Mary Harrington - Feminism Is No Longer Helping Women

Feminism and Progress

00:00 - 1:45:20

• Feminism and progress are closely linked, but what if you don't believe in progress?
• Mary Harrington, a former feminist, explores the relationship between feminism and progress.
• Having a baby made her question the feminist notion of progress.
• Being a stay-at-home mom can be fulfilling but loneliness and financial stability are key factors.
• The history of feminism since the Industrial Revolution is explored in her book, 'Feminism Against Progress'.
• The story of the Industrial Revolution is about work leaving the home.
• In premodern economies, the basic unit of production was a household.
• Women in premodern settings wielded informal power through controlling access to information and using gossip and public shame.
• Female intersexual competition is more subtle and nuanced than male intersexual competition.
• Progress for women during the industrial revolution is a response to changes brought by technology and work moving out of the home.
• Working class women went into factories and had to figure out childcare, while upper-class women sought access to public life.
• The industrial revolution radically reordered society and changed how men and women live together.
• In the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a significant focus on the role of men and women due to industrialization.
• Women were displaced from their traditional roles in the home by inventions like the washing machine.
• While their workload decreased, they became economically dependent on their husbands.
• This led to challenges for women in unhappy marriages who had no legal rights or property ownership.
• As a result, women began advocating for legal personhood and changes to social norms through feminist movements.
• Feminism is not just moral progress but a response to larger material changes in society.
• Different classes of women have different interests, leading to multiple factions within feminism.
• The emancipation of men from previous expectations can lead to more fluid relationships, but it may not be beneficial for all women, especially those in lower socioeconomic classes.
• There have been historical examples where workplace regulations were debated among feminists based on class differences and physical demands of jobs.
• There was a debate between feminists who wanted differentiation by sex in the workplace and those who wanted equal treatment in clerical jobs.
• Middle-class feminists won with the support of male industrialists, highlighting class tension.
• The concern around male-only single-sex spaces is that it may lead to discrimination against women, but it also prevents working-class men from having their own spaces.
• The unpaid debts of feminism started accruing when the feminism of freedom won over the feminism of care or interdependence.
• The contraceptive revolution and digital revolution in the mid-1960s changed everything and marked a new era.
• Women embracing the contraceptive pill made them cyborgs, as their personhood became inseparable from contraception.
• Legislation on abortion and introduction of the pill had significant undercounted costs for women, according to some feminist perspectives.
• There is a consistent pattern of self-styled male feminists ending up in sex pest scandals.
• Some male feminists may be mistaken in assuming that men and women's sexuality is fundamentally the same.
• The sexual revolution aimed to emancipate women from having babies upon having sex and having feelings when they have sex.
• Feminists believed that the sexual revolution would lead to a polymorphous zone of erogenous joy, but it hasn't worked out like that.
• As society becomes freer, commerce tends to get involved and trade increases.
• Freedom and trade are impossible to separate; the more freedom you have, the more trade you have.
• The legalization of the pill coincided with the opening of the first Playboy Club, marking a shift in sexual liberation.
• The porn industry's ability to present itself as libertarian is based on the idea that sex is consequence-free, which is only possible with contraception.
• OnlyFans represents a further step down the slippery slope of commodifying relationships and intimacy.
• Online dating and creating dating profiles are similar to digital commerce, where individuals market themselves as products.
• Feminism has evolved in response to material conditions, particularly with the digital and contraceptive revolutions.
• Modern feminism emphasizes freedom underwritten by technology, including contraception and abortion rights.
• The pursuit of more freedom and technological progress has been an underlying premise of the 20th and 21st centuries.
• Technological advancements do not eliminate human nature or differences between genders; they simply reorganize them within market dynamics.
• 'Cyborg theocracy' refers to the intersection of technology, power, and religion.
• Cyborg theocracy refers to a moral order that legitimizes the pursuit of freedom through technology.
• The war on relationships between men and women is a manifestation of cyborg theocracy.
• The breakdown of groundedness in sexual desire has led to a disintegration of its purpose and meaning.
• The commodification of sexuality and the reinforcement of individual choice have created an adversarial dynamic between the sexes.
• This dynamic makes it difficult for people to trust and be vulnerable in forming relationships, leading to long-term consequences for happiness and family life.
• The prevalence of online pornography and cultural messages promoting self-commodification contribute to this dynamic.
• Fewer young people are having sex due to chaotic, disorganized, and frightening dating experiences influenced by porn culture.
• The sacredness around sex, relationships, motherhood, and babies has been undermined by societal changes.
• Pro-choice activism is driven by fear of pregnancy among some women who perceive it as body horror.
• There is a growing constituency of young women who perceive pregnancy as body horror and not a wonderful thing.
• The expectation for individuals to be self-contained and not depend on others has contributed to this perception.
• Being pregnant amplifies the fragility around personal sovereignty.
• The premium placed on appearance in the Instagram world adds to the body horror reaction.
• The market's intrusion into women's bodies and medical interventions are seen as routes towards emancipation.
