A Woman's Voice

If you’re looking for trouble you’ve come to the right place. I don’t recall precisely who and where, but I do remember that people have suffered serious consequences for discussing, distributing and disseminating this article. [Update: Here is a link to the story.]

I am referring to Denise McAllister’s article, “Can We Be Honest About Women.” It appeared in The Federalist a few days ago. At a time when the world’s women have been mobilized to attack and destroy male sexual harassers, it is worthwhile to hear a woman’s opinion about the matter of male/female interaction. Of course, we want to know what women think and what they want. After all, you cannot really believe that the men in the media and entertainment worlds, ferociously committed feminists all, are all sexual predators. And you do not want to reduce all men to devils while elevating all women into angelic creatures who never misinterpret a gesture and never tell a lie. At a time when the culture war risks falling prey to stereotypes, it is worthwhile to hear from a woman who is not mouthing feminist propaganda.

McAllister explains the women like to flirt. They like the sexual interplay that happens with men and they try to be beautiful because being beautiful and feminine is part of their power and influence.

In her words:

Women love the sexual interplay they experience with men, and they relish men desiring their beauty. Why? Because it is part of their nature.

Women want to be desired by men, to attract them, to be the only woman in the world for that man. Their beauty is an essential part of their allure, especially when men and women first meet. They have little else to go on because they don’t know each other, and beauty serves as a guidepost to greater interest.

Outside of a woman looking for a mate, her beauty is a source of power because men and other women value it. This is why married women still want to be beautiful. It’s an expression of their femininity, which doesn’t disappear at the altar.

Much to our shock and awe, McAllister reveals that women are not quite as innocent as you think. They are happy to use their feminine charms and feminine wiles to get what they want. They have been disinclined to lean in because leaning in does not get them what they want. It gets them pushback and even hitback.

And, we should not forget that more than a few women are more than happy to use their feminine charms, even their sexual power, to advance their careers, to get roles in movies, to become more prominent on television:

  

Please, gentlemen, when you are writing diatribes on the depravities of your own sex, don’t paint women as pure and innocent. They’re not. They can twist and distort their natural impulses and desires just as a man can—and they do.

How many women try to attract men in the office, media, entertainment industry, and politics to taste the power, to reap the rewards, whatever those might be? Are they really in a position to complain when a man responds? I don’t think so. The honest ones know exactly what they’re doing and accept the bumps that come from riding down that particular road.