Individualist feminism, or ifeminism, advocates the equal treatment of men and women as individuals under just law. The core principle of individualist feminism is that all human beings have a moral and legal claim to their own persons and property. It is sometimes called libertarian feminism. (back to top)

Just laws are those that protect the person and property of peaceful individuals -- for example, laws against rape. Unjust laws are those that infringe upon the freedom of peaceful individuals -- for example, laws against consensual adult sex acts. (back to top)

Being a feminist is a form of specialization. In fighting for individual rights, some people focus upon injustice to women just as others focus upon injustice to gays or children. (back to top)

Absolutely. Equality means neither privilege nor oppression. Besides which, it hardly benefits women to have a paternalistic state treat them as children or "lesser" human beings who need state assistance to become equal. (back to top)

Governments have been the greatest violators of women's rights for centuries. In the 18th and 19th centuries in America, government denied to women the most basic rights of controlling their own bodies (e.g., birth control) and their own property (e.g., wives did not have an uncontested claim to their own wages). By the late 20th century, government cemented gender hostility into society by assuming a paternalistic role that advantaged women at the expense of men (e.g., affirmative action). Whether through privilege or oppression, governments seem unwilling to respect the full and equal individual rights of women. (back to top)

Many conservatives are uncomfortable with the way ifeminism embraces radical civil liberties. For example, ifeminism calls for the decriminalization of prostitution and pornography. To an ifeminist, there is no schism between economic and civil liberties. They are both expressions of an individual's right to use her own body and property in any peaceful manner she chooses. (back to top)

This is a controversy within ifeminism. The majority of opinion is pro-choice on the grounds of a woman's self-ownership. A vocal minority within ifeminism, however, oppose abortion. They believe that the developing fetus can rightfully claim the same human rights as a newborn baby. (back to top)

ifeminism is enjoying a new revival, but its roots go back to the anti-slavery movement of the 19th century. In working for the equal rights of slaves, female abolitionists asked themselves "do we not have a claim to such rights ourselves?" When these women began to lecture and write on their own behalf, individualist feminism (as a movement in America) was born. Click here for more on the roots of ifeminism. (back to top)

First, let's distinguish between rape and consensual sex. When a person has sex with another person consensually and later regrets it, that does not constitute rape in an reasonable sense, and nobody should be punished for another person changing her or his mind about a choice she or he made.

That said, ifeminists repudiate the use of force by people of either gender to coerce sexual acts by people of either gender. Abhorrent as it is, however, it has become evident that the solution to such problems is not more government intervention. Governments have demonstrated their utter incompetence at dealing with rape cases. For example, Los Angeles County law enforcement officials lost or destroyed evidence in 1000+ rape and sex murder cases. ABC News reports that hundreds of thousands of rape kits- with the potential to put away criminals or exonerate wrongly accused persons- have sat for years on government shelves unanalyzed. (back to top)

First, we must recognize that the alarmism of mainstream feminism often blows problems way out of proportion and reports them out of context. It is true that some men abuse. However, the vast majority of men do not abuse, and most women are not at risk of abuse by the men in their family. Furthermore, studies also show that this is not a problem of male violence as portrayed by mainstream feminism. Rather, women perpetrate violence against their children and spouses at rates that are at least comparable to those of men. This is not to say that abuse is not a significant problem. It just isn't the problem that mainstream feminism portrays it to be.

It is also important to recognize that governments in their quest for power have an incentive to create- not solve- problems and to disempower- not empower- those who would solve them. For example, governments discourage access to firearms which have been shown to be an effective means of deterring and defending against violence. They offer instead the false protection of protective orders (a piece of paper) and police officers (who can't be everywhere at once). This leaves those who are targeted by abusers with less ability to protect themselves than they would have were individual rights respected instead. (back to top)

Individuals are more likely than anyone else to do what is best for themselves and their families because individuals- not governments or other busybody special interest groups- have the most invested in a successful outcome. Midwifery is a tradition with a proven track record of quality care. Ifeminism supports the right of individuals to practice and to utilize the services of midwifery and opposes efforts by the American Medical Association or any other individual or organization to ban this competing service. Competition of a variety of birthing services in the free market offer individuals and their families the best chance to get superior care in form they are comfortable with and at an affordable price. (back to top)

Ifeminism supports the right of individuals to defend against violence. Firearms are a legitimate tool of self-defense. Firearms have been widely referred to as "the great equalizer" because they give individuals who would otherwise make attractive targets the ability to defend themselves against more powerful attackers. Many women (as well as men) have successfully used firearms to ward off attacks against themselves and others, sometimes without ever discharging the weapon. (back to top)

