E. Belfort Bax Anti-Feminist Reader

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

E. Belfort Bax Anti-Feminist Reader The E. Belfort Bax Antifeminism Reader The E. Belfort Bax Antifeminism Reader 2 Introduction Contents Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 6 Who was Ernest Belfort Bax? ........................................................................................................... 7 Biography by Ted Crawford.............................................................................................................. 8 Ernest Belfort Bax, Thinker and Pioneer........................................................................................... 9 Some Bourgeois Idols; or Ideals, Reals, and Shams (1886)................................................................ 14 Some Heterodox Notes on the Women Question (1887) .................................................................... 21 No Misogyny But True Equality (1887).............................................................................................. 29 A Word for the Men (1890) ................................................................................................................ 36 Courage – The Logic, Phenomenology, and History of a Concept (1890).......................................... 37 Marriage (1891)................................................................................................................................... 47 Equality, Not Privilege (1893) ............................................................................................................ 53 The Woman Question (1895) .............................................................................................................. 54 Bebel’s Woman and Socialism (1895)................................................................................................ 57 “Free Love” and Socialism – A Criticism (1895) ............................................................................... 59 The Everlasting Female Again! (1895) ............................................................................................... 61 Some Current Fallacies on the Woman Question (1897) .................................................................... 66 Legal Encouragements to Blackmail (1897) ....................................................................................... 72 Sexual Ethical Twaddle (1899) ........................................................................................................... 78 A Bundle of Fallacies (1901) .............................................................................................................. 82 Blacks, Whites and “Fads” (1901) ...................................................................................................... 88 Outraged Feminism (1901) ................................................................................................................. 90 Ferri and the Woman Question (1902)................................................................................................ 95 Shaw and Fabianism (1902)................................................................................................................ 96 Feminism in extremis (1902) .............................................................................................................. 99 Female Suffrage and Its Implications – An Address to the Central Branch of the SDF (1904)........ 107 Socialism and the Family (1906)....................................................................................................... 116 The “Monstrous Regiment” of Womanhood (1907) ......................................................................... 119 Socialism and the Family (1907)....................................................................................................... 134 Anti-Feminism. (1908)...................................................................................................................... 136 Mr. Belfort Bax Replies to his Feminist Critics. (1908).................................................................... 138 The Legal Subjection of Men (1908) ................................................................................................ 142 Preface To New Edition. ............................................................................................................... 142 Preface........................................................................................................................................... 143 I The Legend. ................................................................................................................................ 144 II The Facts.................................................................................................................................... 145 3 Matrimonial Privileges of Women. ............................................................................................ 147 Non-matrimonial Privileges of Women ........................................................................................ 166 The Criminal Law. ........................................................................................................................ 166 The Civil Law................................................................................................................................ 179 The Actual Exercise Of Women's Sex Privileges. ........................................................................ 183 3 The E. Belfort Bax Antifeminism Reader Muscular Inferiority and Sex-privilege. ........................................................................................ 186 A Sex Noblesse. ............................................................................................................................ 187 Socialists And Feminists ............................................................................................................... 187 “The Oppressed Woman.”............................................................................................................. 188 A Study in Socialist Heresy-Hunting – Why I Am Opposed to Female Suffrage (1909) ................. 190 Why I Am an Anti-Suffragist (1909) ................................................................................................ 194 Burrows as Feminist (1909) .............................................................................................................. 198 Contemptible Methods (1909) .......................................................................................................... 199 Women’s Privileges and “Rights” (1909) ......................................................................................... 200 A Different Interpretation (1909)...................................................................................................... 