Individualist feminism

Individualist feminism, also known as ifeminism, is a libertarian feminist movement that emphasizes individualism, personal autonomy, freedom from state-sanctioned discrimination against women, and gender equality.
Overview
Individualist feminists attempt to change legal systems to eliminate sex and gender privileges, and to ensure that individuals have equal rights. Individualist feminism encourages women to take full responsibility for their own lives and opposes any government interference into choices adults make with their own bodies.
Individualist or libertarian feminism is sometimes grouped as one of many branches of liberal feminism, but it tends to diverge significantly from 21st-century mainstream liberal feminism of the 21st century. Individualist feminists Wendy McElroy and Christina Hoff Sommers define individualist feminism in opposition to what they call "political" or "gender feminism".
Beliefs
Libertarian feminists reject gender roles that limit women's autonomy and choice, and assert that strict gender roles limit both women and men, especially if they are legally enforced. Libertarian feminists are critical of using institutional power to achieve positive aims, believing that allowing the government to make decisions on behalf of women may limit women's individual choices. For instance, banning sex work to "protect" women treats women as a monolithic group, rather than individuals, and takes away economic opportunities for women who want to work in the sex industry by choice.
The Cato Institute, an American libertarian think tank, argues that capitalism has given women a higher standard of living, greater access to resources, greater individual freedoms and more job opportunities outside of physical labor.
Individualist feminism conforms to the theory of natural law, supporting laws that protect the rights of men and women equally. Individual feminists argue that government should not prioritize the needs of women over men, nor should it strive to intervene to create equality in personal relationships, private economic arrangements, entertainment and media representation, or the general sociocultural realm.
History in the United States
According to individualist feminist Joan Kennedy Taylor, early organized feminism in the United States was fundamentally “a classical liberal women’s movement”. First-wave feminists focused on universal suffrage and the abolition of slavery, along with property rights for women and other forms of equal rights.
During the Victorian era and the early 20th century, individualist feminism fell out of vogue in the US and UK as the progressive, labor, and socialist movements began to hold more sway over politics.
Individualist feminism was revived by anti-authoritarian and individualist second-wave feminists in the mid-20th century. According to Taylor, “the political issues that gained wide adherence were the reproductive rights to birth control and abortion, and the Equal Rights Amendment, which (at least in its initial support) was a classical liberal restraint on government.”
Labels like individualist feminism, libertarian feminism, and classical liberal feminism were explicitly embraced by late 20th century writers and activists such as Taylor, Sharon Presley, Tonie Nathan, and Wendy McElroy. Modern libertarian feminism is a continuation of ideas and work developed by these women and their contemporaries, including Nadine Strossen and Camille Paglia, as well as of the ideas of classical liberal and anarchist writers throughout history.
Libertarian feminist organizations
Association of Libertarian Feminists
The Association of Libertarian Feminists (ALF) was founded in 1973 by Tonie Nathan and Sharon Presley on Ayn Rand's birthday in Eugene, Oregon, at Nathan's home. In September 1975 in New York City, ALF became a national organization. , Presley was the executive director of the organization.
The ALF has stated that their purpose is to oppose sexist attitudes, oppose government, and "provide a libertarian alternative to those aspects of the women's movement that tend to discourage independence and individuality." The ALF have opposed the government's involvement in childcare centers, including "zoning laws, unnecessary and pointless "health and safety" restrictions, [and] required licensing." The ALF have also opposed public education, saying that public schools "not only foster the worst of traditionalist sexist values but inculcate docility and obedience to authority with sterile, stifling methods and compulsory programs and regulations." In 1977, Nathan suggested eliminating parts of the United States Postal Service regulations that obstructed the mailing of birth control samples and information about family planning at the National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas.
Feminists for Liberty
Feminists for Liberty (F4L) is a nonprofit libertarian feminist group founded in 2016. It was founded by Kat Murti and Elizabeth Nolan Brown to promote the values of libertarian feminism. F4L are "anti-sexism and anti-statism, pro-markets and pro-choice" and "classically liberal, anti-carceral, and sex positive". They are opposed to collectivism and argue that "treating someone as simply a representative of their sex or gender" is collectivist.
Ladies of Liberty Alliance (LOLA)
The Ladies of Liberty Alliance (LOLA) was established in 2009 as a nonprofit organization. LOLA's goal is to engage women in libertarianism through social groups, leadership trainings, and visits from guest speakers.
Mothers Institute
The Mothers Institute was a non-profit educational and networking organization supporting stay-at-home mothering, homeschooling, civics in the classroom, and an effective networking system for mothers and freedom of choice in health and happiness. It is now defunct.
Criticism
Criticism of individualist feminism ranges from expressing disagreements with the values of individualism as a feminist to expressing the limitations within individualist feminism as an effective activism. Critics have argued that individualist feminism does not sufficiently address structural inequality. In 1995, American radical feminist Catharine MacKinnon criticized the value of individual choice, saying there were still instances where "women are used, abused, bought, sold, and silenced", especially women of color. In 1999, American feminist Susan Brownmiller suggested that the aversion to collective, "united" feminism was a sign of a "waning" and unhealthy feminist movement.
Notable individualist feminists
William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879)
Ezra Heywood (1829–1893)
Voltairine de Cleyre (1866–1912)
Dora Marsden (1882–1960)
Suzanne La Follette (1893–1983)
Tonie Nathan (1923–2014)
Joan Kennedy Taylor (1926–2005)
Mimi Reisel Gladstein (b. 1936)
Sharon Presley (b. 1943)
Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
Christina Hoff Sommers (b. 1950)
Wendy McElroy (b. 1951)
Virginia Postrel (b. 1960)
Cathy Young (b. 1963)
Tiffany Million (b. 1966)
Rene Denfeld
See also
Anarcha-feminism
Cultural liberalism / radicalism
Equity feminism
Female entrepreneur
Feminist anthropology
Feminist economics
Feminist existentialism
Feminist political theory and ecology
Individualist anarchism
Left-libertarianism
Liberal feminism
Libertarian perspectives on abortion
List of conservative feminisms
Sex-positive feminism
Women's property rights
References
Further reading
One of the first individualist feminist essays, by Ezra Heywood.
Essay including discussion of libertarian feminism.
External links
Association of Libertarian Feminists
iFeminists
Pro Choice Libertarians
The Mother's Institute
Ladies of Liberty Alliance (LOLA)
Feminist movements and ideologies
Feminist theory
Libertarianism by form
Individualist anarchism
Feminism and history