I don't think "enlightened" means what they think it means. Wish I could post a picture of Andre The Giant here with his ubiquitous qote from The Princess Bride.

So, if this group's goal is to "redefine conservatism," why is there no definition or explanation of conservatism on their site?

Also, their blog is mind-numbingly terrible - thin on actual articles or insight. The captions adorning their photo safari of a NOW conference is just plain rude. Of course, if *that* is their way of defining conservatism, they've done a good job.

I just love how ironic the names of conservative groups are- "Pro-Life" for people who don't give a damn about you once you are actually alive, and "Network of Enlightened Women" for a group of women who rather than being self-aware, have deeply internalized sexism. And since when is spreading the accepted cultural belief a "culture war"? Oh, how put upon these ladies must feel, what with our talk of equality, and our cookie-less existence.

She misuses words, which annoys me. If conservative women want to get together and form any kind of organization, yay for them. But why does it always have to do with what they don't want us doing?

I don't know weather to laugh at them or cry. This is some truly scary stuff…
“Do we fully recognize the dangers of feminism to the women of this country?”
Do we fully recognize the dangers of groups like “NeW”?
And what’s so new about them anyway? I’m so frustrated reading their blog that it’s hard to articulate all the ways in which reading it makes my blood boil.

The captions adorning their photo safari of a NOW conference is just plain rude. Of course, if *that* is their way of defining conservatism, they've done a good job.

I just popped over there and couldn't agree with you more. They made some snide comment about the fact that they were selling tofu cookbooks at the conference. What exactly is the hidden agenda behind tofu?

A new generation of Phyllis Schlaflys rear their ugly heads...

They call themselves "NeW"? How about old and tired? And uncreative: "Feminists are their own worst enemies"; "V-Day obectifies women".
Blah. Blah. Blah.

Unfortunately anti-feminist groups like NeW are just too scary (and too influential at re-inforcing the status quo) to simply be made fun of and then ignored....

I am always curious about conservative anti-feminist women who go to college and then spend their time explaining how feminism has made women's lives terrible.
Does anyone else see any contradictions in this?

I'm all for starting book groups based on common interests, hell, I'd even be interested to see what a conservative book group looks like. But as far as I can tell, the point of this group seems to be "do as I do and you'll be happier." Which annoys me like the singing evangelicals at our Saturday market. I don't go out to their church parking lot and sing George Michael songs with a bullhorn.

khw- I KNOW. It just kills me every time. Do they think they got to college because men woke up one morning and said, "Gosh, maybe women really ARE just as smart as us?"

Weren't they in that Harold and Kumar movie? Its like bad satire.

Logrus, it's Inigo Montoya who says that!

I read that article carefully. Then I looked up "What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us" and read some about it, and read excerpts on Google books.

I'm interested in what makes conservative women tick because I don't really understand it. I think that it stems from a sense of insecurity, which a lot of people of all political persuasions and backgrounds feel. However, their response to it is to look to tradition for security: women may have been property with few options in the old days, but in exchange for their oppression and domestic services they were "taken care of." Having this sort of marriage contract codified into law is the only way they'll feel more secure.

Now, I'm an incredibly liberal feminist, and I want children and a marriage (to a man) that lasts my whole life. That is what feels right to me. Now, I want that marriage to be based on honesty, open communication, mutual respect, and egalitarianism, but that is what I want. It's going to be hard work that's going to take a lot of maturity and compromise, and it's scary, and I feel uncertain sometimes, but that is what I want to work for in my life in terms of my relationship.

The thing is, feminism is about being supported in your choices, and the more informed you are about your choices when you make them, the better. These women don't seem to be about informing themselves or others, however, so much as working to limit options because they personally don't like those options.

Oh dear lord, not tofu! Say it ain't so!

The NOW post aside...

A few posts below there is a hoax letter claiming Barack Obama snubbed soldiers in Afghanistan. A commenter even gives a link to Snopes.

And the post remains.

I have nothing more to say.

I love it...they have an entry supposedly describing Obama's visit to the middle east, from a military person...that has already been debunked on Snopes, but they present it as true, and haven't posted an update, even though someone already pointed it out to them...

So lame.

http://blog.enlightenedwomen.org/2008/08/10/the-real-obama/trackback.aspx

Putting the word "Enlightened" in your club name doesn't actually make it so.

What bothered me about that article, which I read with much interest this morning, to be honest, was that it goes on and on about NEW and why the leaders think its a needed organization on campuses across the nation - but literally says nothing about their positions and policies on conservative issues.

When I read her statement about broadening debate and discourse, I was like "alright, maybe this is okay" because I do honestly think that at a lot of higher education institutions, especially upper crust private ones (I went to Vassar), liberal viewpoints are accepted as the norm and aren't openly debated - debate being the ofundation of a free society, of course, in my mind. But then there's no follow through - most likely avoiding their issues purposefully because saying what these conservative young women believes makes their cause seem a bit more ridiculous. C'mon Politico...

Can't....function...brain...being...hijacked...by...anti...feminists....

All I've ever really wanted was to get married and have babies! That's what REALLY fulfills women! Also, I have to cover up and preserve my modesty lest I be subjected to misogyny. Oh and I MUST protect my family from cultural terrorism!

Then I can be truly happy!

Ugh. I looked up some of the books they're reading, and they confuse the hell out of me. Too much right-wing doublespeak.

The intro for a post on 7/29:
"Last Thursday, I was perusing my different sources for the morning news (Drudge Report….Facebook…ESPN...Perez Hilton)…and I ended up at the CNN website."

Yep, that pretty much sums up their journalistic/research reliability. As others have said, that group is half hilarious and half absolutely terrifying. I've known more than a few women in my college classes that would believe this crap. Grrr.

@exelizabeth_redux

That was a beautiful comment. You just summed up everything that gets triggered in my head when I read about groups like this.

cecilia & exelizabeth_redux,

you folks ever read "escape from freedom" by erich fromm? kind of old and whatever, but it really treats that concept of people being willing to sacrifice freedom in exchange for not having to make hard decisions.

I just read another revealing thing in the Politico piece: the faculty advisor for the original UVA group is a male professor who wrote a book on how sex differences are really real and important, and that women should have more babies and fewer jobs. Ironically, I'm betting that the majority of his students are women who plan to have careers.

a) “I often have to explain it; when I say I run a women’s organization, people always assume it’s a feminist or liberal organization.”
Maybe because people don't assume that you're stupid enough to run a group against yourself.

b) I think it's very telling that there is nothing in that article saying what they're actually about other than "Conservatism"

One more thing: "We even have some members that are democrats!" Is exactly the same as "I told that joke to my black friend and she didn't mind so it's not racist!"

greensprout- "I think it's very telling that there is nothing in that article saying what they're actually about other than "Conservatism""

I thought the same thing- I have no idea what the group actually stands for other than "not feminism." I wonder if that's an omission by the reporter or if that really is the extent of it.

I am strongly reminded me of a parody someone did of Barbara Cartland: "I don't understand feminists. If they want independence, why don't they just inherit from their fathers like I did?"