Neil Lyndon – No More Sex War

Just in the process of re-reading the classic anti-feminist treatise ‘No More Sex War’ by Neil Lyndon, first published in 1992.

It really is even better than I had remembered it to be. Lyndon applies what has to be described as a Marxian analysis of second wave feminism, seeing the rapid change in the position of women in the 60’s and 70’s to be nothing more than a response to the demands of capitalism and the requirements of a modern labour market. The introduction of technologies such as the contraceptive pill and in utero abortion were introduced in order to facilitate the fulfilling of these economic needs, themselves of course having unforeseen social and cultural effects.

According to Lyndon, feminism quickly claimed the credit for the social changes that were happening when in fact the second wave was itself no less a product of the deterministic tide – a new dominant capitalist ideology fulfilling the intellectual and emotional needs of men and women who had suddenly been forced to live in ways that no other generation prior ever had, and of course, ironically justifying itself through appeals to (pseudo) Marxist theory.

What is so important about Lyndon’s work is that it completely pulls the rug from under the sanctified feet of the second wave feminists. Their feminism was not a rational, purposeful struggle that successfully achieved equality for women but rather simply a blind, emotional and extremely vicious response to events that were under the control of nobody (and certainly not the likes of Germaine Greer). The similarities with Lionel Tiger’s theory of second wave feminism as a largely subconscious response to the contraceptive pill are absolutely striking.

I reccommend every anti-feminist read this classic work – if you can get hold of it that is. Disgracefully, it has been out of print for many years now. I’ll do my bit to keep its brilliantly revolutionary message alive by putting up a permanent page here devoted to reviews and interpretations together with a selection of key passages.

Many people know that the publication of No More Sex War had a terrible cost upon both Neil Lyndon’s career as a successful journalist and also his personal life. This, despite the fact that the book reads as a model of how to conduct an attack on feminism whilst pointedly making clear you are not attacking women. In fact, one of the text’s many powerful and oft repeated messages is that feminists have shamefully betrayed not only the hopes and ideals of an entire generation, but above all the mass of ordinary working women, still largely bound by economic servitude.