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Who Stole Feminism?

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Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women is a 1994 book about American feminism by Christina Hoff Sommers , a writer who was at that time a philosophy professor at Clark University . Sommers argues that there is a split between equity feminism and what she terms "gender feminism". Sommers contends that equity feminists seek equal legal rights for women and men, while gender feminists seek to counteract historical inequalities based on gender. Sommers argues that gender feminists have made false claims about issues such as anorexia and domestic battery and exerted a harmful influence on American college campuses. Who Stole Feminism? received wide attention for its attack on American feminism, and it was given highly polarized reviews divided between conservative and liberal commentators. Some reviewers praised the book, while others found it flawed.

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153-724: Sommers argues that, "American feminism is currently dominated by a group of women who seek to persuade the public that American women are not the free creatures we think we are." She refers to the ideology of feminists who believe that "our society is best described as a patriarchy , a 'male hegemony,' a 'sex/gender system' in which the dominant gender works to keep women cowering and submissive", as "gender feminism." She identifies herself with " equity feminism ," based on belief in fair treatment for everyone. She criticizes feminist authors such as Naomi Wolf and Gloria Steinem , writing that in The Beauty Myth (1990), Wolf falsely claims that in

306-479: A "drastic danger" which "powerless, naive, and unthinking students unquestionably endorse." The political scientist Ronnee Schreiber writes that the conservative Independent Women's Forum continues as of 2012 to use the book to portray feminists as scheming falsifiers of statistical data. Patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which men typically hold authority and responsibility while also excluding women from it. In anthropology , it refers to

459-418: A "good mother" trains her son to be competitive, individualistic, and comfortable within the hierarchies of patriarchy, knowing that he may likely be economically successful but a mean person, or whether she resists patriarchal ideologies and socializes her son to be cooperative and communal but economically unsuccessful. Lerner, in her 1986 book The Creation of Patriarchy , makes a series of arguments about

612-400: A "universal, trans-historical and trans-cultural phenomenon" where "women were everywhere oppressed by men in more or less the same ways […] tended toward a biological essentialism." Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as

765-407: A "well-published conservative [who] is itching for a fight," she said the book would likely provoke debate "as well as some retractions." English said of the book that "the root question is whether women want equality with men as they are, in the world men have shaped, or if women seek change in that world." The book was positively reviewed by Cathy Young who was an executive colleague of Sommers in

918-499: A basis for feminist thought. She published The Woman's Bible , which proposed a feminist reading of the Old and New Testament. This tendency was enlarged by feminist theory, which denounced the patriarchal Judeo-Christian tradition. In 2020, social theorist and theologian Elaine Storkey retold the stories of thirty biblical women in her book Women in a Patriarchal World and applied the challenges they faced to women today. Working from both

1071-544: A casual labourer and by painting and selling watercolours of Vienna's sights. During his time in Vienna, he pursued a growing passion for architecture and music, attending ten performances of Lohengrin , his favourite Wagner opera. In Vienna, Hitler was first exposed to racist rhetoric. Populists such as mayor Karl Lueger exploited the city's prevalent anti-Semitic sentiment, occasionally also espousing German nationalist notions for political benefit. German nationalism

1224-453: A certain way not because they are biologically inclined to, but rather because they are judged by "how well they conform to the stereotypical local image of femininity". Feminists believe that people have gendered biases, which are perpetuated and enforced across generations by those who benefit from them. For instance, it has historically been claimed that women cannot make rational decisions during their menstrual periods. This claim cloaks

1377-545: A challenge to the government in Berlin. Hitler and Ludendorff sought the support of Staatskommissar (State Commissioner) Gustav Ritter von Kahr , Bavaria's de facto ruler. However, Kahr, along with Police Chief Hans Ritter von Seisser and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow , wanted to install a nationalist dictatorship without Hitler. On 8 November 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people organised by Kahr in

1530-656: A classical high school and become an artist, Alois sent Hitler to the Realschule in Linz in September 1900. Hitler rebelled against this decision, and in Mein Kampf states that he intentionally performed poorly in school, hoping that once his father saw "what little progress I was making at the technical school he would let me devote myself to my dream". Like many Austrian Germans, Hitler began to develop German nationalist ideas from

1683-488: A component in the rule of the patriarchal state that rules its inhabitants with the head of the family. Many feminists (especially scholars and activists) have called for culture repositioning as a method for deconstructing patriarchy. Culture repositioning relates to culture change . It involves the reconstruction of the cultural concept of a society. Prior to the widespread use of the term patriarchy , early feminists used male chauvinism and sexism to refer roughly to

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1836-466: A crowd of over 6,000. To publicise the meeting, two truckloads of party supporters drove around Munich waving swastika flags and distributing leaflets. Hitler soon gained notoriety for his rowdy polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians, and especially against Marxists and Jews. In June 1921, while Hitler and Eckart were on a fundraising trip to Berlin , a mutiny broke out within

1989-712: A failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison, serving just over a year of his sentence. While there, he dictated the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto Mein Kampf ( My Struggle ). After his early release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism , antisemitism , and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda . He frequently denounced communism as being part of an international Jewish conspiracy . By November 1932,

2142-486: A family or clan structure where the father or eldest male holds supremacy within the family, while in feminist theory , it encompasses a broader social structure where men collectively dominate societal norms and institutions. Patriarchal ideology acts to explain and rationalize patriarchy by attributing gender inequality to inherent natural differences between men and women , divine commandment, or other fixed structures. Sociologists tend to disagree with some of

2295-469: A letter to Hindenburg. The signers urged Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties", which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people". Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler as chancellor after two further parliamentary elections—in July and November 1932—had not resulted in the formation of a majority government. Hitler headed

2448-593: A letter to the editor of FAIR's monthly magazine, EXTRA! Dale Bauer and Katherine Rhoades write that Sommers is mistaken in her assumptions about the way students approach challenging ideas presented to them. Sommers devoted a chapter to a negative depiction of a "feminist classroom" where the values of the teacher overwhelmed the students; she felt a classroom should be objectively free of values. Bauer and Rhoades contradict Sommers, describing how students "always bring their own assumptions and values to class" and that they expect an active and lively exchange of ideas between

2601-513: A man, it is easily stated that a man's virtue is this—that he be competent to manage the affairs of his city, and to manage them so as to benefit his friends and harm his enemies, and to take care to avoid suffering harm himself. Or take a woman's virtue: there is no difficulty in describing it as the duty of ordering the house well, looking after the property indoors, and obeying her husband. The works of Aristotle portrayed women as morally, intellectually, and physically inferior to men; saw women as

2754-690: A matter of debate. His friend August Kubizek claimed that Hitler was a "confirmed anti-Semite" before he left Linz. However, historian Brigitte Hamann describes Kubizek's claim as "problematical". While Hitler states in Mein Kampf that he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna, Reinhold Hanisch , who helped him sell his paintings, disagrees. Hitler had dealings with Jews while living in Vienna. Historian Richard J. Evans states that "historians now generally agree that his notorious, murderous anti-Semitism emerged well after Germany's defeat [in World War I], as

