Comments | marilena_r: Ayn Rand and feminism

marilena_r

Ayn Rand and feminism

Mar 23, 2007 10:35

It’s something obvious, but I hadn’t really thought about it until Mystique pointed it out to me: although Ayn Rand is a woman, her major characters are mostly men. Why is that? Didn’t she believe that women were worthy of becoming protagonists in her stories? Of course we’ve got Kira from “We the living”, my favorite one: Dominique Francon from “ ( Read more... )

ayn rand, sexism

Comments 4

justphoenix March 23 2007, 15:07:21 UTC

Are you familiar with Ayn Rand's nonfiction work? If not, here's a little overview.

She spoke extensively against feminism, though she was focused on the second wave movement that was going on during the 1960s. She believed women could and should have careers, but they should always look up to a man (See her essay on why a woman should never be President).

I think she did have a great deal of feminist ideas, but was turned off by the left taking up the feminist cause.

marilena_r March 23 2007, 15:33:51 UTC

I have read some of her non-fiction work, but not all of it. Regardless of her whole philosophy, she believed that men are superior? Wow, I am really curious how she explains that. If it was only because of the left was taking their cause... Now that I think about it, there are more leftist women leaders than men, but even so... I am taken aback. Where can I find the essay you mention?

justphoenix March 23 2007, 15:54:49 UTC

Ooooh! I do want to answer your question but I'm at work right now and don't have access to my books. I will get back to you in the next couple days.

justphoenix March 24 2007, 01:13:09 UTC

All right! "About a Woman President" appears in The Ayn Rand Library Vol. 5: The Voice of Reason. A small excerpt:

I would not want to be president and would not vote for a woman president. A woman cannot reasonably want to be a commander-in-chief. I prefer to answer the question by outlining what a rational man would do if he were president.

I'd also like to recommend the essay "Ayn Rand's Left-Libertarian Legacy", written by one of my favorite philosophers, Roderick T. Long. He posits that a lot of the inconsistencies in Rand's philosophy are a result of simply just opposing whatever the left does.