Why #MeToo is just the start of a major social change
On Valentine’s Day 1967, American soul diva, Aretha Franklin, laid down a song that was to propel her to stardom – Respect. It was hailed as a civil rights anthem and turned her into a feminist icon. Fast forward 51 years, and we are now seeing the makings of a feminist tsunami that should make Aretha proud.
Look at how Catherine Livingstone is changing the culture at the CBA. Look at how Tracey Fellows has repaired the relationships between REA Group and real estate agents. Women are making their mark and irrespective of whether they are socialist or capitalist, Liberal or Labor, conservative or liberal, their collective voice is getting louder.
We obviously see a lot of research notes and articles across our desks and one arrived this week really took my interest. Its significance cannot be overstated. The note deserves excerpting so that more women, especially those oppressed by regimes from the dark ages, realise that their voice is being heard.
“Steve Bannon reminded me of…a character from ‘The Big Short.’ He saw the world differently from virtually everyone in his profession, and it led a lot of people to think that he was insane. But he was right, and they were wrong, and the rest of the world has yet to come to terms with why.”
So writes Michael Lewis in an article published by Bloomberg on February 9, 2018. The article is subtle, but extremely interesting and important. Bannon believes that Trump’s anger is what got him elected, but apparently he doesn’t understand that, which is dangerous for his presidency. The most important theme is Bannon’s belief that “anger and fear is what gets people to the polls” and that the intensity of women’s anger over sexual harassment and lack of gender diversity is now crystallizing into a tsunami that will change American culture, politics, business, government and the workplace.
The Washington Post reported on a group called Emerge America, a national nonprofit that trains Democratic women to run for elected office: “Few people outside the world of politics have heard of Emerge—which started in California in 2002—but the organization has, in recent years, become a quiet force. Of the 15 GOP seats that Democrats flipped in Virginia’s House of Delegates this past November, 11 were won by women—and nine of them were Emerge alumni. Across the country, Emerge alums have won 839 state and local races, and 21 are running for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018.”
As Lewis writes:
“Going to Davos was bad enough. This talk coming from the White House about softening its stance on the so-called Dreamers is another. Bannon thinks the reasons for both are the same: Trump’s White House has been spooked by recent polls—taken just after Stormy Daniels’s story came out— showing a collapse in his approval by women, especially white women. “It’s a total free fall,” he says.
The Time’s Up movement against sexual abuse and harassment now has Bannon’s full attention, too. “The top seven stories today are all guys getting blown up,” he says. “And these are not small guys.” He’s a connoisseur of anger, and in women’s anger about sexual harassment he senses a prelude to their anger about a lot more. “I think it’s going to unfold like the Tea Party, only bigger,” he says. “It’s not Me Too. It’s not just sexual harassment. It’s an anti-patriarchy movement. Time’s up on 10,000 years of recorded history. This is coming. This is real.”
Joshua Green interviewed Bannon for a new edition of his Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency and they watched the Golden Globes ceremony together on television. David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, wrote about this, as follows:
As the two men watched the awards show—the women dressed in black to commemorate the #MeToo movement and the downfall of the likes of Harvey Weinstein; Oprah Winfrey winning such sustained applause for her speech (“Their time is up!”) that she was soon fielding questions about a Presidential run—Bannon could not fail to see it in terms of Trump’s political future.
“It’s a Cromwell moment!” Bannon said. “It’s even more powerful than populism. It’s deeper. It’s primal. It’s elemental. The long black dresses and all that—this is the Puritans. It’s anti-patriarchy.”
“You watch. The time has come,” he said. “Women are gonna take charge of society…This is a definitional moment in the culture. It’ll never be the same going forward.”
Roger Montgomery is the Founder and Chairman of Montgomery Investment Management. Roger has over three decades of experience in funds management and related activities, including equities analysis, equity and derivatives strategy, trading and stockbroking. Prior to establishing Montgomery, Roger held positions at Ord Minnett Jardine Fleming, BT (Australia) Limited and Merrill Lynch.