2907-515: A meeting with the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Heinrich Held , on 4 January 1925, Hitler agreed to respect the state's authority and promised that he would seek political power only through the democratic process. The meeting paved the way for the ban on the Nazi Party to be lifted on 16 February. However, after an inflammatory speech he gave on 27 February, Hitler was barred from public speaking by

3060-497: A period of resource scarcity in Africa approximately 2 million years ago. In the 2009 book Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human , British primatologist Richard Wrangham suggests that the origin of the division of labor between males and females may have originated with the invention of cooking, which is estimated to have happened simultaneously with humans gaining control of fire between 1 and 2 million years ago. The idea

3213-436: A primary cause of women's oppression, or as part of an interactive system. Shulamith Firestone , a radical-libertarian feminist, defines patriarchy as a system of oppression of women. Firestone believes that patriarchy is caused by the biological inequalities between women and men, e.g. that women bear children, while men do not. Firestone writes that patriarchal ideologies support the oppression of women and gives as an example

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3366-534: A product of the paranoid "stab-in-the-back" explanation for the catastrophe". Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich , Germany. When he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army , he journeyed to Salzburg on 5 February 1914 for medical assessment. After he was deemed unfit for service, he returned to Munich. Hitler later claimed that he did not wish to serve

3519-524: A radicalism which these authors attribute to the increasing influence of queer theory , 'radical' lesbians and feminists of colour." Kinahan charges Sommers, Denfeld and Roiphe with attempting to "reclaim feminism as a white, middle-class, straight woman's movement" and defending "traditional hierarchies of morality, religion, and the nuclear family." Kinahan finds Sommers to be contradictory in asserting that students are resistant to radical feminism, yet also claiming that feminist indoctrination of students poses

3672-665: A recommendation by Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann , his Jewish superior, Hitler received the Iron Cross, First Class, a decoration rarely awarded at Hitler's Gefreiter rank. On 15 October 1918, he was temporarily blinded in a mustard gas attack and was hospitalised in Pasewalk . While there, Hitler learned of Germany's defeat, and, by his own account, suffered a second bout of blindness after receiving this news. Hitler described his role in World War I as "the greatest of all experiences", and

3825-544: A result of military action in the European theatre . The number of civilians killed during World War II was unprecedented in warfare, and the casualties constitute the deadliest conflict in history . Hitler's father, Alois Hitler (1837–1903), was the illegitimate child of Maria Schicklgruber . The baptismal register did not show the name of his father, and Alois initially bore his mother's surname, "Schicklgruber". In 1842, Johann Georg Hiedler married Alois's mother. Alois

3978-625: A short-lived coalition government formed by the Nazi Party (which had the most seats in the Reichstag) and Hugenberg's party, the German National People's Party (DNVP). On 30 January 1933, the new cabinet was sworn in during a brief ceremony in Hindenburg's office. The Nazi Party gained three posts: Hitler was named chancellor, Wilhelm Frick Minister of the Interior, and Hermann Göring Minister of

4131-399: A society, and would serve in the military. The Pythagoreans also valued the participation of women, who were treated as intellectual equals. Lerner states that Aristotle believed that women had colder blood than men, which made women not evolve into men, the sex that Aristotle believed to be perfect and superior. Maryanne Cline Horowitz stated that Aristotle believed that "soul contributes

4284-515: A special party congress on 29 July, he was granted absolute power as party chairman, succeeding Drexler, by a vote of 533 to 1. Hitler's vitriolic beer hall speeches began attracting regular audiences. A demagogue , he became adept at using populist themes, including the use of scapegoats , who were blamed for his listeners' economic hardships. Hitler used personal magnetism and an understanding of crowd psychology to his advantage while engaged in public speaking. Historians have noted

4437-527: A specific "initiating event". Historian Gerda Lerner asserts in her 1986 book The Creation of Patriarchy that there was no single event, and documents that patriarchy as a social system arose in different parts of the world at different times. Some scholars point to social and technological events, notably the emergence of agriculture , about six thousand years ago (4000 BCE ). Marxist theory, as articulated mainly by Friedrich Engels in The Origin of

4590-619: A stigma which did not follow men. Similarly, in the People's Republic of China , laws governing morality which were written as egalitarian were selectively enforced favoring men, with insufficient enforcement against female infanticide in various areas, while infanticide of any form was, by the letter of the law, prohibited. Sociologists tend to reject predominantly biological explanations of patriarchy and contend that socialization processes are primarily responsible for establishing gender roles . According to standard sociological theory, patriarchy

4743-500: A threat in its attempt to redefine feminism. Describing the book and other literature on " victimhood " politics as "ephemeral pop sociology," the criminologist Samuel Walker wrote in 1998 that in "demolishing some of the careless and absurd allegations made by some feminists," Sommers "ignores the underlying issue[s]." In 1999, the philosopher Martha Nussbaum described Sommers' categories of equity feminist and gender feminist as ambiguous, saying: [A] gender feminist, for Sommers,

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4896-540: A virtuous woman must practice sexual propriety, proper speech, modest appearance, and hard work. Ban Zhao , a Confucian disciple, writes in her book Precepts for Women that a woman's primary concern is to subordinate themselves before patriarchal figures, such as a husband or father, and that they need not concern themselves with intelligence or talent. Ban Zhao is considered by some historians as an early champion for women's education in China; however, her extensive writing on

5049-568: A work entitled Patriarcha . However, it was not published until after his death. In it, he defended the divine right of kings as having title inherited from Adam , the first man of the human species, according to Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition. However, in the latter half of the 18th century, clerical sentiments of patriarchy were meeting challenges from intellectual authorities – Diderot 's Encyclopédie denies inheritance of paternal authority stating, "... reason shows us that mothers have rights and authority equal to those of fathers; for

5202-473: A young age. He expressed loyalty only to Germany, despising the declining Habsburg monarchy and its rule over an ethnically diverse empire. Hitler and his friends used the greeting "Heil", and sang the " Deutschlandlied " instead of the Austrian Imperial anthem . After Alois's sudden death on 3 January 1903, Hitler's performance at school deteriorated and his mother allowed him to leave. He enrolled at

5355-423: Is a good antidote to the way in which "real knowledge about sex roles...tends to get buried in postmodernist rhetoric." Anne-Marie Kinahan places Who Stole Feminism? alongside Rene Denfeld's The New Victorians and Katie Roiphe's The Morning After in the context of a "post-feminist" movement, and contends these books signalled a collective "fear of the perceived radicalism of feminism on university campuses,

5508-485: Is a social construction, it can be overcome by revealing and critically analyzing its manifestations. Jaggar, Young, and Hartmann are among the feminist theorists who argue that the system of patriarchy should be completely overturned, especially the heteropatriarchal family, which they see as a necessary component of female oppression. The family not only serves as a representative of the greater civilization by pushing its own affiliates to change and obey, but performs as

5661-477: Is a theory in response to patriarchy. Feminism focuses on the empowerment of women in society and the dismissal of traditional gender roles that are oppressive. Traditional female roles in the household are largely abandoned, and equal opportunity for women is the largest ideal that feminism stands with. Feminist theories believe that financial and social opportunities should be equally available for all. This social division of gender roles as caretakers and providers

