Politics

Davis, Fluke And Dunham: Liberal Feminism’s Rage Spiral

Matt K. Lewis Senior Contributor
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Radical liberal feminism — the kind that likes abortion on demand and taxpayer-funded birth control — has been rejected at the polls. Or, at least, it’s been a really rough week, or so. And I’m not just talking about the fact that Sen.-elect Cory Gardner effectively pushed back on the “war on women” narrative by defeating Colorado’s “Mark Uterus.”

The story also played out in Texas, where — writing about the race — Mollie Hemingway observed: “Wendy Davis was the face of ‘War On Women’ Politics. How’d that go?” And it played out in California, where Sandra Fluke lost a bid for the state Senate.

And! It played out all across the nation, as conservative women won historic elections. As I noted at The Week: “West Virginia Rep. Shelley Moore Capito and Iowa’s Joni Ernst, for example, will both become the first female senators ever elected from their respective states. New York’s Elise Stefanik last night became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. And Utah’s Mia Love became the first Haitian-American member of Congress. I could go on…” (Meanwhile, it was a slightly less good night for liberal female candidates like Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes.)

But culture is more important than politics, and it has also been a rough few days for the “war on women’s” cultural voice of her generation (okay, voice of a generation), Lena Dunham.

Let’s start with the fact that — in spite of appearing in “Rock The Vote” PSAs, urging young folks to rock their vote in the midterms, Dunham was among the many celebrities who didn’t bother to vote in the last midterm.

But her troubles exceeded this evidence of rank hypocrisy. After conservative writers noted some disturbing revelations in her new memoir, which they argue constitutes sexual abuse of her younger sister, Dunham entered a “rage spiral” on Twitter, canceled public appearances, and threatened legal action against the conservative site Truth Revolt.

… Davis, Fluke, and Duhnam? Yeah, it was a rough week.