Foul emanations from the U.N.

By Carey Roberts

Wondering about all the backpack-toting, hairy-legged women ambling around New York City this week? They're the delegates to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

Don't expect to hear about random acts of kindness from this bunch. These women care about only one thing — freeing the planet from the baleful influence of patriarchy.

The word "patriarchy," of course, simply refers to male leadership. History shows that patriarchs have spared women from the dirtiest, harshest, and most hazardous lines of work. That's part of the reason why in almost every country, men have shorter lifespans than women. [www.renewamerica.com/analyses/050312roberts.htm]

But at the U.N., patriarchy now takes the blame for everything that's wrong with the world, from global warming, the spread of AIDS, and no doubt tooth decay.

To keep the fervor strong, the drumbeat of female victimization must be continually sounded. It matters little that the assertions are over-wrought, one-sided, or mendacious. So it's an amusing exercise to occasionally catalog the falsehoods that regularly arise from the U.N.

I will warn you these statements are cleverly calculated to play upon persons' sympathies and fears. So before you are tempted to believe them, refer to the indicated web address:

1. "Women are 70% of the world's poor." — Hillary Clinton, World Conference on Women, Beijing, China, 1995. Hillary can now add "teller of tall-tales" to her all-star resumé: www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/1004roberts.html

2. ". . . women and children account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict." — Security Council Resolution No. 1325, 2000. A bizarre claim that defies common sense: www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2005/1116roberts.html

3. "However, as is often the case in times of crisis, women are bearing the brunt of years of war and sanctions in Iraq." — United Nations Development Program, 2003. A one-sided statement, at best: www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2003/0729roberts.html

4. "The majority of the victims of human trafficking are women and children." — Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Women, 2006. That's not what the Migration Policy Institute says: www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/0712roberts.html

5. "Violence against women persists in every country of the world as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality." — Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Women, 2006. "Gender equality" — can't the Mischievous Maidens at least come up with a new slogan? www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/1018roberts.html

6. "We know that women do about 66% of the work in the world, they produce 50% of the food, but earn 5% of the income and own 1% of the property." — UNICEF director Ann Veneman, 2007. One of those pseudo-scientific claims that no one could back up: www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/1011roberts.html

When persons repeat a lie often enough, they begin to believe them. And soon statements that would smack of bigotry in any other context become acceptable:

1. "Women and children must be at the center of response to Southern Africa's humanitarian crisis." — Carol Bellamy, former UNICEF director, 2003.

2. "... all our work for development — from agriculture to health....must focus on the needs and priorities of women." — Louise Frechette, former UN Deputy Secretary-General, 2003.

3. My priorities will be "the health of women." — Margaret Chan, director of the World Health Organization, 2006.

Over the years the women's movement has undergone a social make-over. A century ago, feminism was a bona fide liberation effort designed to assure equal rights and opportunities. Who could be against that?

Then the cause morphed into its self-gratification phase, which it euphemistically referred to as "female empowerment." As author Myrna Blyth puts it, "narcissism is an advanced evolutionary stage of female liberation. Me, me, me, means you're finally free, free, free." And don't lose sleep if you tell an occasional white lie or level a false accusation — after all, it's for a good cause.

In the 1990s, feminism evolved into the totalitarian period. That's when the fems began to harness the power of the state to win a series of legal privileges and female-only laws, such as the Violence Against Women Act and Title IX which imposed rigid quotas on school athletics. Their justification: Women needed to play "catch-up" after eons of oppression and neglect.

And now, feminism is reaching its natural culmination, the stage of social destruction. See what the UN feminists did to UNICEF. Look at how they maligned traditional notions of masculinity and femininity. And witness the disintegration of the traditional family.

That's what always happens to social movements that are inspired by the Marxist creed.

© Carey Roberts