5814-525: Is also related to patrilineality in a anthropological sense, although not exclusively. Some preconditions for the eventual development of patriarchy were the emergence of increased paternal investment in the offspring, also referred to as fatherhood , and of a sexual division of labour . Several researchers have stated that the first signs of a sexual division of labour dates from around 2 million years ago, deep within humanity's evolutionary past. It has been connected to an evolutionary process during

5967-618: Is any thinker who believes that (1) women's suffrage did not remove a systemic asymmetry of power between women and men in our society, and/or (2) the existing preferences of women and men in our society concerning gender issues may be corrupted by social forces and not always reliable bases for the formation of social policy. According to Nussbaum, this concept of gender feminism "fits almost all contemporary social thinkers in political thought and economics," and so does not helpfully sort feminists into opposing categories. The sociologist Rhonda Hammer writes that Sommers, despite her debunking of

6120-524: Is broken down to better allow women to participate outside of caring for a home and children. Financial opportunity refers to employment pursuits, access to one's own finances, and wage equality for job positions that are available for both men and women. The wage gap issues and traditional roles as unpaid laborers for the family significantly drive the growth of feminism in modern social settings. Which in turn shuts down patriarchal structures. Feminist theorists have written extensively about patriarchy either as

6273-700: Is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe . He directed large-scale rearmament and, on 1 September 1939, invaded Poland, causing Britain and France to declare war on Germany . In June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union . In December 1941, he declared war on the United States . By the end of 1941, German forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europe and North Africa . These gains were gradually reversed after 1941, and in 1945

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6426-424: Is from class to class." Instead, the patriarchy is not the result of men's oppression of women or sexism per se, with men not even identified as the main beneficiaries of such a system, but capital itself. As such, female liberation needs to begin "with an assessment of the material position of women in capitalist society." In that, German differs from Young or Hartmann by rejecting the notion ("eternal truth") that

6579-459: Is most apparent in the American representation of a nuclear family; the father works and brings home an income while the mother takes care of the children and the household. This economic power dynamic in the home typically places the desires of the man/father/husband as priority over the desires of the woman/mother/wife. Structural patriarchy expands the range of this social hierarchy outside of just

6732-476: Is natural has, however, come under attack from many sociologists, explaining that patriarchy evolved due to historical, rather than biological, conditions. In technologically simple societies, men's greater physical strength and women's common experience of pregnancy combined to sustain patriarchy. Gradually, technological advances, especially industrial machinery, diminished the primacy of physical strength in everyday life. Introduction of household appliances reduced

6885-417: Is now virtually impossible to be appointed to high administrative office in any university system without having passed muster with the gender feminist." Sommers expresses a favorable view of writers like the philosopher Janet Radcliffe Richards , author of The Sceptical Feminist (1980), Katie Roiphe , author of The Morning After (1993), whom Sommers defends against criticism from Katha Pollitt , and

7038-443: Is overrated. Discussing the influence of feminists on college campuses, she writes that in many cases feminist "consciousness-raisers are driving out the scholars." She adds that, "The gender feminists have proved very adroit in getting financial support from governmental and private sources" and "hold the keys to many bureaucratic fiefdoms, research centers, women's studies programs, tenure committees, and para-academic organizations. It

7191-587: Is that van der Lubbe set the fire alone. At Hitler's urging, Hindenburg responded by signing the Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February, drafted by the Nazis, which suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. The decree was permitted under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which gave the president the power to take emergency measures to protect public safety and order. Activities of

7344-407: Is the result of sociological constructions that are passed down from generation to generation. These constructions are most pronounced in societies with traditional cultures and less economic development. Even in modern, developed societies, however, gender messages conveyed by family, mass media, and other institutions largely favor males having a dominant status. Although patriarchy exists within

7497-481: Is undeniable", according to Ian Kershaw . Published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, Mein Kampf sold 228,000 copies between 1925 and 1932. One million copies were sold in 1933, Hitler's first year in office. Shortly before Hitler was eligible for parole, the Bavarian government attempted to have him deported to Austria. The Austrian federal chancellor rejected the request on the specious grounds that his service in

7650-567: The 1932 presidential elections . A speech to the Industry Club in Düsseldorf on 27 January 1932 won him support from many of Germany's most powerful industrialists. Hindenburg had support from various nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, and republican parties, and some Social Democrats . Hitler used the campaign slogan " Hitler über Deutschland " ("Hitler over Germany"), a reference to his political ambitions and his campaigning by aircraft. He

7803-659: The Allied armies defeated the German army. On 29 April 1945, he married his longtime partner, Eva Braun , in the Führerbunker in Berlin. The couple committed suicide the next day to avoid capture by the Soviet Red Army . In accordance with Hitler's wishes, their corpses were burned. The historian and biographer Ian Kershaw described Hitler as "the embodiment of modern political evil". Under Hitler's leadership and racist ideology ,

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7956-674: The Battle of the Somme in October 1916, he was wounded in the left thigh when a shell exploded in the dispatch runners' dugout. Hitler spent almost two months recovering in hospital at Beelitz , returning to his regiment on 5 March 1917. He was present at the Battle of Arras of 1917 and the Battle of Passchendaele . He received the Black Wound Badge on 18 May 1918. Three months later, in August 1918, on

8109-951: The Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (1st Company of the List Regiment), he served as a dispatch runner on the Western Front in France and Belgium, spending nearly half his time at the regimental headquarters in Fournes-en-Weppes , well behind the front lines. In 1914, he was present at the First Battle of Ypres and in that year was decorated for bravery, receiving the Iron Cross , Second Class. During his service at headquarters, Hitler pursued his artwork, drawing cartoons and instructions for an army newspaper. During

8262-543: The Bürgerbräukeller , a beer hall in Munich. Interrupting Kahr's speech, he announced that the national revolution had begun and declared the formation of a new government with Ludendorff. Retiring to a back room, Hitler, with his pistol drawn, demanded and subsequently received the support of Kahr, Seisser, and Lossow. Hitler's forces initially succeeded in occupying the local Reichswehr and police headquarters, but Kahr and his cohorts quickly withdrew their support. Neither

8415-457: The Centre Party , governed through emergency decrees from President Paul von Hindenburg . Governance by decree became the new norm and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government. The Nazi Party rose from obscurity to win 18.3 per cent of the vote and 107 parliamentary seats in the 1930 election, becoming the second-largest party in parliament. Hitler made a prominent appearance at

8568-579: The German Communist Party (KPD) were suppressed, and some 4,000 KPD members were arrested. In addition to political campaigning, the Nazi Party engaged in paramilitary violence and the spread of anti-communist propaganda in the days preceding the election . On election day, 6 March 1933, the Nazi Party's share of the vote increased to 43.9 per cent, and the party acquired the largest number of seats in parliament. Hitler's party failed to secure an absolute majority, necessitating another coalition with

8721-517: The Great Depression , the abrogation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexation of territories inhabited by millions of ethnic Germans, which initially gave him significant popular support. One of Hitler's key goals was Lebensraum ( lit.   ' living space ' ) for the German people in Eastern Europe, and his aggressive, expansionist foreign policy

