Women, on average, stand to gain more and lose less with under conservatism.
It's the opposite for men, who, on average, stand to gain less and lose more under conservatism than women.
Any woman can find a place in a conservative world, but not every man can.
A truly egalitarian, left-wing system would result in a net loss of privilege for women, so they have every reason to avoid actually trying to achieve such a society.
I think that third-wave feminism is a retreat back from the more egalitarian principles of second wave feminism, under which women would lose some of the key privileges they used to get traditionally. but of course branded in a way to save face and make it seem like it was not their fault.
There's plenty to benefit women under conservatism - feminism's third wave's goal has not been to completely eliminate conservatism, but rather to be able to pick and choose from the benefits of both conservatism and progressivism - hence the term "choice feminism" that crops up in the 90s, and the later accusations of third wave feminism being postmodern.
Basically, they want to smash the glass ceiling, but keep the glass floor.
Women, at the end of the day, have a much better chance of marry out of their class position than men. Hence class is not as big a barrier for them. It something that seems at odds with all feminist discourse, yet it's never mentioned.
Author: Arunava Kar
