Has Feminism Hurt Women?

Open to Debate

Education, News, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 January 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From the 19th Amendment to the #MeToo movement, the feminist movement has profoundly reshaped society. But have its good intentions backfired? Those arguing it hasn’t note that it’s allowed women the choice of living on their own terms. But critics argue that its culture glorifying full-time careerism and independence can make women feel inadequate if they prefer traditional roles like having a family. Now we debate: Has Feminism Hurt Women? Arguing Yes: Inez Stepman, Senior Policy and Legal Analyst at the Independent Women's Forum and Independent Women’s Law Center Arguing No: Wendy Walsh, Relationship Journalist; Host of ”The Dr. Wendy Walsh Show” on iHeart Radio’s KFI AM 640 Xenia Wickett, Geopolitical strategist, moderator at Wickett Advisory, and Trustee of Transparency International UK, is the guest moderator. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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0:32.9	This is open to debate. I'm John Donovan. Hi, everybody. Today I'm handing off the mic to my colleague
0:41.4	Zena Wicott, who is a global strategist and an executive coach with Wiccan industries. Zena also,
0:46.9	unlike me, happens to be a woman, which gives an edge in talking about the world-changing movement
0:51.5	involved in the question that will be debated. You'll soon see what I'm talking about. Zena, it's all yours. Take it away. This is open to debate, and I'm your
0:59.7	guest moderator, Zania Wicitt. My mother grew up in South Africa and came to the States and to college,
1:05.8	University of Connecticut, aged 16. She entered a world where her mother insisted that she came out, which meant something
1:13.7	different back then. It was an introduction to society. Imagine white ball dresses and white gloves.
1:19.9	At 18, she was married and had a child. No one had explained how pregnancy worked until after she gave
1:25.6	birth. That was the 1960s, not long ago, but a very
1:30.1	different landscape for women. Since then, the pace of change has been quick. Women now make up
1:35.6	the majority of college graduates in the US. In some countries, rights that once seemed impossible,
1:41.2	like the right to drive, have become reality. And yet, gaps remain. Women still earn
1:46.3	less than men in comparable roles, and they remain underrepresented in senior positions across
1:52.2	sectors. It is in this context that we debate the question, has feminism hurt women? So, let me introduce
2:00.1	our debaters. Arguing yes to the question, feminism has
2:04.0	hurt women. We have Inez Stepman. Innes is a senior policy and legal analyst for independent
2:09.5	women's forum and independent women's law center, which are organizations that focus on the
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