know this, because they work in fashion. But this doesn’t stop them from continuing to complain about how men are keeping women down in a sinister pocket conspiracy, because this is what the feminist impulse is all about. See the pained body language and pouting expression on Entertainment Editor Elana Fishman’s face at the 50 second mark as she sighs longingly for the equality of the Middle Ages.
This is flat out nuts, and it is feminism in a nutshell.
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