Feminism Has Weakened Women

Here's a joke:

"Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it's polar or sexual."

This joke was retweeted last week by Dave Weigel, a Washington Post reporter.

He retweeted it because he thought it was funny.

He thought it was funny because it is.

But, of course, unless a joke is at the expense of straight, white males, such humor is banned by the Left.

A real brouhaha at the newspaper started when a colleague of Weigel's, Felicia Sonmez, complained that the tweet was misogynistic. On The Washington Post's internal website, she wrote that Weigel's retweet sent "a confusing message about what the Post's values are."

The Post's chief spokesperson, Kris Coratti, then issued a statement condemning Weigel: "Editors have made clear to the staff that the tweet was reprehensible and demeaning language or actions like that will not be tolerated."

The newspaper's national editor, Matea Gold, wrote, "I just want to assure all of you that The Post is committed to maintaining a respectful workplace for everyone. We do not tolerate demeaning language or actions."

The Post's executive editor, Sally Buzbee, added: "The Washington Post is committed to an inclusive and respectful environment free of harassment, discrimination or bias of any sort."

Post video technician Breanna Muir supported Sonmez for "speaking out against harassment, discrimination and sexism... These tweets/rts not only hurt women in our newsroom but make it extremely difficult to do our best work. Ultimately, it creates a toxic work environment."

Another Post reporter, Jose A. Del Real, tweeted that Weigel's retweet was "terrible and unacceptable." However, Del Real added that because Weigel apologized — Weigel had immediately tweeted, "I just removed a retweet of an offensive joke. I apologize and did not mean to cause any harm" — Sonmez and others should stop attacking him. As a result, Del Real was attacked — so much so that he temporarily deactivated his Twitter account. When he reactivated it, he posted a statement saying he had faced "an unrelenting series of attacks intended to tarnish my professional and personal reputation." He also accused Sonmez of "repeated and targeted public harassment of a colleague (Weigel)."

Apparently, additional Post employees began criticizing one another over the issue, and according to CNN, "By Monday morning, tension at The Post was still high." Another left-wing site, the Daily Beast, put it this way: "a multi-front war within WaPo is raging."

Sonmez, who had previously sued the Washington Post for sexism — a suit she lost — has been let go by the paper. (The Post had suspended Weigel for a month without pay.)

In addition to providing the nation with another example of the Left's meanness, hypersensitivity and war on humor (unless directed at white males), this episode also reveals something important about feminism.

In the true Orwellian spirit of the Left, the overriding claim of feminists that feminism empowers women is the opposite of the truth. Over the past half-century, modern feminism has not strengthened women, but weakened them.

It is worthy to note that, except for Del Real, who called for civility and compassion toward Weigel, every Washington Post actor named in this story — Felicia Sonmez, Matea Gold, Kris Coratti, Breanna Muir — is a woman.

That's why they were horrified by the joke. Few men — despite the fact that feminist activism has also rendered a great many American men weak — would find a similar joke about men offensive. Most men would find it funny.

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For the record, every man I know is married to a strong woman. The notion that men are not attracted to (or are threatened or intimidated by) strong women is a feminist myth. While undoubtedly some men seek weak women, most men find weakness in women (as in men) unappealing.

In feminist Newspeak (Orwell's term for the totalitarian redefining of language), when applied to women, "strong" means "easily offended," and "perceiving oneself as a victim."

Tragically, many women, especially young women, have come to accept those definitions of "strong."

No wonder the depression rates among young American women are the highest ever measured.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

JWR contributor Dennis Prager hosts a national daily radio show based in Los Angeles.