Much of the "research" cited in support of the claims of mainstream feminists is politically rather than factually based. The only way to really judge a scholarly work is to look at it critically. (back to top)

Individualist feminism and libertarianism are similar in that both philosophies uphold individual freedom and personal responsibility as core values. It is natural that libertarians interested in issues that affect women are drawn to ifeminism. (back to top)

Violence, except as used in a defensive capacity, is abhorrent, especially within the bounds of family or other intimate relationships. Ifeminists oppose the use of non-defensive violence by any person regardless of gender. We recognize that the conventional wisdom- that men are the perpetrators while women are the victims- is based on politics rather than on fact. Because governments are controlled by power-seeking special interest groups and because they impose blanket solutions on very diverse individualized problems lumped into a single category, ifeminism recognizes that governments offer little in the way of solutions to domestic violence. We support the private development of solutions that take into account and respect the rights of those individuals involved in or accused of being involved in domestic violence situations. (back to top)

No. The original goal of the feminist movement was to achieve equal rights for women and men. By ignoring or supporting injustices to men, mainstream feminists have abandoned that goal. Ifeminism embraces men as partners in the struggle to eliminate injustice against women, and we support them and join them in the struggle to eliminate injustice against men as well. (back to top)

Inasmuch as these movements promote equal rights for men and women, we stand together with them. However, we stand opposed to extremism in these movements (just as we oppose extremism in feminism) which detracts from that goal. (back to top)

People generally do not thrive when they have little or no control over their lives. This is as true of men as it is of women. Were men to be systematically controlled in such a manner, we would see a dramatic decline in the technical, artistic, social and other accomplishments and advances that men have contributed to human civilization since the birth of humanity. Moreover, women would lose any claim to moral decency as well as the respect of men. While it might satisfy a few power-hungry monsters, stifling the creativity and intellect of half the population would not be beneficial for the vast majority of women. (back to top)

Women's studies programs are a good example of why universities should not be publicly funded. Many people find that their tax dollars are funding poor scholarship and dissemination of offensive and inaccurate information in the name of women's studies. It is likely that such disinformation would have a hard time taking hold in a marketplace of ideas. Yet they are easily propped up when we are forced to support them against our will through taxes. The ifeminist position is that women's studies programs should compete in the free market. Let those who choose to fund them voluntarily do so, but it is inappropriate to force those who would otherwise not choose to fund them to "contribute" through taxation. (back to top)

Lack of identical representation of men and women in all fields may be caused by a number of factors, of which intentional exclusion is only one possibility. Unequal representation might instead indicate that fewer women than men are interested in a given field or that fewer women than men are economically competitive or qualified in a given field. By the same token, there are a number of fields in which men are in the minority. There aren't a lot of male quilters or midwives, for example. Again unequal representation in these fields does not necessarily indicate that someone is trying to prevent men's participation. Given the diversity of professions, hobbies, etc. to choose from, there simply isn't a blanket answer for why women and men do not always participate in equal numbers in all fields. (back to top)

There are two ways women and men are not treated equally under the laws of today's governments. The first is fairly straightforward- some laws explicitly spell out that women and men will be treated differently. For example, the Women, Infants, and Children program- in spite of the claim of non-discrimination posted on its website- explicitly excludes adult males from eligibility (though their tax dollars are used to support the program). Many communities allow men to remove their shirts in public while it is an imprisonable offense for women to do so.

The second way is less straightforward- some laws which purport to treat men and women equally are, in fact, enforced disproportionately to the disadvantage of one gender or the other. For example, the increased "security" in airports following the 9/11 attacks in the United States has resulted in a barrage of complaints from women who have been fondled by the "security" guards who are reportedly targeting women for such abuse. In the area of child custody and support, women are much more likely to get custody of the children based on inaccurate assumptions about the nature of women/mothers and men/fathers. Men who are behind on child support payments are much more likely to be jailed than are women who are behind on their payments.

These are just a couple of brief examples of the gender inequities that are imposed upon us by governments. There are plenty of other examples, and there is still much work to be done to correct them. (back to top)

While ifeminism often stands in opposition to mainstream feminism, it is not a goal of ifeminism to oppose feminism. Where mainstream feminism stands in support of the original goals of the feminist movement, the two philosophies are in agreement. (back to top)