• This raises questions about why the control over fertility should stop at abortion and not extend further into reproductive technologies like gametes, IVF, and gestational surrogacy.
• Women have options for controlling fertility such as abstinence or using contraception methods, but it is important to consider the larger-scale consequences of these choices.
• Pregnancy not only creates a baby but also rewires the mother's brain in irreversible ways that prime her for caregiving.
• Justational surrogacy may have ethical concerns, including financial coercion of surrogate mothers and potential harm to all parties involved.
• Surrogacy is a topic that the speaker is conflicted about, as it involves separating a child from their gestational mother at birth.
• The speaker believes it is immoral to conceive a child with the intent of separating them from their bond with the gestational mother.
• There is a growing movement towards using technology to control and remodel our bodies, including gender reassignment surgeries and transhumanist ideas.
• Some gender clinics are offering a greater variety of surgeries for individuals seeking to modify their secondary sex characteristics.
• The speaker had a conversation with a transgender surgeon who performs various procedures, including adding a penis while keeping the vagina.
• Transgender surgeries often involve using flesh from other parts of the body to create realistic-looking genitalia.
• Transpenises have an inflating device that allows them to be pumped up and released at will.
• The speaker discusses the concept of bodily modification and transhumanism.
• They express concern about the potential exploitation of human bodies as resources.
• The speaker mentions female farm workers in Maharashtra, India, who opt for hysterectomies to increase employability.
• They raise questions about the source of body parts in a market for human body parts.
• A bill was introduced in Massachusetts to offer reduced jail sentences to incarcerated felons who donate organs or bone marrow.
• The speaker calls for action to prevent the marketization and exploitation of human bodies.
• There is cognitive dissonance on both the left and right when it comes to technology and its implications.
• The left desires emancipation through technology but struggles with negative side effects and exploitation.
• The right is torn between retreat and embracing technology's economic promise.
• Both sides are hesitant to acknowledge limits on technology despite its externalities.
• There is an interesting question about too much freedom and its dangers.
• Conservatives who think changing what women do will fix everything are not considering the reality that there is no going back.
• Both men and women need a freedom haircut, but it will take time.
• The speaker wants to abolish big romance and believes it intersects with the mating crisis.
• Marriage has changed over time, from pragmatic arrangements to companion romance to self-expressive marriages.
• With economic changes, the idea of interdependence in marriage has diminished.
• Financial freedom has made ending relationships more thinkable.
• Deindustrialization and knowledge work have shifted the balance of power between sexes in terms of earning potential.
• Deindustrialization and the rise of knowledge work have shifted the balance of power between the sexes in terms of earning.
• Men have put themselves out of a job in the modern world.
• Choosing one person to marry is settling by definition, as everyone annoys their partner eventually.
• 80% of childless women didn't intend to not have kids, according to a meta analysis by Professor Renska Kaiser.
• The idea of infinite optionality and swiping left or right on potential partners has made settling seem strange.
• Dating now often lacks exclusivity, leading to new anxieties about having conversations about commitment.
• Economic changes will force people to rely on each other more and make ending marriages less sensible.
• A stable society is better for raising children.
• There is a tragedy of the commons effect where individuals benefit from others settling down while they continue searching for an optimal partner.
• Men need good male role models to become better men.
• Women should lead by example and let men form each other.
• Men are more likely to listen to their friends, dads, and older men they respect than women when it comes to learning how to behave.
• The invasion of gender-neutral spaces may contribute to the escalating levels of distress in men.
• Limited socially legitimate all-male spaces are important for male socialization.
• Men will do whatever is required to obtain sex from women, which can shape their behavior and character.
• Women are not at fault for listlessness in men, but they are not unrelated either.
• Men's behavior is influenced by the standards set by women for obtaining sex.
• Technological innovations may have been motivated by men's desire to impress women.
• Refusing hormonal birth control can be seen as a feminist fight against it.
• Hormonal birth control can have negative effects on libido and mental health.
• Young women are increasingly outraged after coming off the pill and experiencing positive changes in their lives.
• Birth control is an under-discussed topic that will be studied by historians in the future.
• The pro-sex case against the pill goes beyond its impact on attraction, affecting relationships and sexuality.
• Hook-up culture can lead to uncomfortable situations for women who feel pressured to say yes out of politeness.
• Taking birth control off the table can motivate individuals to set higher standards for themselves and avoid regrettable encounters.
• The introduction of the pill increased the number of single mothers and changed sexual dynamics.
• The introduction of the pill increased the number of single mothers and radically changed the absolute number of casual sexual encounters.
• To abolish big romance, we need to embrace post-traumatic marriage and increase solidarity between the sexes.
• We should tilt the balance towards stability rather than liquidity in relationships.
• Feminist pushback against commodification is crucial, starting with how we relate to our own fertility.
• The book is aimed at young men and women in their 20s to early 30s who are questioning the message of never-ending freedom.
• There is a convergence among different perspectives on the demographic challenges we face.