Christina Hoff Sommers, author of "Who Stole Feminism?" and member of the Independent Women's Forum (IWF), spoke Wednesday evening in the Centennial Formal Lounge. Sommers, a professor of philosophy at Clark University since 1980, also wrote the book "The War Against Boys."
The College Republicans and the Independent Women's Forum sponsored the event. The Independent Women's Forum is dedicated to advancing the spirit of enterprise and self-reliance among women, and supporting the principles of political freedom, economic liberty, and personal responsibility, according to the IWF Web site (www.iwf.org).
"Right now, I believe that American women are among the freest in the world," Sommers said in her speech.
Sommers said she wrote "Who Stole Feminism?" because she believes that the women's movement has taken a wrong turn.
"The movement has ruined political correctness and constantly is male-bashing," Sommers said.
Sommers has seen bias in the classroom, she said, especially in women's and gender studies classes. "It is hard to find conservative feminists in the classroom," she said.
Sommers advocated equity feminism as the third wave of feminism. She says equity feminism calls for equality between the sexes, but rejects much of the radicalism that is attached to second-wave feminism.
"The IWF is proud to be a part of this wave of feminism," Sommers said.
Following her speech, Sommers took questions from the audience, which consisted of conservatives, liberals, libertarians and curious members.
"I thought the event was wonderful," said Ibbie Hedrick, president of the College Republicans. "There was a large mix of conservatives and liberals in the audience ... I feel that everyone really appreciated the intellectual arguments that Sommers opened up"