204 The Legal Subjection of Men (1909) ................................................................................................ 206 Woods on Women (1910) ................................................................................................................. 207 Uni-Sexual Criminal Law. (1910)..................................................................................................... 209 Feminism and Female Suffrage (1910).............................................................................................211 Re Woods (1910) ............................................................................................................................. 215 A Symposium on Women’s Suffrage. (1911) ................................................................................... 216 A Creature of Privilege (1911).......................................................................................................... 219 The Problem of Modern Feminism (1912)........................................................................................ 232 The Problem of Sex and Sentiment (1912) ....................................................................................... 239 The Marriage Relation Under Socialism (1912) ............................................................................... 245 Marriage Under Socialism (1912)..................................................................................................... 247 The Suffrage Outrages (1912)........................................................................................................... 248 Cant, Cowardice and Cruelty. (1912)................................................................................................ 249 The Fraud of Feminism (1913) ......................................................................................................... 251 Note by Transcriber, Ted Crawford .............................................................................................. 251 Preface to the 1921 Reissue .......................................................................................................... 254 Preface........................................................................................................................................... 255 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 257 Chapter I – Historical.................................................................................................................... 258 Chapter II. The Main Dogma of Modern Feminism ....................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Socialism, Feminism, and Suffragism, the Terrible Triplets, Connected by the Same Umbilical Cord, and Fed from the Same Nursing Bottle, by B.V
    Socialism, feminism, and suffragism, the terrible triplets, connected by the same umbilical cord, and fed from the same nursing bottle, by B.V. Hubbard SOCIALISM FEMINISM AND SUFFRAGISM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS RARE BOOK COLLECTION CHAPMAN CATT SUBJECT Section V Woman - Sociology No 27 SOCIALISM, FEMINISM, AND SUFFRAGISM, THE TERRIBLE TRIPLETS CONNECTED BY THE SAME UMBILICAL CORD. AND FED FROM THE SAME NURSING BOTTLE By B. V. HUBBARD Chicago: American Publishing Company 1820 City Hall Square Bldg. Copyright, 1915 by B. V. Hubbard DEDICATION To the innumerable multitude of motherly women, who love and faithfully serve their fellowmen with a high regard for duty a veneration for God, respect for authority, and love for husband, home and heaven, whether such a woman is the mother of children, or whether she has been denied motherhood and bestows her motherliness upon all who are weak, distressed and afflicted. This book is also dedicated to the man who is, in nature, a knight and protector of the weak, the defender of the good, who shrinks no responsibility, who has a paternal love of home, a patriotic affection for country, veneration for moral and religious precepts, and who has the courage to combat evil and fight for all that which is good. CONTENTS SOCIALISM Chapter Page Introduction 9 I. Socialism Defined—Immediate Demands Not Socialistic—Ultimate Demands Real Socialism 13 Socialism, feminism, and suffragism, the terrible triplets, connected by the same umbilical cord, and fed from the same nursing bottle, by B.V. Hubbard http://www.loc.gov/resource/rbnawsa.n6027 II. The Materialistic Conception of History—Consequences of the Materialistic Conception of History, Denies the Natural Rights of Man 21 III.
    [Show full text]
  • People, Place and Party:: the Social Democratic Federation 1884-1911
    Durham E-Theses People, place and party:: the social democratic federation 1884-1911 Young, David Murray How to cite: Young, David Murray (2003) People, place and party:: the social democratic federation 1884-1911, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3081/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk People, Place and Party: the Social Democratic Federation 1884-1911 David Murray Young A copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Durham Department of Politics August 2003 CONTENTS page Abstract ii Acknowledgements v Abbreviations vi Introduction 1 Chapter 1- SDF Membership in London 16 Chapter 2 -London
    [Show full text]
  • Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics CAMBRIDGE TEXTS in the HISTORY of PHILOSOPHY
    CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY IMMANUEL KANT Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Series editors KARL AMERIKS Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame DESMOND M. CLARKE Professor of Philosophy at University College Cork The main objective of Cambridge Textsin the History of Philosophy is to expand the range, variety and quality of texts in the history of philosophy which are available in English. The series includes texts by familiar names (such as Descartes and Kant) and also by less well-known authors. Wherever possible, texts are published in complete and unabridged form, and translations are specially commissioned for the series. Each volume contains a critical introduction together with a guide to further reading and any necessary glossaries and textual apparatus. The volumes are designed for student use at undergraduate and postgraduate level and will be of interest not only to students of philosophy, but also to a wider audience of readers in the history of science, the history of theology and the history of ideas. For a list of titles published in the series, please see end of book. IMMANUEL KANT Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Will Be Able to Come Forward as Science with Selections from the Critique of Pure Reason TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY GARY HATFIELD University of Pennsylvania Revised Edition cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521828246 © Cambridge University Press 1997, 2004 This publication is in copyright.
