You don’t need to be a feminist to believe that women should have the right to drive. You don’t need to be a feminist to believe that women and men should be treated equally under the law. And you certainly don’t need to be a feminist to believe that women should have the right to participate in the republic. Today, when discussing feminism, many Conservatives declare that they are feminists, “just not in the modern sense”. They claim to stand with the “first wave feminists” insofar as advocating for women’s suffrage. But despite knowing that you don't have to identify with an entire ideology in order to agree with one aspect of it, these “first wave feminists” can’t, or don’t think to apply that when recalling historical phenomena. So, why am I not a feminist in any sense of the word? And why shouldn’t any Conservatives today be either? In order to completely understand this, it is required to look deeper into feminism in the late 19th and early 20th century. Upon doing so, it is obvious that one of the biggest names in first wave feminism advocated for feminism to achieve much more than simple suffragism. Although not the focal point of the 1900-1910’s movement, the smaller things Elizabeth Cady Stanton demanded to be instituted allowed for the evolution of feminism into what it is today. These values, (that contemporary Conservatives are guaranteed to be against) are as followed.

Moving on to divorce. It is a common belief among conservatives that no-fault divorce is something to be looked down upon. It ruins the nuclear family structure, and incentivises breaking up one's marriage for the dumbest of reasons, seeing as no evidence or reason is needed in order to officiate the separation. In Stanton’s feminist handbook, “The Woman’s Bible”, she details this exact desire. Stanton was wildly pro no-fault divorce. Although in her time, there may have been legitimate reasons for divorce that were overlooked by legislature, this wasn’t and never will be an acceptable proposition. Because of Stanton’s powerful push for separation for any reason, and the adoption of these policies later on in the century, the United States is effectively a no-fault country. Now according to the most recent Forbes numbers, about 59% of divorces occur due to a “lack of connection to spouse”. (386) Elizabeth Cady Stanton did that as an early feminist in the name of “women's equality”.  “The Woman's Bible” also provides Stanton’s beliefs about Christianity as well. Many conservatives today are Christian. Which is exactly what she loathed. As well as trashing the Bible as a sexist work, it is also riddled with plain heresy. Although not written by her, Stanton included a letter from an anonymous feminist denying the validity of the virgin birth, claiming that Joseph was Jesus’ biological father. Any woman with an ounce of respect for Christ would not let even that narrative near any work that would be accredited to herself, however Stanton does. 

Feminism is seen as extreme because of how much it “turns first rate women into second rate men” (an Andrew Klavan classic), and therefore, works to blend the feminine nature and societal roles in with the duties of their masculine counterparts. Another mistake “First wave conservatives” make is the belief that Stanton’s 20th century feminism advocates for the difference between men and women, and not the conflation of the two sexes. While this is understandable, as Stanton was against abortion and an avid homemaker, she still called for blending to some degree. She deemed marriage as “slavery for women” and tried to lessen the importance of the sacrament when supporting the idea of marriage being only a part of a woman, not the whole of her. Should women have personalities, hopes, dreams and desires outside of their husbands? Sure. But at the end of the day, the center of a woman, and her main purpose should be her family, and her God, for if she doesn’t center herself around something higher, she is an empty person, living with no higher goal. This goes for men too. Husbands need to be devoted, pious souls in order to complete the dynamic at home. Stanton's advocacy for marriage and family to become a secondary thought as opposed to the major event in a woman's life coupled with her seeming disgust towards it paved the pathway for contemporary feminists to shift the Overton Window from homemaking being encouraged to the idea of more devotion to worldly factors and less to the fundamental political institution. 

Mistitling someone else with malice intent is bad enough in the political landscape, however mistitling yourself in order to try to seem more appealing to the Left is even worse. If we don’t know who we are, how do we figure out what anything else concerning politics is? I base whether or not you are a conservative off of two things: your beliefs on abortion, and your beliefs on the nuclear family structure. If one of those doesn’t match with the idea of protecting and upholding traditional values, you are not a Conservative. Feminism has always been an affront to family, therefore, it will never be Conservative.