The Reactionary Feminist vs. the Meat Legos
14th May 2023
Most feminists—heck, most people in general—like to see themselves as being on the side of progress. Not Mary Harrington, a self-described “reactionary feminist” and the author of Feminism Against Progress.
What does it mean to be “against progress” in the name of feminism? That turns out to be mostly a semantic matter: Harrington does not want to lose the right to vote, and while she takes some swipes at the “Progress Theology” of folks like Steven Pinker, she doesn’t deny, much less bemoan, that humans have become richer and live longer lives in recent centuries.
What Harrington dislikes are some major changes we have seen in the relations between the sexes in the past 60 years or so: The essence of her view is that not every change that free markets enable—or that societies enthusiastically embrace—is necessarily an improvement on what came before. Just as ubiquitous sugar is a poor fit for a species that evolved in an environment where calories were scarce, perhaps dating apps, “gender affirming” medical interventions, and even the Pill are a poor fit for humanity too, offering instant gratification but longer-term harm.