Feminists abandon their winning strategy

Summary: Feminists have won many victories in the past century by marching under the banners of freedom and equality, giving them the moral high ground. Now they have abandoned those principles, beginning a new and hotter phase in the gender wars. This is a follow-up to William Lind’s article about Losing at the Moral/Strategic Level.

“Never play with insurrection, but when beginning it realise firmly that you must go all the way.”
— Advice from Lenin to aspiring revolutionaries.

As documented in so many posts here, feminism has triumphed to an extent undreamed of by its advocates 50 years ago. This ideology has conquered most of the major institutions in America, and strongly influences most of the remained (e.g., the military, conservative Christian churches). They are in the last phase, pursuit and destruction of a fleeing foe. Their revolutionary series of victories result from following the advice of the master strategist in such things: Lenin in “Advice of an Onlooker” (8 October 1917).

1. “Never play with insurrection, but when beginning it realise firmly that you must go all the way.
2. “Concentrate a great superiority of forces at the decisive point and at the decisive moment, otherwise the enemy, who has the advantage of better preparation and organisation, will destroy the insurgents.
3. “Once the insurrection has begun, you must act with the greatest determination, and by all means, without fail, take the of offensive. “The defensive is the death of every armed rising.”
4. “You must try to take the enemy by surprise and seize the moment when his forces are scattered.
5. “You must strive for daily successes, however small (one might say hourly, if it is the case of one town), and at all costs retain ‘moral superiority’.”

Holding the moral high ground has contributed to many of America’s greatest victories. It weakened the resolve of the British in the Revolution, and prevented them from aiding the South during the Civil War. It empowered us during WWI and WWII.

Feminists also have followed the precepts of the late, great strategist John Boyd given in “Patterns of Conflict”

“{I}nfiltrate a nation or regime at all levels to soften and shatter the moral fiber of the political, economic and social structure. Simultaneously …strip-away potential allies thereby isolate intended victim(s) for forthcoming blows. To carry out this program, a la Sun Tzu …

“– Probe and test adversary, and any allies that may rally to his side, in order to unmask strengths, weaknesses, maneuvers, and intentions.

“– Exploit critical differences of opinion, internal contradictions, frictions, obsessions, etc., in order to foment mistrust, sow discord and shape both adversary’s and allies’ perception of the world thereby: create atmosphere of ‘mental confusion, contradiction of feeling, indecisiveness, panic’ …Make it difficult, if not impossible, for allies to aid adversary during his time of trial.” (Chart 69)

But Cleo, the muse of history, has a long list of those who won battlefield victories who lost their wars. The British vs. the colonists in North America (1775-1783), the Americans in Vietnam (1965-1972), the Nazis in Europe (1939-1945), and Americans in the Long War (2001-today). America’s two entries on this list have the special distinction of always winning on the battlefield but failing to win the war.

Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr. (Chief of the U.S. Delegation): “You know you never defeated us on the battlefield”

Colonel Nguyen Don Tu (Chief, North Vietnamese Delegation): ”That may be so, but it is also irrelevant.”

— From Summers’ On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War (1982).

A new phase in the gender wars

What might defeat the onrush of fourth generation feminism, with its emphasis on the superiority of women, crushing of boys, mob tribunals (“always believe the woman’s accusations, no matter how unfounded – unless they are against Bill”), and breaking gender roles? Answer: feminists no longer follow Lenin’s rule #5 – “at all costs retain moral superiority.” William Lind described how losing at the moral/strategic level has led to repeated failures for America’s foreign policy. That might be the fate of feminism.

The first three waves of feminism advanced under the flags of equality and freedom, the two trumps in American history. Votes for women! Free love – free from patriarchal limits (a movement continuing today against “slut-shaming”). Freedom from their marriage vows. Equal opportunities for education and employment.

But over time the Movement’s goals have shifted. Equal access to education evolved into oppressing boys, so that girls have moved decisively ahead. Free love – spontaneous, unregulated – evolved into a regulated process requiring verbal consent at every step plus forms and apps. Regulations on what men say and look at and decorate their spaces (the environment must be regulated to be female-friendly, no matter how intense the regulations required).

Now the Movement has entered a new era. Feminists push to change millennia-old rules of justice, such as presumption of innocence. Major institutions are explicitly biased against men, such as family courts, much of the major media, universities, and an increasing number of other organizations.

New vistas lie ahead for fourth generation feminists. Professor Suzanna Walters asks “Why can’t we hate men?” “Culture critic” Wednesday Martin advocates the next step in having it all is using sex as a weapon: “What if women went on a sex strike before the midterms?” Such a strike would force “making sex female-focused and female-pleasure-centric. …cease to consider what women like and want as foreplay and reframe it as the main event.” This will “begin to force other shifts in thinking in important ways.” That last sentence is certainly true, but probably not as she intends.

Feminism has advanced due to its broad support among men. Now men are – slowly – realizing that the meaning of feminism has changed. Feminists no longer march under banners that compel their support. Feminists have abandoned the moral high ground, instead pursing naked self-interest. I cannot see how this will influence the future. But I predict it will have a large effect. This is the next phase of the gender wars. Expect the unexpected.

My prediction: look for a surprise end to the gender wars as men stand together.

For More Information

Ideas! For some shopping ideas, see my recommended books and films at Amazon.

If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See all posts about women & society, and especially these about feminists’ victory…

1. Feminist revolutionaries seized control of colleges. Now come the tribunals…
2. Professor Suzanna Walters asks “Why can’t we hate men?”
3. Feminists conquer the Evangelicals.
4. Feminists are winning the the war on boys.
5. Women unleash their rage! Beta males revolt!.
6. Red Robin recruits for the alt-Right (unintentionally).
7. Christian films show the feminist revolution’s victory.

New books about women’s righteous grrl-power rage

Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger by Soraya Chemaly (September 2018). She her on NBC News explaining “why we need to rethink the way we think about women’s anger, and how we can use it for social good.”

Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traiste (October 2018). See an interview with her at The Nation and “Women Are Furious. Now What?” – a review of her book in The Atlantic.