This post was contributed by a representative of Montgomery Investment Management Pty Limited (AFSL No. 354564). The principal purpose of this post is to provide factual information and not provide financial product advice. Additionally, the information provided is not intended to provide any recommendation or opinion about any financial product. Any commentary and statements of opinion however may contain general advice only that is prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial circumstances or needs. Because of this, before acting on any of the information provided, you should always consider its appropriateness in light of your personal objectives, financial circumstances and needs and should consider seeking independent advice from a financial advisor if necessary before making any decisions. This post specifically excludes personal advice.
Chris
:
Roger, as much as I like your commentary and websites, I believe that discussing political issues is not only “off topic” (unless it relates to investment), it is also dangerously polarising and needlessly so. We’re all here to make money, not discuss politics or social issues.
This isn’t RendezView, please don’t make it into one.
Roger Montgomery
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This issue is relevant to investors.
andrew ronan
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It’s a just more distructive identity politics pushed by the extreme left out of the USA, but the problem is the younger women are taking these nutters seriously and forming attitudes that will harm their own relationships. These extremists should realise that most men love women and would lay down their lives to protect them from harm, any of you lefty nutters heard of ww1 and ww2 ? Well if so check up the stats on male deaths devoted to your freedom and happiness and I’m %100 sure the average male of today would do the same to keep you ladies safe an happy. Case closed. Now please move along and be nice now.
It’s also worthwhile noting on this subject the women and men will never be equal simply because men are better at many things than women, yes it’s true, and I can feel my ears burning off right now, but before you lefties lose it; It’s also obviously true that women are better at many other things than men as well. We simply compliment each other. We are not enemies. We are a team. Just like Aretha sang “you need me and I need you etc etc”
Also ladies why are you all so quiet on the worst treatment of women, I mean the glass cieling drama is nothing compared to the violence against young Moslem women and girls including FGM, or men with multiple wives and marrying 13 year old girls etc etc, yes very quiet indeed, but please don’t shoot the messenger here, I didn’t invent this stuff, but the facts are clear.
xiao fang xu
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you reap what you sow
Feminist Bunk
Of all the corrosive, nonsensical and damaging movements that have come and gone in American society, none has caused more damage than feminism.
It goes without saying that no country can be strong without strong families, and feminism directly attacked the very concept of families. It urged young women to slut around.
If men are promiscuous, why shouldn’t you be? That alone shows the degree of stupidity that is characteristic of the feminist movement. That’s why the feminists bear responsibility for the plight of so many single mothers.
Rules that conform to nature produce positive results. Rules that conflict with nature produce bad results.
Through the centuries, Western Civilization developed some rules that took into account the natural differences between men and women.
The male is by nature promiscuous. Sex to the male is like eating a good meal — an enjoyable experience but one you can get up and walk away from without any thought.
The woman, designed by nature to be a mother and susceptible to becoming pregnant, invests much more emotion in it.
So society, to protect women, develops rules to discourage promiscuity by both sexes. Even in my day, the rule was iron-tight. If you got a girl pregnant, you married her. No debate. No excuses. If you abandoned her and the baby, you were a worthless, lowdown dog.
There were also social penalties against the girl who slept around. These rules weren’t 100 percent effective, but they definitely put a restraint on the libido.
There were far fewer teen pregnancies and single moms than there are now.
But the feminists dismantled these rules.
Women are just like men, they said. You pick your own guys to sleep with and walk away when you’re finished. Sex is for recreation.
Well, anybody but a stupid feminist would have realized that the group that welcomed that message the most was the males. When females started saying, “Let’s have sex with no obligations,” the male said, “You betcha.”
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2005/07/charley-reese/feminist-bunk/
simon
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would hate to be a young bloke looking for a decent partner these days -its nigh impossible !!!