Feminists Don't Understand Female Sexual Attraction

The myth of "Happy Wife, Happy Life"

Ross Douthat of The New York Times recently interviewed feminist Louise Perry about the failures of the sexual revolution. Many of the issues she raised are reasonable, but her prescription for how to move forward proves she either doesn’t understand female sexual attraction, or she isn’t being honest about it. Without accounting for the reality of female sexuality, feminist’s ideas will remain incomplete and incoherent.

In case you don’t want to read or watch the interview, here’s the summary:

Louise states that the sexual revolution, defined as the normalization of casual sex enabled by the birth control pill, ignores how women bear the risk of unplanned pregnancies while men have a stronger drive for casual sex. She states that early radical feminists like Andrea Dworkin were too extreme, leading to “heteropessimism” and low birth rates among feminists.

She then explains how social media exacerbates gender division by exposing each other to locker room talk and female gossip, causing young women to become radicalized against men while young men develop a hostility towards women.

The interview leads to Ross asking Louise why it’s a good thing that modern men need to actively help women pursue their careers while being mothers. I was in agreement with most of her positions throughout the interview, but this is where she finally lost me.