Modern Feminism Makes Women Miserable

        The best thing modern feminists could do for women is tell them to reject feminism.

        The Institute for Family Studies recently analyzed findings from the annual American Family Survey. It found 37% of conservative women ages 18-40 said they were completely satisfied with life. But only 12% of liberal women that age were. That’s a shocking disparity, but it’s not an outlier finding.

        In 2021, Columbia University professors put out a study on depression among 12th graders, looking at data from 2005 to 2018. They found “female liberals reported worse internalizing symptom scores over the study period than all other groups.”

        A 2017 study by a Penn State University professor noted “politically conservative participants were significantly more optimistic and satisfied with life than their liberal counterparts.”

        A 2008 study in Psychological Science asked, “Why are conservatives happier than liberals?” It cited a 2006 Pew survey showing 47% of conservative Republicans called themselves “very happy,” while only 28% of liberal Democrats did the same.

        The researchers from Columbia speculated that political events might have contributed to liberal depression. Republicans made political gains in the 2010s, including the election of then-President Donald Trump. The researchers claimed issues like global warming, structural racism and pervasive sexism “became unavoidable features of political discourse.”

        The implication is that liberals are depressed because they care so much about the world’s problems.

        While that may sound noble, stressing out about something that you can’t control isn’t a virtue. It can lead to “learned helplessness.” If people believe their choices won’t improve things, they often give up or make worse choices. Little wonder researchers often connect learned helplessness to depression.

        While this is a factor, there’s a deeper explanation.

        Feminists originally argued for equal opportunity in voting, education and the workplace. That happened. But second-wave feminists went further. They disparaged marriage and religion as tools of the patriarchy. They didn’t view children as a source of deep meaning and fulfillment, but rather as an obstacle to career success.

        Third- and fourth-wave feminists went beyond that. Many contend that different outcomes between men and women are solely the result of societal expectations. These ideas have gone so far that leftists now claim men can become women. Why some men would willingly give up the power of the patriarchy is never quite explained.

        These ideas have gained tremendous cultural power, especially on the left. As a result, liberals are less likely to be married, go to church or have kids. But these choices haven’t brought joyous liberation. Just the opposite.

        As Brad Wilcox lays out in his book “Get Married,” married men and women are around twice as likely to be very happy as their single counterparts. An obvious factor in that is loneliness. Single childless adults are more than twice as likely as married individuals to say they’re always or almost always lonely, Wilcox noted. Historically, single individuals found community and connection in a church or synagogue. But liberals are less likely to attend religious services.

        If women want to be happy, they should embrace what modern feminists falsely claim is the patriarchy.

        Victor Joecks is a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Email him at [email protected] or follow @victorjoecks on X. To find out more about Victor Joecks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.