    [Show full text]
  • Eduard Bernstein Speaks to the Fabians: a Turning-Point in Social Democratic Thought?
    DOCUMENTS H. Kendall Rogers EDUARD BERNSTEIN SPEAKS TO THE FABIANS: A TURNING-POINT IN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC THOUGHT? Of Eduard Bernstein's many writings surely few were as significant in the early development of revisionism as his speech to the London Fabian Society on January 29, 1897. In an October 1898 letter to August Bebel, Bernstein described the gradual metamorphosis that had led to his heterodox views. Until October 1896 he had sought to "stretch" Marxist theory to conform to social-democratic practice; finally he realized this was impossible. Bezeichnender od. auch begreiflicher Weise, wurde mir das Unmogliche dieses Vorhabens erst vollig klar, als ich vor anderthalb Jahren, im Verein der Fabier einen Vortrag darilber hielt, "Was Marx wirklich lehrte". Ich habe das Manuskript des Vortrages noch, es ist ein abschreckendes Beispiel wohlmeinenden "Rettungsversuchs". Ich wollte Marx retten, wollte zeigen, daB alles so gekommen was er gesagt, und, daB alles, was nicht so gekom- men, auch von ihm gesagt wurde. Aber als das Kunststiick fertig war, als ich den Vortrag vorlas, da zuckte es mir durch den Kopf: Du thust Marx Unrecht, das ist nicht Marx, was Du vorfuhrst. Und ein paar harmlose Fragen, die mir ein scharfsinniger Fabianer Hubert Bland nach dem Vor- trag stellte und die ich noch in der alten Manier beantwortete, gaben mir den Rest. Im Sullen sagte ich mir: so geht das nicht weiter.1 For some historians Bernstein's Fabian lecture was the point where he turned decisively against Marxism. For those who date Bernstein's repudiation of Marx from Engels's death, the address at least marked the point where Bernstein realized how thoroughly he had already broken with Marxist orthodoxy.2 And for all students of pre-war social-democratic 1 Bernstein to Bebel, October 20, 1898, in: Victor Adler, Briefwechsel mit August Bebel und Karl Kautsky, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • H. M. Hyndman, E. B. Bax, and the Reception of Karl Marx's Thought In
    1 H. M. Hyndman, E. B. Bax, and the Reception of Karl Marx’s Thought in Late-Nineteenth Century Britain, c. 1881-1893 Seamus Flaherty Queen Mary University of London Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2 Statement of Originality I, Seamus Flaherty, confirm that the research included within this thesis is my own work or that where it has been carried out in collaboration with, or supported by others, that this is duly acknowledged below and my contribution indicated. Previously published material is also acknowledged below. I attest that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge break any UK law, infringe any third party’s copyright or other Intellectual Property Right, or contain any confidential material. I accept that the College has the right to use plagiarism detection software to check the electronic version of the thesis. I confirm that this thesis has not been previously submitted for the award of a degree by this or any other university. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. Signature: Seamus Flaherty Date: 13. 09. 2017 3 Abstract This thesis examines how the idea of Socialism was remade in Britain during the 1880s. It does so with reference to the two figures most receptive to the work of Karl Marx, H. M. Hyndman and E. B. Bax.
    [Show full text]
  • The Jacobinism and Patriotism of Ernest Belfort Bax
    History of European Ideas ISSN: 0191-6599 (Print) 1873-541X (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rhei20 The Jacobinism and patriotism of Ernest Belfort Bax Ruth Kinna To cite this article: Ruth Kinna (2004) The Jacobinism and patriotism of Ernest Belfort Bax, History of European Ideas, 30:4, 463-484, DOI: 10.1016/j.histeuroideas.2003.11.020 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.histeuroideas.2003.11.020 Published online: 10 Jan 2012. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 76 View related articles Citing articles: 1 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rhei20 ARTICLE IN PRESS History of European Ideas 30 (2004) 463–484 The Jacobinism and patriotism of Ernest Belfort Bax$ Ruth Kinna* Department of Politics, International Relations and European Studies, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK Available online 20 July 2004 Abstract This article examines Ernest Belfort Bax’s interpretation of the French Revolution and traces the impact that his idea of the Revolution had on his philosophy and his political thought. The first section considers Bax’s understanding of the Revolution in the context of his theory of history and analyses his conception of the Revolution’s legacy, drawing particularly on his portraits of Robespierre, Marat and Babeuf. The second section shows how the lessons Bax drew from this history shaped his socialist republicanism and discusses his support for Jacobin methods of revolutionary change. The third section of the article looks at the ways in which Bax’s reading of revolutionary history affected his internationalism and shows how his ‘anti-patriotism’ led him to support the Anglo-French campaign in 1914.
