Mona Charen on Sex, Love, and Where Feminism Went Wrong

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2019

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The question of the relationship between men and women has long vexed Jewish thought and Jewish life. From the complex biblical relationships between figures like Adam and Eve and Jacob and Rachel down to our present-day struggles over the place of Jewish women in family and synagogue life, issues of sex, gender, and power have commanded the attention of traditional Jews as few other things have. And the form these debates have taken within the contemporary Jewish world have been profoundly shaped by a social revolution from outside of Judaism: the modern feminist movement and the sexual revolution that so powerfully challenged cultural norms surrounding sexual and family life.

Now, in the 21st-century, traditionalist and progressive communities alike face a new set of challenges—from the abuses of power highlighted by the #MeToo movement to the decline of marriage and family among many in the West. These challenges force us to ask some fundamental questions: What did the feminist movement get right? And what did it get wrong? Was the sexual revolution good for women? And could seemingly archaic sexual mores actually be the key to healing some of what ails contemporary society?

These are the kinds of questions nationally-syndicated columnist Mona Charen asks in her latest book, Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense. In this episode of the Tikvah Podcast, Charen joins Jonathan Silver for a discussion of love, sex, and what feminism got wrong.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The question of man and woman has vexed Jewish thought and Jewish life since the very beginning,
0:13.0	when the Hebrew Bible itself invites us to wrestle with the complex relationship between Adam and Eve.
0:20.0	And in our day, as the spirit of equality that defines our age advances into realm after realm of human life,
0:26.6	it has come into tension with the complementary roles that women and men have received as an inheritance from the Jewish tradition.
0:34.6	That conflict within Judaism was heightened by a social revolution
0:38.0	that occurred outside of Judaism. In the 20th century, feminism and the sexual revolution
0:43.5	profoundly challenged norms surrounding family, sex, and society. Now in the 21st century,
0:50.2	traditionalist and progressive communities alike face a new set of challenges, from the abuses of power highlighted by the Me Too movement to the decline of marriage and family among many in the West.
1:01.0	These challenges force us to ask some fundamental questions.
1:05.0	What did the feminist movement get right and what did it get wrong?
1:08.0	Was the sexual revolution good for women? And could seemingly
1:11.9	archaic sexual mores actually be the key to healing some of what ails contemporary society?
1:18.0	Welcome to the Tikva podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan Silver. These are the kinds of questions
1:22.5	that the nationally syndicated columnist Mona Charon asks in her latest book, Sex Matters, how feminism lost touch
1:29.8	with science, love, and common sense. She is our guest this week to discuss the probing questions
1:35.9	that she asks about modern feminism. If you enjoy this conversation, you can subscribe to the
1:41.1	Tikva podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and Spotify.
1:45.2	I hope you leave us a five-star review to help us grow this community of ideas.
1:50.2	I welcome your feedback on this or any of our other podcast episodes at podcast at
1:55.1	tikfa fund.org.
1:56.5	And of course, if you want to learn more about our work at Tikva, you can visit our website,
2:01.1	tikfafund.org, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
	...

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