“The paradox of … chivalry [is] that the weaker a thing is the more it should be respected, that the more indefensible a thing is the more it should appeal to us for a certain kind of defence.”
– G. K. Chesterton, Heretics
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It was Pope Leo XIII who famously wrote, “the world has heard enough of the so-called ‘rights of man.’ Let it hear something of the rights of God.” Today we are in need of a revised dictum: “The world has heard enough of the so-called ‘rights of woman.’ Let it hear something of the duties of man.” That is to say, let it hear something of the chivalry of our fathers who slew the dragon and kissed the frog, so they could kiss the damsel in the dragon’s castle.
The world cannot stand another wave of feminism. For, as with all waves, it erodes what stands in its way, castles of sand and stone alike. It leaves nothing behind except what does not resist, smoothing all and levelling aught. Of course, as with all waves, feminism is unstable, shallow, on the fringes, and collapsing on itself. Like waves, it is constantly encroaching upon the solid ground. And, as with the tide, it is rising to ever more absurd heights. Yet, surely it has reached the zenith, for every wave recedes, and every tide must fall.
I am told it is the moon, a feminine symbol, that influences these tides. And yet the moon itself teaches the secret of the feminine glory: it reflects the glory of the sun. Only together do the sun and moon enlighten the world, in a cosmic dance of love. The sun, imperious, strong, majestic and bright in itself. The moon, coy, soft, full of grace, and through a veil. The perfect complement. Herein lies the secret of chivalry, the only source of harmony between the two sexes. For man and woman are entirely different, and yet become one flesh, completing each other. Like perpendicular lines, they must needs meet. That is, they are in the image of the Cross.
The simple truth is, feminists hate women, whereas most men love them. Feminism wants nothing to do with femininity; it is rather a crude man-worship combined with man-hate. It is as though they were full of envy while held in awe. For the whole premise of feminism is that men and women are the same, in that they can both be men. It argues that women should enter the workforce like men, fight on the front lines like men, rule nations like men. It has never occurred to them to esteem femininity for all the things that men cannot do. Feminists care nothing for the ability to have children, run a home, and exert that unique feminine charm that so enraptures the hearts of men. Instead, it seeks to create woman in the image of man, ignoring her special privileges and destroying her place in the family.
Of course, feminism has nothing to do with respect for women. As has been shown, it is merely fanatical about remaking women in the image of men. But what’s more, feminism is at its root an arm of Marxism, seeking to effect a classless society that can only be brought about by the destruction of differences between the sexes. This, in turn, can only be brought about by the economic equality of men and women, which requires that women leave the home and join men in the workplace. Hence the declining birth rates in the West, as women are told to disregard family life and instead pursue education and occupation.
For years, however, feminism has not been at home, even on the Left. This is because feminism at once affirms and denies biological differences between men and women. That is, it says that there is a real and biological basis for the differences between men and women (thus the oppression of the latter by former), while simultaneously asserting that women can emulate men. By so doing, it makes itself a strange bedfellow with the LGBTQQIP2SAA+ community, with as many contradictions as letters in its name. For this community also affirms the reality of different, concrete gender identities (ex. being gay is not a choice but an in-born orientation) while simultaneously asserting that these gender identities are entirely fluid and open to personal choice. To have one’s cake and eat it too seems to be the desire of the modern Left, never mind that the 20th-century Left neither had nor ate much cake (nor bread — just ask the Ukrainians).
I am of the opinion that sunlight is the best disinfectant. To shine the light of reason upon these Leftist contradictions is surely warranted, though I am aware that sunlight does not penetrate too far in deep water. Luckily, the tide seems to be turning, and the feminist wave receding, as, in a 2015 poll by PerryUndem, only 18% of respondents identified as feminists.
Indeed, the constant dance of sun and moon contains the secret of chivalry that only we poor moderns have forgotten. If there is to be an end to this battle of the sexes, the only hope is a complementary view of men and women that celebrates both male privileges and female privileges, and I daresay male duties and female rights, as in the grand old code of chivalry. Men and women should never compete with each other — after all, they complete each other. Anti-cliché lobby be damned.
A Counterblaste 