8874-580: The Habsburg Empire because of the mixture of races in its army and his belief that the collapse of Austria-Hungary was imminent. In August 1914, at the outbreak of World War I , Hitler was living in Munich and voluntarily enlisted in the Bavarian Army . According to a 1924 report by the Bavarian authorities, allowing Hitler to serve was most likely an administrative error, because as an Austrian citizen, he should have been returned to Austria. Posted to

9027-465: The Han dynasty , Confucianism has strong dictates regarding the behavior of women, declaring a woman's place in society, as well as outlining virtuous behavior. Three Obediences and Four Virtues , a Confucian text, places a woman's value on her loyalty and obedience. It explains that an obedient woman is to obey their father before her marriage, her husband after marriage, and her first son if widowed, and that

9180-629: The John M. Olin Foundation , which paid for the book's publication, should have found "a less muddled writer" for the task. Sommers responded to the criticism by saying that the Times should not have assigned Auerbach to the review, since, as an organizer of a feminist event portrayed negatively in the book, she was sure to be prejudiced against the ideas in the book. Conservatives such as Jim Sleeper , Howard Kurtz and Rush Limbaugh defended Sommers; Limbaugh said that

9333-630: The Realschule in Steyr in September 1904, where his behaviour and performance improved. In 1905, after passing a repeat of the final exam, Hitler left the school without any ambitions for further education or clear plans for a career. In 1907, Hitler left Linz to live and study fine art in Vienna , financed by orphan's benefits and support from his mother. He applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna but

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9486-455: The Reichstag building was set on fire . Göring blamed a communist plot, as Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was found in incriminating circumstances inside the burning building. Until the 1960s, some historians, including William L. Shirer and Alan Bullock , thought the Nazi Party itself was responsible; according to Ian Kershaw, writing in 1998, the view of nearly all modern historians

9639-476: The Times was attempting to "kill this book." The feminist columnist Katha Pollitt , however, thought Auerbach's review was too polite and failed to give Sommers' book "the pasting it deserved." Editor Deirdre English writing in The Washington Post Book World was appreciative of the investigative aspect of Sommers' work, but she questioned the polarized depiction of feminism. Calling Sommers

9792-740: The Women's Freedom Network . It was also highly praised in the National Review by Sommers' close friend Mary Lefkowitz . Paglia called the book a "landmark study... which uses ingenious detective work to unmask the shocking fraud and propaganda of establishment feminism and the servility of American media and academe to Machiavellian feminist manipulation," adding that, "Sommers has done a great service for women and for feminism, whose fundamental principles she has clarified and strengthened." Melanie Kirkpatrick, writing in The Wall Street Journal , gave

9945-469: The parliamentary republic , which faced challenges from right- and left-wing extremists . The moderate political parties were increasingly unable to stem the tide of extremism, and the German referendum of 1929 helped to elevate Nazi ideology. The elections of September 1930 resulted in the break-up of a grand coalition and its replacement with a minority cabinet. Its leader, chancellor Heinrich Brüning of

10098-548: The "Nazi Party"). Hitler designed the party's banner of a swastika in a white circle on a red background. Hitler was discharged from the Army on 31 March 1920 and began working full-time for the party. The party headquarters was in Munich, a centre for anti-government German nationalists determined to eliminate Marxism and undermine the Weimar Republic . In February 1921—already highly effective at crowd manipulation —he spoke to

10251-532: The 1700s, and American law has done the same since before the American Revolution , though the laws were sometimes only "indifferently enforced." According to Sommers, many feminist theorists and researchers have dealt with male critics by calling them "sexist" or "reactionary", and female critics by calling them "traitors" or "collaborators", and that such tactics have "alienated and silenced women and men alike." In her view, gender feminism began to develop in

10404-466: The Army nor the state police joined forces with Hitler. The next day, Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government, but police dispersed them. Sixteen Nazi Party members and four police officers were killed in the failed coup. Hitler fled to the home of Ernst Hanfstaengl and by some accounts contemplated suicide. He

10557-623: The Army. In July 1919, he was appointed Verbindungsmann (intelligence agent) of an Aufklärungskommando (reconnaissance unit) of the Reichswehr , assigned to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate the German Workers' Party (DAP). At a DAP meeting on 12 September 1919, Party Chairman Anton Drexler was impressed by Hitler's oratorical skills. He gave him a copy of his pamphlet My Political Awakening , which contained anti-Semitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist , and anti-Marxist ideas. On

10710-614: The Bavarian Supreme Court, he was released from jail on 20 December 1924, against the state prosecutor's objections. Including time on remand, Hitler served just over one year in prison. While at Landsberg, Hitler dictated most of the first volume of Mein Kampf ( lit.   ' My Struggle ' ); originally titled Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice ) at first to his chauffeur, Emil Maurice , and then to his deputy, Rudolf Hess . The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart,

10863-404: The Bavarian authorities, a ban that remained in place until 1927. To advance his political ambitions in spite of the ban, Hitler appointed Gregor Strasser , Otto Strasser , and Joseph Goebbels to organise and enlarge the Nazi Party in northern Germany. Gregor Strasser steered a more independent political course, emphasising the socialist elements of the party's programme. The stock market in

11016-637: The DNVP. On 21 March 1933, the new Reichstag was constituted with an opening ceremony at the Garrison Church in Potsdam . This "Day of Potsdam" was held to demonstrate unity between the Nazi movement and the old Prussian elite and military. Hitler appeared in a morning coat and humbly greeted Hindenburg. To achieve full political control despite not having an absolute majority in parliament, Hitler's government brought

11169-564: The Family, Private Property and the State (1884), assigns the origin of patriarchy to the emergence of private property , which has traditionally been controlled by men. In this view, men directed household production and sought to control women in order to ensure the passing of family property to their own (male) offspring, while women were limited to household labor and producing children. Lerner disputes this idea, arguing that patriarchy emerged before

11322-587: The German Army made his Austrian citizenship void. In response, Hitler formally renounced his Austrian citizenship on 7 April 1925. At the time of Hitler's release from prison, politics in Germany had become less combative and the economy had improved, limiting Hitler's opportunities for political agitation. As a result of the failed Beer Hall Putsch, the Nazi Party and its affiliated organisations were banned in Bavaria. In

11475-664: The God-humanity covenant". The archaeologist Marija Gimbutas argues that waves of kurgan -building invaders from the Ukrainian steppes into the early agricultural cultures of Old Europe in the Aegean, the Balkans and southern Italy instituted male hierarchies that led to the rise of patriarchy in Western society . Steven Taylor argues that the rise of patriarchal domination was associated with

11628-804: The Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, she analysed different variations of patriarchy, and outlined the paradox of Rahab, a prostitute in the Old Testament who became a role-model in the New Testament Epistle of James, and Epistle to the Hebrews. In his essay "A Judicial Patriarchy: Family Law at the Turn of the Century", Michael Grossberg coined the phrase "judicial patriarchy", stating that "The judge became

