Feminists are up in arms that CPAC attracts…WOMEN!

Via Feministing and Broadsheet, I watched this video that the Daily Caller put together. Not only did it feature several of my former co-workers, but it was also silly. The premise was dumb, yet the women interviewed tried to explain why they were there.

No where in the video did the women say that their reason for attending was “boys, boys, boys” as Tracy Clarke-Flory alludes. Actually, if you listen to the video, the majority of the women are attending for work. The college students articulate that they are attending to learn about the issues and support candidates.

Even in the twisted world of feminism, I thought learning about issues and supporting candidates was supported. Oh, silly me. I forgot that different rules apply to conservatives. We’re supposed to shut up and pretend we don’t exist.

Oh crazy feminists, get over yourselves and do the math. CPAC proactively reaches out to college students with steep discounts on ticket prices. Traditionally 50% or more of the attendees  are college students. Since more women are now matriculating than men…connect the dots. Also, attendance was up 20% overall this year with at least 10,000 people registering.

I realize that this this is difficult to swallow since it proves:

1. CPAC, the representation of all that is evil to the universe of liberals, is growing. 10,000 is a lot for any conference on any subject or political ideology.

2. Women are actually conservative, including college-aged women.

3. Conservative women aren’t ashamed of being attractive.

4. With more and more conservative organizations targeting women and inviting them to attend events like CPAC, it’s hardly surprising that they would show up.

It really is amusing to read through liberal blogs and newspapers and see what the left pulls out of CPAC. It’s like they attended a completely different conference than the one that I saw.

I think I make it pretty clear that I have zero respect for both Jessica Valenti and Meghan McCain here, but Jessica really out did herself with saying “just when you think CPAC can’t get any creepier.” Really? Just Really? This video freaked you out that much? With all the actual evil in the world done to women, those women at CPAC are the worst?

Does it cost more to be a woman?

We’ve seen the debate that insurance is more expensive than women. That’s frankly a silly debate since women’s bodies have a few more complicated parts that birth babies, get hurt, diseased or are more likely to get cancer. Women are also far more likely to go to the doctor, so it makes sense that our health insurance cost more. But does it generally cost more to be a woman?

MSN Money (via NeW ) published an article last month that found consumer products aimed at women cost more based on a study conducted by Consumer Reports. Gasp! Pink packaging and nice fragrances cost more:

Consumer Reports compared six products that come in his-and-hers versions (or a neutral edition and a feminine one): shaving cream, antiperspirant, pain reliever, eye cream, body wash and razors. The magazine found that products aimed specifically at women can cost more than 50% extra.

Is this shocking? If you’re a savvy shopper, shouldn’t you have noticed this before? Just how different is shaving cream, body wash, deodorant and soap? I’ve always wondered if there’s an actual difference between a Venus razor and a Mach 3? Both are made by Gillette. Walgreens lists the Mach 3 at $8.79 while the Venus is $11.49.

Consumer products are driven completely by the market. Since women are willing to pay more for thes these products, should Madison Avenue be slammed? Isn’t it up to the customer to make the smarter purchase? As Consumer Reports reveals:

Each “express gel” of Excedrin Extra Strength and Excedrin Complete Menstrual contains 250 milligrams of aspirin, 250 mg of acetaminophen, and 65 mg of caffeine. But Excedrin Menstrual cost 50 cents more at Walgreens. Julie Masow, spokeswoman for Novartis Consumer Health, Excedrin’s parent, says it was Walgreens’ decision, noting the suggested retail price for the products was the same.

Basically if you put the words “menstrual” or “PMS” on the label, you pay more. As a someone who has suffered from migraines (which went away after I stopped drinking Diet Coke), I’ve tried nearly every type of over-the-counter pain medications. I never noticed a big difference between “migraine” and “extra strength,” so I started buying the cheaper one.

Most of this is consumer ignorance. If women are smart, they should compare the products. Look at the ingredients and see if there is an actual difference. Do some research. Prices reflect what the market will pay. If women demanded that equality reaches as far as bodywash and razors, they should stop buying the pretty pink kind.

Is this sexist as MP Dunleavy alludes?

…consider that, on average, a woman still earns about 78 cents to a man’s dollar (or $78,000 compared with $100,000 paid to a male colleague with the same level of experience). And women with children are less likely to be hired and are offered lower salaries than are fathers or women without children, according to Stanford University researcher Shelley Correll.

So why are women being charged more? Ellen Galinsky, the president of Families and Work Institute, a nonprofit policy-research group in New York, speculates that companies play to female tastes because they are aware that women make most household consumer choices, “so it’s a way for them to increase their revenue.”

I fail to see this as a mark of discrimination against women. If a woman is paying more, it’s her own fault for not shopping around and researching what she should be paying. Manufacturers set prices higher on products aimed towards women because they know that we’re willing to pay more. This isn’t a grand conspiracy. This is years and years of market research that documented what women will pay for a product.

I’m hesitant to suggest this, but is there an emergence of economically right-of-center feminism on the rise? My current obsession has been to track this on the far right, but is it developing in other circles?

Since my college years almost 20 years ago, I’ve considered myself a feminist. It is usually assumed that feminists are left-leaning liberals, but I am a feminist who is politically to the right of center. So, at many feminist gatherings – especially as my politics have changed – I’ve often felt like an ideological version of the ’sister outsider’ outlined in the work of the late lesbian feminist Audre Lorde: theoretically part of the group, but a case apart. However, there are many other black feminists like me.

While abortion and LGBT issues are the focus of feminism in America, the economy and government intervention are concerns in other countries. Today, I stumbled upon this article about conservative black feminists from around the world. Now, right, left, conservative and liberal mean many different things outside of America, but the feminists mentioned in this article emphasize personal responsibility, limited government and capitalism.

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