    [Show full text]
  • The Socialist League Leaflets and Manifestoes: an Annotated Checklist
    EUGENE D. LEMIRE THE SOCIALIST LEAGUE LEAFLETS AND MANIFESTOES: AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST From the formation of the Socialist League on December 30, 1884, until an anarchist take-over forced William Morris from the Common- weal editorship on May 25, 1890, the Council of the League gave a special importance to its pamphlet and leaflet publication. In Common- weal their significance was made quite explicit: "The Manifesto of the League, the pamphlets in the 'Socialist Platform' series, the leaflets issued by the Council of the League, and articles definitely so stated in the 'Weal, are the only author- itative expositions of the League's creed and policy."1 After May 25, 1890, notions of "creed and policy" lost force, and - as some late publications show - it rapidly became impossible to identify any corporate responsibility. But from 1884 to 1890, the period of the clear Marxist orientation, there is ample documentation, though it is not always clear how and where to consult it. The Manifesto of the League, the larger pamphlets like Morris's The Tables Turned or Thomas Binning's Organized Labour, and the Commonweal articles are all more or less available. There are few problems about their date of publication or authorship.2 But the leaflets present several difficulties. Other than Morris's Chants for So- 1 Commonweal, October 27, 1888. 1 There is an exception in the case of the League's Manifesto, which is often at- tributed solely to Morris but was in fact a joint effort of Morris and E. Belfort Bax, see The Letters of William Morris to His Family and Friends, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • William Morris: Art, Work, and Leisure Author(S): Ruth Kinna Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol
    William Morris: Art, Work, and Leisure Author(s): Ruth Kinna Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 61, No. 3, (Jul., 2000), pp. 493-512 Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3653925 Accessed: 09/07/2008 07:43 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=upenn. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org William Morris: Art, Work, and Leisure Ruth Kinna WilliamMorris's most importantcontribution to Britishsocialist thoughtis often said to be his elaborationof a plan for the socialist future.E.
    [Show full text]
  • The Failure of Socialist Unity in Britain C. 1893–1914
    University of Huddersfield Repository Laybourn, Keith The failure of Socialist unity in Britain, c.1893-1914 Original Citation Laybourn, Keith (1994) The failure of Socialist unity in Britain, c.1893-1914. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 6th Series (4). pp. 153-175. ISSN 1474-0648 This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/3287/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided: • The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy; • A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and • The content is not changed in any way. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ THE FAILURE OF SOCIALIST UNITY IN BRITAIN c. 1893-1914 By Keith Laybourn READ 25 SEPTEMBER 1993 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD SOCIALIST unity became an issue for the British left widiin a year of the formation of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) in 1884. The secession of William Morris and his supporters from the SDF and the formation of the Socialist League in reaction to the autocratic leadership of Henry Mayers Hyndman brought about a fundamental division within British socialism.