11781-455: The Interior for Prussia. Hitler had insisted on the ministerial positions as a way to gain control over the police in much of Germany. As chancellor, Hitler worked against attempts by the Nazi Party's opponents to build a majority government. Because of the political stalemate, he asked Hindenburg to again dissolve the Reichstag, and elections were scheduled for early March. On 27 February 1933,

11934-524: The Nazi Party held the most seats in the Reichstag , but not a majority. No political parties were able to form a majority coalition in support of a candidate for chancellor. Former chancellor Franz von Papen and other conservative leaders convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on 30 January 1933. Shortly thereafter, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933 , which began

12087-527: The Nazi Party in Munich. Members of its executive committee wanted to merge with the Nuremberg-based German Socialist Party (DSP). Hitler returned to Munich on 11 July and angrily tendered his resignation. The committee members realised that the resignation of their leading public figure and speaker would mean the end of the party. Hitler announced he would rejoin on the condition that he would replace Drexler as party chairman, and that

12240-404: The Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of an estimated six million Jews and millions of other victims, whom he and his followers deemed Untermenschen (subhumans) or socially undesirable. Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the deliberate killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as

12393-510: The Nazis' paramilitary organisation, the Sturmabteilung (SA, "Stormtroopers"), which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. A critical influence on Hitler's thinking during this period was the Aufbau Vereinigung , a conspiratorial group of White Russian exiles and early Nazis. The group, financed with funds channelled from wealthy industrialists, introduced Hitler to

12546-497: The United States crashed on 24 October 1929 . The impact in Germany was dire: millions became unemployed and several major banks collapsed. Hitler and the Nazi Party prepared to take advantage of the emergency to gain support for their party. They promised to repudiate the Versailles Treaty, strengthen the economy, and provide jobs. The Great Depression provided a political opportunity for Hitler. Germans were ambivalent about

12699-452: The United States 150,000 women die of anorexia each year, a claim repeated by Steinem. According to Sommers, while "most experts are reluctant to give exact figures," the actual figure is likely to be somewhere between 100 and 400 deaths per year. Sommers criticizes Sheila Kuehl , Laura Flanders of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , and other writers and activists, for helping to popularize

12852-664: The aim of the government "must unshakably be the removal of the Jews altogether". At the DAP, Hitler met Dietrich Eckart , one of the party's founders and a member of the occult Thule Society . Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him and introducing him to a wide range of Munich society. To increase its appeal, the DAP changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei ( National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), now known as

13005-445: The amount of manual labor needed in the households. Similarly, contraception has given women control over their reproductive cycle. Patriarchy and Feminism Patriarchy generally falls under two categories, "traditional patriarchy" and "structural patriarchy" (Pierik). Traditional patriarchy refers to the idea that the father is the head of the household and is at the top of families’ social hierarchies. This patriarchal structure

13158-511: The appearance of socially stratified hierarchical polities, institutionalised violence and the separated individuated ego associated with a period of climatic stress. A prominent Greek general Meno , in the Platonic dialogue of the same name, sums up the prevailing sentiment in Classical Greece about the respective virtues of men and women. He says: First of all, if you take the virtue of

13311-467: The book high marks, saying that "Sommers simply lines up her facts and shoots one bull's-eye after another." John M. Ellis, a scholar of German literature , praised Sommers for challenging the "intellectual deterioration" that feminism has caused within humanities departments in the United States. He writes that Sommers' book, along with others by authors with similar views, was met with "bitter hostility" from campus feminists, and that when Rebecca Sinkler,

13464-415: The breadwinners in a patriarchal society, and women are seen as homemakers. Formal job occupations outside of the home, traditionally carried out by men in a patriarchal society, are paid labor. Any work done inside of the home without financial compensation, traditionally carried out by women in patriarchal societies, is unpaid labor. Until 1974, women were not allowed to have their bank accounts, which pushed

13617-493: The buffer between the family and the state", and that "Judicial patriarchs dominated family law because within these institutional and intraclass rivalries judges succeeded in protecting their power over the law governing the hearth." In ancient Japan , power in society was more evenly distributed, particularly in the religious domain, where Shintoism worships the goddess Amaterasu , and ancient writings were replete with references to great priestesses and magicians. However, at

13770-450: The claim that "incidence of domestic battery tended to rise by 40 percent" on Super Bowl Sunday , writing that the claim, widely reported by the American media, was unsupported by any study. Sommers argues that feminists have falsely accused the English legal historian William Blackstone of supporting a man's right to beat his wife. She writes that British law has prohibited wife beating since

13923-660: The claim that Alois's father was Jewish. Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn , a town in Austria-Hungary (present-day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire . He was the fourth of six children born to Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara Pölzl . Three of Hitler's siblings—Gustav, Ida, and Otto—died in infancy. Also living in the household were Alois's children from his second marriage: Alois Jr. (born 1882) and Angela (born 1883). When Hitler

14076-596: The commonly accepted patriarchal interpretation of Christian scripture . Quaker Sarah Grimké voiced skepticism about the ability of men to translate and interpret passages relating to the roles of the sexes without bias. She proposed alternative translations and interpretations of passages relating to women, and she applied historical and cultural criticism to a number of verses, arguing that their admonitions applied to specific historical situations, and were not to be viewed as universal commands. Elizabeth Cady Stanton used Grimké's criticism of biblical sources to establish

14229-509: The concept of patriarchy represents an adaptation of the Marxist concept of class and class struggle . Lindsey German represents an outlier in this regard. German argued for a need to redefine the origins and sources of the patriarchy, describing the mainstream theories as providing "little understanding of how women's oppression and the nature of the family have changed historically. Nor is there much notion of how widely differing that oppression

14382-475: The conquests of Alexander the Great , who was educated by Aristotle. Although many 16th- and 17th-century theorists agreed with Aristotle's views concerning the place of women in society, none of them tried to prove political obligation on the basis of the patriarchal family until sometime after 1680. The patriarchal political theory is closely associated with Sir Robert Filmer . Sometime before 1653, Filmer completed

14535-439: The country. Many Germans saw the treaty as an unjust humiliation. They especially objected to Article 231 , which they interpreted as declaring Germany responsible for the war. The Versailles Treaty and the economic, social, and political conditions in Germany after the war were later exploited by Hitler for political gain. After World War I, Hitler returned to Munich. Without formal education or career prospects, he remained in

14688-477: The critic Camille Paglia . Sommers argues that Paglia's Sexual Personae (1990) should have led to her being "acknowledged as an outstanding woman scholar even by those who take strong exception to her unfashionable views," and criticizes the Women's Review of Books for calling the book a work of "crackpot extremism" and feminist professors at Connecticut College for comparing it to the German dictator Adolf Hitler 's Mein Kampf (1925). Who Stole Feminism?

