How Feminism Created An Insufferable Class Of ‘Infallible Females’

Intellectual nonsense from elite women is surprisingly commonplace and continues unabated. One need look no further than Meryl Streep’s recent rant that the SAVE Act will disenfranchise married women, Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s practice of changing the pronouns in books when reading to her children, or most anything said by the ladies on The View. Long left unchecked, the West has been living for decades under the tyranny of “infallible females” — women who never get fact-checked, receive push-back, or hear moral correction.

The road to female infallibility started innocently enough, with most believing that feminism was only trying to level the playing field. Things then accelerated quickly. Feminism had a secret weapon: It was kryptonite for men. Given men’s natural disinclination to fight with women, good men simply went silent about women’s lib, while the bad ones “benefitted” from and promoted it. Without any societal restraint, feminists ran amok, eventually saturating the culture with female dominance, entitlement, and self-righteous confidence.

Anyone who grew up watching TV remembers the endless stream of female-targeted sitcoms and commercials emphasizing women’s competence over men: Men couldn’t buy a car, diaper a baby, or clean a kitchen without a woman’s sage supervision. Advertisers knew that portraying women’s faux superiority over men sold cars, toilet paper, and processed foods. The mirage didn’t stop there. Hiring quotas and lowered physical fitness requirements gave the impression that male/female interchangeability could be achieved, paired with flawed and persistent rhetoric about unequal pay and the glass ceiling. #BelieveAllWomen also fortified the notion that women never lie, especially about sexual assault.

Infallible females also significantly affect work environments, particularly through quotas and DEI hiring. Mediocre female employees have been flattered, platformed, and promoted, and the workplace “feminized” — as Helen Andrews has made plain — while femininity was eradicated. The most toxic of women are tolerated for fear that they will take their tale of woe to a deeply sympathetic press or courtroom. The result is that conscientious male and female employees are demoralized, turning the pursuit of excellence into a farce.

Then came the psychological changes. Reason was out; emotions were in. Anything a woman felt gained her access to the prized status of “victim,” easily opened by claims of feeling triggered, offended, or imposed upon. The victim card had the added benefit of dissolving any societal or familial responsibilities. Duties and roles evaporated; emotional whim and self-absorption settled in comfortably.

Zero Resistance

Feminism also hermetically sealed leftist women — and the nominally conservative women who breathe the same fumes — into believing the nobility of their cause. It is a safe space. No one questions your arguments or challenges your convictions. Agreeing with the movement offers an aura of strength, conviction, righteousness, and unassailability. Who could question the movement’s purity?

Meanwhile, the ideological gatekeepers stand at the ready to correct anyone who gets out of line. “You can’t talk about this, you’re a man!” or, “How dare you question feminism? You have a degree!” or, “Feminism is only about helping women. You must hate women!” As regular as rain, these simple phrases keep everyone cozy and safe from dangerous dissenters. And for those who are not quickly silenced, isolation and cancellation are always available.

Entitlement

Things didn’t stop there. The new nexus of advertising, equality, and ideology bled into a new kind of entitlement that came from an unexpected place: consumerism.

Decades ago, a story circulated that Nordstrom was so committed to customer service and a generous return policy that one store took “back” a set of tires even though Nordstrom doesn’t sell tires. This policy set the gold standard that every woman came to relish, and it quickly became the industry standard, not just for Nordstrom but for every mom-and-pop store too. Ask any merchant or store manager about their experience with customer demands, and hysterical and often galling stories abound. The “customer is always right” has turned into a nightmare for almost every merchant and restaurateur, thanks to supposed infallible women.

Social media reviews only made things worse. Imagine what happens to several generations of women who are told in most of their day-to-day interactions that they are always right? Hence the emergence of the Bridezilla and the AWFLs (affluent, white, female liberals) who head up the “No Kings” resistance rally and then head to Whole Foods, meeting with nary an ounce of real resistance but bathed in glorious acclaim for their conformist bravery.

Far from serving women, female infallibility has left women in a perpetual state of adolescence, tethered to the latest celebrity and influencer trends, unable to think properly, articulate beliefs, or get beyond emotions.

Battle of the Sexes

Women have been sold a lie about what men want, becoming model feminists, and then they can’t figure out why they can’t find good men. On the one hand, like attracts like. Shallow women attract shallow men. Shallow women raise shallow men. But on the other hand, men don’t want women who are like them as men; they want and were made for women who understand womanhood.

Feminists, meanwhile, point to passive or pornified men, unaware of their role in contributing to both. The values that feminism has curated in women — to be domineering, self-absorbed, entitled, and manipulative — are not the qualities that are going to attract or elicit the best from men. In the race for empowerment, women traded their tools of wisdom, presence, and life-giving for a shiny and selfish façade. Men and children need women who will offer themselves for the good of others, to live with responsibility, loyalty, and sacrifice.

Feminists despise the notorious Andrew Tate, but for the wrong reason. They don’t do it because he denigrates women. Plenty of leftist men do that without eliciting their condemnation, e.g., Bill Clinton or the newly accused Eric Swalwell. Rather, they loathe him because he doesn’t buy into their infallibility. This rationale is why they continually try to link nonfeminist women with him. (Nonfeminist women, of course, rightfully scoff at the ridiculous comparison.) The great irony is that, ultimately, what these women hate in Tate is the mirror image of themselves. He has for women the same contempt feminists have for men. He is fundamentally just the reverse of them: the “infallible male.” And they are both equally wrong in failing to realize that humility, love, sacrifice, and reverence are essential for human flourishing. 

Change

Decades of submission to infallible females have worn the West thin. The culture is quickly changing. An array of conservative sites, many of which previously steered clear of critiquing feminism, are now speaking against it, with articles written by both women and men.

Motherhood is making a comeback. Younger women are rejecting the tired allegiance their mothers and grandmothers gave to the ideology, and many young men are choosing nonfeminist wives. Even People Magazine published a puff piece about an author who prioritized her six children as a stay-at-home mom. The accelerated speed at which the narrative is shifting is likely because many have seen for years that the Empress Had No Clothes but felt powerless to call it out. Today, the groundswell is large enough that few live with fear of retribution and cancellation.

The feminists have overplayed their hand; men and women are finally rejecting their tyrannical, entitled, and condescending mien. They certainly won’t go down without a fight, but it’s a fight they’ve already lost. Despite their “infallibility,” or maybe because of it, they just haven’t realized it yet.

Carrie Gress is a scholar at the Institute of Human Ecology at Catholic University of America. A mother of five, she is the author of 11 books, including “The End of Woman: How Smashing the Patriarchy Has Destroyed Us” and “Something Wicked: Why Feminism Can’t Be Fused with Christianity.”