Feminism Can Include Liberty, But Liberty Doesn’t Include Feminism

Feminism and libertarianism might not be suitable for each other. Libertarians of all shades have written about Feminism and its compatibility, or lack thereof, with Libertarianism. Many people, including some of those writers, assume Feminism and Libertarianism are in the same sphere of study, but that is a misconception.

Feminist theory is a social theory, and a social theory includes but is not limited to political theory. Libertarianism is a political theory, and does not include everything that is within social theory.

Variants of Feminism that include a libertarian theory of property, i.e. private property, would clearly be compatible with libertarianism; however, any variant that is at odds with private property is clearly incompatible with libertarianism.

Most, if not all, Marxist branches of Feminism are incompatible with libertarianism. The conclusions of Marxism are at odds with libertarianism. Marxism heavily influences the vast majority of popular Feminist thought, thus the greater part of fashionable Feminism does not align with libertarian principles.

While most forms of Feminism we must deal with today are Marxist and do not allow for libertarianism, there are types of Feminism that allow for private property.

More importantly, anything outside the scope of politics, e.g. voluntary societal structures, does not concern libertarianism, and should not be considered when discussing the compatibility between a Feminist theory and the private property ethic.

A person labeling oneself a “Feminist Libertarian” is no different, politically speaking, than calling oneself just a libertarian. Both share the same political principles, and their differences lie outside the political sphere.

Nick Written by:

Nick is an amateur economist, philosopher, and entrepreneur. He primarily writes about economics and argumentation, which includes the fields of ethics and epistemology.

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