14841-644: The cycle of patriarchy continues much past the Greeks. Egypt left no philosophical record, but Herodotus left a record of his shock at the contrast between the roles of Egyptian women and the women of Athens . He observed that Egyptian women attended market and were employed in trade . In ancient Egypt, middle-class women were eligible to sit on a local tribunal , engage in real estate transactions, and inherit or bequeath property . Women also secured loans, and witnessed legal documents. Athenian women were denied such rights. Greek influence spread, however, with

14994-523: The development of class-based society and the concept of private property. Domination by men of women is found in the Ancient Near East as far back as 3100 BCE, as are restrictions on a woman's reproductive capacity and exclusion from "the process of representing or the construction of history". According to some researchers, with the appearance of the Hebrews , there is also "the exclusion of woman from

15147-862: The duration of their lives. Biographies of Exemplary Women , a book containing biographies of women who lived according to the Confucian ideals of virtuous womanhood, popularized an entire genre of similar writing during the Ming dynasty. Women who lived according to this Neo-Confucian ideal were celebrated in official documents, and some had structures erected in their honor. In China's Qing dynasty , laws governing morality, sexuality, and gender-relations continued to be based on Confucian teachings. Men and women were both subject to strict laws regarding sexual behavior, however men were punished infrequently in comparison to women. Additionally, women's punishment often carried strong social stigma , "rendering [women] unmarriageable",

15300-770: The editor of the New York Times Book Review , gave the book to her friend and former teacher Auerbach to review, the result was a "predictable trashing." According to Ellis, "the malice and dishonesty of Auerbach's review was so obvious... that it provoked not just a storm of protest but a response almost without precedent." According to Ellis, a series of newspapers, including the New York Daily News and The Washington Post , commented on what they saw as unethical behavior by Sinkler and Auerbach. The gay-rights activist John Lauritsen , writing in A Freethinker's Primer of Male Love , agrees with Sommers that women are

15453-574: The exact opposite of Sommers' partial quotation". In an overall negative review, Flanders charged Sommers with making the same mistakes she accused feminists of making, and that Who Stole Feminism? contained "unsubstantiated charges", citations to "advocacy research", and statistical errors likely based on a misreading of the source material. Sommers responded a week after Hirshman's Los Angeles Times piece, writing that Blackstone's quotation had been misinterpreted, and had only been citing an outdated law since superseded, and responded to FAIR's criticisms in

15606-561: The fact that men also have periods of time where they can be aggressive and irrational; furthermore, unrelated effects of aging and similar medical problems are often blamed on menopause, amplifying its reputation. These biological traits and others specific to women, such as their ability to get pregnant, are often used against them as an attribute of weakness. Sociologist Sylvia Walby has composed six overlapping structures that define patriarchy and that take different forms in different cultures and different times: The idea that patriarchy

15759-468: The family moved to Lambach. The eight-year-old Hitler took singing lessons, sang in the church choir, and even considered becoming a priest. In 1898, the family returned permanently to Leonding. Hitler was deeply affected by the death of his younger brother Edmund in 1900 from measles . Hitler changed from a confident, outgoing, conscientious student to a morose, detached boy who constantly fought with his father and teachers. Paula Hitler recalled how Adolf

15912-405: The family, which in turn drives up the cost of living further. With this reliance on further income and sourcing traditionally female childcare roles outside of the home, patriarchal norms start to become less relevant. This breakdown of traditional roles leads to the natural decrease of a gender-specific social structure. Feminist Ideologies Feminism is not a direct opposition to patriarchy, it

16065-457: The field", had been "stabbed in the back" on the home front by civilian leaders, Jews, Marxists , and those who signed the armistice that ended the fighting—later dubbed the "November criminals". The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany had to relinquish several of its territories and demilitarise the Rhineland . The treaty imposed economic sanctions and levied heavy reparations on

16218-616: The figure that there is a 40% increase of domestic violence incidents associated with the annual Super Bowl game, went too far in claiming that "no study shows that Super Bowl Sunday is in any way different from other days in the amount of domestic violence". Hammer states that Sommers ignored a variety of studies that showed increased domestic violence during the Super Bowl . The anthropologist Melvin Konner writes that, like Warren Farrell 's The Myth of Male Power (1993), Who Stole Feminism?

16371-704: The financial divide further and placed men in higher economic positions. (Adam) The uneven financial compensation between these levels of labor is one of the factors that pushed feministic ideals forward. The Role of Patriarchy in Feminism With men being expected to bring home an income to support a family and the entire household, the strain of the increasing cost of living makes that ideal impractical. Because of this economic strain, many households rely on multiple incomes from both men and women. When women would traditionally be expected to stay home and provide childcare, they now have to seek it out elsewhere to provide for

16524-521: The form and model of creation". This implies that any imperfection that is caused in the world must be caused by a woman because one cannot acquire an imperfection from perfection (which he perceived as male). Aristotle had a hierarchical ruling structure in his theories. Lerner claims that through this patriarchal belief system, passed down generation to generation, people have been conditioned to believe that men are superior to women. These symbols are benchmarks which children learn about when they grow up, and

16677-424: The home and family dynamic. The typical influence that men hold in the home is extended to their social and professional positions. Women are often considered the caretakers of the workplace when in a professional setting while men do the labor. This dynamic can be seen in an office setting, with men as sources of income for the business and women in roles as secretaries to care for the workplace. This system leans into

16830-661: The hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. Alfons Heck , a former member of the Hitler Youth, recalled: We erupted into a frenzy of nationalistic pride that bordered on hysteria. For minutes on end, we shouted at the top of our lungs, with tears streaming down our faces: Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil! From that moment on, I belonged to Adolf Hitler body and soul. Early followers included Rudolf Hess , former air force ace Hermann Göring , and army captain Ernst Röhm . Röhm became head of

16983-477: The idea of a Jewish conspiracy, linking international finance with Bolshevism . The programme of the Nazi Party was laid out in their 25-point programme on 24 February 1920. This did not represent a coherent ideology, but was a conglomeration of received ideas which had currency in the völkisch Pan-Germanic movement, such as ultranationalism , opposition to the Treaty of Versailles , distrust of capitalism , as well as some socialist ideas. For Hitler,

17136-512: The idea that men are typically placed in higher-power positions in society due to the traditional role of a financial provider, and women fall into caretaker roles. Development of Feminism The extended presence of patriarchal structures has led to the establishment of feministic ideals over centuries (Brunell). Several prominent fronts led to and continue to push the development of feminism; including paid and unpaid labor and expectations of gender roles(Thompson). Men are traditionally viewed as

17289-704: The joy of giving birth, which she labels a patriarchal myth. For Firestone, women must gain control over reproduction in order to be free from oppression. Feminist historian Gerda Lerner believes that male control over women's sexuality and reproductive functions is a fundamental cause and result of patriarchy. Alison Jaggar also understands patriarchy as the primary cause of women's oppression. The system of patriarchy accomplishes this by alienating women from their bodies. Interactive systems theorists Iris Marion Young and Heidi Hartmann believe that patriarchy and capitalism interact together to oppress women. Young, Hartmann, and other socialist and Marxist feminists use

17442-598: The leader of the Nazi Party , becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. His invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the start of the Second World War . He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust : the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims . Hitler

17595-531: The main victims of "gender feminists." Sommers' claims regarding the legal permissiveness of wife beating have been criticized as inaccurate. In arguing that British law since the 1700s and American law since before the Revolution prohibits wife beating, Sommers quotes Blackstone as saying that the "husband was prohibited from using any violence to his wife..." Criticizing Who Stole Feminism? , Linda Hirshman and Laura Flanders separately noted that Sommers left out