    [Show full text]
  • Henry Hyndman: “Making Socialists”
    Henry Hyndman: “making socialists” • In the early 1880s, at the age of forty, Hyndman was converted from his Tory background to socialism through reading Marx's Capital. • Founded Britain's first Marxist group, the Social Democratic Federation (in 1883-4). • The SDF was founded before the rise of New Unionism, in an era where trade-union activity was low and most politically-active trade unionists were Liberals. • Its starting impulse was from international questions - Ireland (Land League agitation), and Ottoman repression in the Balkans - and disappointment with the Liberals. • Marx mistrusted Hyndman, and Engels disliked him. Hyndman ended by siding with Britain in World War One. • However, Hyndman was militant against British imperialism in Ireland and India, and ran a group within which criticism was frequent and vocal. • The SDF and its successors remained the major socialist educational force in Britain for decades, until its successor the British Socialist Party merged into the then- revolutionary Communist Party component in 1921. • Left: Democratic Federation membership card, designed by William Morris. • 1881: Democratic Federation founded. • 1883-4: Becomes Social Democratic Federation, launches Justice . • 1887: SDF gains wide fame by organising big demonstrations of the unemployed. • 1889: Will Thorne, SDF member, and Eleanor Marx, member of an SDF SDF - BSP, 1881-1921 splinter, have leading role in gasworkers' • 1899: TUC passes motion for independent labour political dispute. Tom Mann and representation. John Burns, recent ex- • 1900: SDF takes part in founding meeting of Labour Representation SDF, have leading roles Committee. SDF disaffiliates in 1902 but SDF members continue in dock strike. active in local LRCs and in Labour conferences through Tus.
    [Show full text]
  • Sabotage Sabotage
    SA BOTAGE SABOTAGE BY EMI LE POl:GET ",," &LAT EJ> n t' .. T" ~ U U'CH. "'I TH All '''UOOUO'IO N ... ARTURO M. GI OVA N' NITn CHICAGO CHARLES H. KERR & COMPANY U S W £ST KI NZIE STUn Ccp )'rilrM I US ny CHll.LU U. Kn. & C" "PA"Y .JOHN F . H IGGI NS P"''' T. '' ..... 0 11'''0'''' .7....... __ 'TOl en CH. C"'CO . '''- ''-''' 0'' PUBLISHERS' NOTE. The national convention of the Socialist Patty of America. in 1912 included in the party con­ stitution the now famous "Section Six," provid­ ing that "any member who opposes political ac­ tion or advocates crime , sabotage or oth er meth­ ods oEviolence as a weapon of the working class to aid in its emancipation, shan be expelled from membe rship in the party." By a referendum vote the party decided to strike otit the clause in which the word "sabotage" appears. Unfor­ tunately, the clause as presented by the conven­ tion was adopted at th e same time. The mean­ ing of this is simply that a majority of the mem­ bership was confused over the whole question and did not know how to vote. The enforcement of the clause is in the hands of the separate locals. and the discussion of th e subject is marked by heat rather than light. In vi ew c.f this, the managers of th is co-operative publishing house believe it will be a service to 6 PUBLISHERS' KOTE the party to circulate a book which explains the actual meaning of sabotage as understood by those who advocate it.
    [Show full text]
  • MS 90 Title: Madin Collection Scope: the Papers of Joseph
    University of Sheffield Library. Special Collections and Archives Ref: MS 90 Title: Madin Collection Scope: The papers of Joseph Madin, Sheffield trades unionist and Labour Party activist, and co-founder of the Sheffield Labour College, circa 1913 to 1959. The collection also includes his personal library of books and pamphlets. Dates: c. 1913-1959 Level: Fonds Extent: 14 boxes Name of creator: Joseph Madin Administrative / biographical history: The collection comprises the papers, including many press cuttings, of Joseph Madin, Sheffield trades-unionist and Labour Party activist, together with his personal library of books and pamphlets. Other ephemera such as election pamphlets are included. Joseph Madin (1892-1967) was a local trades unionist and co-founder of the Sheffield Labour College. He was born in July 1892 at Crookes, Sheffield, and after an education in Sheffield Council schools became a turner by trade. Brought up an Anglican, he moved away from the Church in his youth, becoming a socialist at the age of 14, soon following his two elder brothers into the Socialist Labour Party. In 1914 he joined the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (later the Amalgamated Engineering Union) and served as a shop steward at Hadfields, Tinsley, during the First World War. Subsequently he held numerous other posts in the AEU, serving as member of the District Committee, as Branch President and as District President, and serving on the Sheffield Trades Unionist and Labour Council over a period of 47 years, ultimately holding office as President from 1946 to 1960. As President of the Sheffield Trades and Labour Council he sat on the City Council Labour Group and Executive Committee for seven years, and was also a delegate from his AEU branch to the Park Constituency Labour Party, 1926- 1930 and 1947-1967.
    [Show full text]