We Need to Address Mental Health Crisis Among Young Feminist Women

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Contact: Mike Buchanan

Telephone: +44 7967 026163

We Need to Address Mental Health Crisis Among Young Feminist Women

February 7, 2024 – Valerie Solanas was the controversial feminist who authored the S.C.U.M. Manifesto and indulged in prostitution. She also attempted to murder several men, leading to a three-year prison sentence. Along the way, she was diagnosed with chronic paranoid schizophrenia (1).

Inexplicably, feminists later lionized Solanas as a feminist “visionary” (2), “heroine” (3), and even “icon.” (4)

Mental health conditions are widespread among adherents to feminist ideology. A Pew survey found that among young white liberal women ages 18-29, a stunning 56% had been told by a healthcare provider that they had a mental health condition (5). This percentage was much higher than any other demographic group. Among conservative men in the same age group, for example, only 16% had been given such depressing news.

So why are young feminists experiencing mental health problems far more often than the rest of the population? The answer lies with three feminist core beliefs – what therapists refer to as “cognitive distortions” — that revolve around the Marxist-inspired theory of “patriarchy” (6):

An all-powerful patriarchy controls the affairs of the world.
The patriarchy seeks to deprive women of their fundamental rights.
As members of the patriarchy, all men are the actual or potential oppressors of women.

Accordingly, feminists believe that women are incapable of committing domestic violence since “patriarchy requires violence, or the subliminal threat of violence in order to maintain itself,” according to Gloria Steinem (7).

But the patriarchy died a quiet death many years ago. On a broad range of indicators – longevity, occupational risks, homelessness, suicide, and many others (8) – men around the world are lagging behind women. Others would say the oppression of women as a class by men as a class has never happened, anywhere. But these facts often lose out in the face of overwrought appeals to victimhood and fevered calls to “topple the patriarchy.”

Freya India is a British commentator who has written extensively about the challenges facing females. In a recent article, India deplores the spurt of young women who are drawn to what she calls “wokeness.” She writes,

“I find few things more disempowering than the modern feminist insistence that I am a badass and a girlboss while also treating me like a fragile child, reminding me to ruminate about micro-aggressions and stupid jokes and how much men hate me.” (9)

India also reveals the harmful influence of social media on girls. As the most powerful feminist organization in the world, UN Women sponsors 170 separate Twitter accounts with millions of followers (10). A review of UN Women Twitter posts reveals that day in and day out, they promote the “women are oppressed by the patriarchy” theme, even though the factual basis for such claims is often questionable.

Others have probed the causes and consequences of the mental health crisis among young women. Canadian commentator Janice Fiamengo has described feminism as a “victim mentality disorder.” (11) Another commentary asks simply, “Why Are Feminists Such Unhappy People?” (12)

Lawmakers and others need to take action and stop ignoring the mental health crisis among young feminist women.

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 125 member organizations from 34 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. DAVIA seeks to ensure that domestic violence and abuse polices are science-based, family-affirming, and sex-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/davia/

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