17748-459: The majority of feminists "without providing persuasive evidence that most women are liberal feminists." Sommers was praised for her valid challenges to feminist ideology, but her assumptions were described as flawed. Literary theorist Nina Auerbach reviewed the book for The New York Times Book Review in June 1994. She described Sommers' reasoning as being "vitiated by its logical flaws" and said that

17901-603: The meaning "one who lives in a hut". Nazi official Hans Frank suggested that Alois's mother had been employed as a housekeeper by a Jewish family in Graz , and that the family's 19-year-old son Leopold Frankenberger had fathered Alois, a claim that came to be known as the Frankenberger thesis . No Frankenberger was registered in Graz during that period, no record has been produced of Leopold Frankenberger's existence, so historians dismiss

18054-655: The middle of the 1960s, due to "the antiwar and antigovernment mood" and the influence of thinkers such as Karl Marx , Jean-Paul Sartre , Herbert Marcuse , and Frantz Fanon . Sommers writes that Kate Millett 's Sexual Politics (1969) "was critical in moving feminism in this new direction", teaching women that politics is "essentially sexual" and that "even the so-called democracies" are "male hegemonies." Sommers points to philosopher Michel Foucault and his Discipline and Punish (1975) as influences on Wolf and Susan Faludi , author of Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women (1991). She argues that Foucault's work

18207-523: The most important aspect of it was its strong anti-Semitic stance. He also perceived the programme as primarily a basis for propaganda and for attracting people to the party. In 1923, Hitler enlisted the help of World War I General Erich Ludendorff for an attempted coup known as the " Beer Hall Putsch ". The Nazi Party used Italian Fascism as a model for their appearance and policies. Hitler wanted to emulate Benito Mussolini 's " March on Rome " of 1922 by staging his own coup in Bavaria, to be followed by

18360-414: The obligations imposed on children originate equally from the mother and the father, as both are equally responsible for bringing them into the world. Thus the positive laws of God that relate to the obedience of children join the father and the mother without any differentiation; both possess a kind of ascendancy and jurisdiction over their children...." In the 19th century, various women began to question

18513-525: The officer corps. Brüning's austerity measures brought little economic improvement and were extremely unpopular. Hitler exploited this by targeting his political messages specifically at people who had been affected by the inflation of the 1920s and the Depression, such as farmers, war veterans, and the middle class. Although Hitler had terminated his Austrian citizenship in 1925, he did not acquire German citizenship for almost seven years. This meant that he

18666-413: The onset of intense father-son conflicts caused by Hitler's refusal to conform to the strict discipline of his school. Alois tried to browbeat his son into obedience, while Adolf did his best to be the opposite of whatever his father wanted. Alois would also beat his son, although his mother tried to protect him from regular beatings. Alois Hitler's farming efforts at Hafeld ended in failure, and in 1897

18819-514: The orders of his army superiors, Hitler applied to join the party, and within a week was accepted as party member 555 (the party began counting membership at 500 to give the impression they were a much larger party). Hitler made his earliest known written statement about the Jewish question in a 16 September 1919 letter to Adolf Gemlich (now known as the Gemlich letter ). In the letter, Hitler argues that

18972-410: The origins and reproduction of patriarchy as a system of oppression of women, and concludes that patriarchy is socially constructed and seen as natural and invisible. Some feminist theorists believe that patriarchy is an unjust social system that is harmful to both men and women. It often includes any social, political, or economic mechanism that evokes male dominance over women. Because patriarchy

19125-686: The other half of Blackstone's sentence that says in Latin "other than that which lawfully and reasonably belongs to the husband for the due government and correction of his wife." Hirshman, writing in the Los Angeles Times , stated that while Sommers addressed two early American cases where men were convicted for wife-beating, she left out a case where the husband was not convicted. Flanders noted in Extra! , published by progressive media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , that Blackstone's "complete text says

19278-518: The party headquarters would remain in Munich. The committee agreed, and he rejoined the party on 26 July as member 3,680. Hitler continued to face some opposition within the Nazi Party. Opponents of Hitler in the leadership had Hermann Esser expelled from the party, and they printed 3,000 copies of a pamphlet attacking Hitler as a traitor to the party. In the following days, Hitler spoke to several large audiences and defended himself and Esser, to thunderous applause. His strategy proved successful, and at

19431-420: The patriarchy is at the root of female oppression. Audre Lorde , an African American feminist writer and theorist, believed that racism and patriarchy were intertwined systems of oppression. Sara Ruddick , a philosopher who wrote about "good mothers" in the context of maternal ethics, describes the dilemma facing contemporary mothers who must train their children within a patriarchal system. She asks whether

19584-592: The predominantly biological explanations of patriarchy and contend that socialization processes are primarily responsible for establishing gender roles . Sociobiologists compare human gender roles to sexed behavior in other primates and some argue that gender inequality comes primarily from genetic and reproductive differences between men and women. Social constructionists contest this argument, arguing that gender roles and gender inequity are instruments of power and have become social norms to maintain control over women. Historically, patriarchy has manifested itself in

19737-479: The process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism . Upon Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934, Hitler succeeded him, becoming simultaneously the head of state and government, with absolute power. Domestically, Hitler implemented numerous racist policies and sought to deport or kill German Jews . His first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from

19890-434: The property of men; claimed that women's role in society was to reproduce and to serve men in the household; and saw male domination of women as natural and virtuous. Not all of the great Greek thinkers believed that women were inferior. Aristotle's teacher Plato laid out his vision of the most just society in his work Republic . In it, Plato argues that women would have complete educational and political equality in such

20043-456: The same phenomenon. Author bell hooks argues that the new term identifies the ideological system itself (that men claim dominance and superiority to women) that can be believed and acted upon by either men or women, whereas the earlier terms imply only men act as oppressors of women. Sociologist Joan Acker , analyzing the concept of patriarchy and the role that it has played in the development of feminist thought, says that seeing patriarchy as

20196-418: The scientific atmosphere, "the periods over which women would have been at a physiological disadvantage in participation in hunting through being at a late stage of pregnancy or early stage of child-rearing would have been short". During the time of the nomads, patriarchy still grew with power. Lewontin and others argue that such biological determinism unjustly limits women. In his study, he states women behave

20349-633: The social, legal, political, religious, and economic organization of a range of different cultures. Most contemporary societies are, in practice, patriarchal, unless the criteria of complete exclution of women in authority is applied. Patriarchy literally means "the rule of the father" and comes from the Greek πατριάρχης ( patriarkhēs ), "father or chief of a race", which is a compound of πατριά ( patria ), "lineage, descent, family, fatherland" (from πατήρ patēr , "father") and ἀρχή ( arkhē ), "domination, authority, sovereignty". Historically,

20502-432: The teacher and the other students. Elaine Ginsberg and Sara Lennox describe Sommers' research as "anecdotal" and state that the book's most serious conceptual flaw is Sommers' failure to account for why women in society "have not always been treated fairly." They cite psychology professor Faye Crosby 's assertion that Sommers' main agenda was simply "to sell books," but argue that Who Stole Feminism? , nonetheless, represents

20655-484: The term patriarchy has been used to refer to autocratic rule by the male head of a family; however, since the late 20th century it has also been used to refer to social systems in which power is primarily held by adult men. The term was particularly used by writers associated with second-wave feminism such as Kate Millett ; these writers sought to use an understanding of patriarchal social relations to liberate women from male domination. This concept of patriarchy

20808-425: The terms patriarchal capitalism or capitalist patriarchy to describe the interactive relationship of capitalism and patriarchy in producing and reproducing the oppression of women. According to Hartmann, the term patriarchy redirects the focus of oppression from the labour division to a moral and political responsibility liable directly to men as a gender . In its being both systematic and universal, therefore,

20961-456: The time contemporary with Constantine in the West, "the emperor of Japan changed Japanese modes of worship", giving supremacy to male deities and suppressing belief in female spiritual power in what feminist scholars in the field of religious studies have called a "patriarchal revolution." In ancient China, gender roles and patriarchy were shaped by Confucianism . Adopted as the official religion in

21114-490: The trial of two Reichswehr officers, Lieutenants Richard Scheringer and Hanns Ludin , in late 1930. Both were charged with membership in the Nazi Party, at that time illegal for Reichswehr personnel. The prosecution argued that the Nazi Party was an extremist party, prompting defence lawyer Hans Frank to call on Hitler to testify. On 25 September 1930, Hitler testified that his party would pursue political power solely through democratic elections, which won him many supporters in

21267-485: The value of a woman's mediocrity and servile behavior leaves others feeling that this narrative is the result of a misplaced desire to cast her in a contemporary feminist light. Similarly to Three Obediences and Four Virtues , Precepts for Women was meant as a moral guide for proper feminine behavior, and was widely accepted as such for centuries. In China's Ming dynasty , widowed women were expected to never remarry, and unmarried women were expected to remain chaste for

21420-452: Was stateless , legally unable to run for public office, and still faced the risk of deportation. On 25 February 1932, the interior minister of Brunswick , Dietrich Klagges , who was a member of the Nazi Party, appointed Hitler as administrator for the state's delegation to the Reichsrat in Berlin, making Hitler a citizen of Brunswick, and thus of Germany. Hitler ran against Hindenburg in

21573-418: Was a teenage bully who would often slap her. Alois had made a successful career in the customs bureau and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Hitler later dramatised an episode from this period when his father took him to visit a customs office, depicting it as an event that gave rise to an unforgiving antagonism between father and son, who were both strong-willed. Ignoring his son's desire to attend

21726-428: Was an autobiography and exposition of his ideology. The book laid out Hitler's plans for transforming German society into one based on race. Throughout the book, Jews are equated with "germs" and presented as the "international poisoners" of society. According to Hitler's ideology, the only solution was their extermination. While Hitler did not describe exactly how this was to be accomplished, his "inherent genocidal thrust

21879-513: Was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz . He lived in Vienna in the first decade of the 1900s before moving to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I , receiving the Iron Cross . In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was appointed leader of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in

22032-437: Was brought up in the family of Hiedler's brother, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler . In 1876, Alois was made legitimate and his baptismal record annotated by a priest to register Johann Georg Hiedler as Alois's father (recorded as "Georg Hitler"). Alois then assumed the surname "Hitler", also spelled "Hiedler", "Hüttler" , or "Huettler" . The name is probably based on the German word Hütte ( lit.   ' hut ' ), and has

22185-502: Was depressed but calm when arrested on 11 November 1923 for high treason . His trial before the special People's Court in Munich began in February 1924, and Alfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the Nazi Party. On 1 April, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison . There, he received friendly treatment from the guards, and was allowed mail from supporters and regular visits by party comrades. Pardoned by

22338-564: Was developed to explain male dominance as a social, rather than biological, phenomenon. Patriarchy is a social system in which men are the primary authority figures in the areas of political leadership , moral authority and control of property . Sociologist Sylvia Walby defines patriarchy as "a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women". Social stratification along gender lines, with power predominantly held by men, has been observed in most, but not all societies. The concept of patriarchy

22491-563: Was early proposed by Friedrich Engels in an unfinished essay from 1876 . Anthropological , archaeological and evolutionary psychological evidence suggests that most prehistoric societies were relatively egalitarian , and suggests that patriarchal social structures did not develop until after the end of the Pleistocene epoch, following social and technological developments such as agriculture and domestication . According to Robert M. Strozier , historical research has not yet found

22644-793: Was even more widespread in the Mariahilf district, where Hitler then lived. Georg Ritter von Schönerer became a major influence on Hitler, and he developed an admiration for Martin Luther . Hitler read local newspapers that promoted prejudice and utilised Christian fears of being swamped by an influx of Eastern European Jews as well as pamphlets that published the thoughts of philosophers and theoreticians such as Houston Stewart Chamberlain , Charles Darwin , Friedrich Nietzsche , Gustave Le Bon , and Arthur Schopenhauer . During his life in Vienna, Hitler also developed fervent anti-Slavic sentiments . The origin and development of Hitler's anti-Semitism remains

22797-688: Was first reviewed in Kirkus Reviews in April 1994, two months prior to publication. The staff at Kirkus said that Sommers' book highlighted instances of "shoddy" research in feminist studies but failed to tell the reader about similar poor quality research in other fields. Sommers was said to be confused about categories of feminism, to have invented a sort of "gender feminism" to fit her purpose of promoting her brand of liberal feminism, and to have created "a theory of conspiracy equal in force to those she seeks to debunk." Kirkus said that Sommers presumed to speak for

22950-510: Was one of the first politicians to use aircraft travel for campaigning and used it effectively. Hitler came in second in both rounds of the election, garnering more than 35 per cent of the vote in the final election. Although he lost to Hindenburg, this election established Hitler as a strong force in German politics. The absence of an effective government prompted two influential politicians, Franz von Papen and Alfred Hugenberg , along with several other industrialists and businessmen, to write

23103-514: Was praised by his commanding officers for his bravery. His wartime experience reinforced his German patriotism, and he was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918. His displeasure with the collapse of the war effort began to shape his ideology. Like other German nationalists, he believed the Dolchstoßlegende ( stab-in-the-back myth ), which claimed that the German army, "undefeated in

23256-555: Was rejected twice. The director suggested Hitler should apply to the School of Architecture, but he lacked the necessary academic credentials because he had not finished secondary school. On 21 December 1907, his mother died of breast cancer at the age of 47; Hitler was 18 at the time. In 1909, Hitler ran out of money and was forced to live a bohemian life in homeless shelters and the Meldemannstraße dormitory . He earned money as

23409-522: Was three, the family moved to Passau , Germany. There he acquired the distinctive lower Bavarian dialect , rather than Austrian German , which marked his speech throughout his life. The family returned to Austria and settled in Leonding in 1894, and in June 1895 Alois retired to Hafeld, near Lambach , where he farmed and kept bees. Hitler attended Volksschule (a state-funded primary school) in nearby Fischlham . The move to Hafeld coincided with

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