Malcolm X once stated that the black community’s greatest enemy was the white liberal.  If he were living now, perhaps that perspective would change and narrow to white liberal women.  Many of us recognize that white, educated, liberal women are becoming the enemy of any remnants of traditional culture. 

Over the last few years, these white, guilt-ridden women have become a force for promoting identity politics and the demonization of men.  One does not see this more than in the professions of human behavior and mental health.  As an East coast therapist, I have heard stories about microaggressions concerning race, sexual orientation, and sexual identity.  For those of us who do not subscribe to this increasingly fanatical, Orwellian creed, we either self-isolate or are ostracized.  The silence of dissenting voices is the mandate of these Left-wing females.

A couple of years ago, I ended a friendship that was increasingly eroding over politics.  This person, a therapist also and a once-upon-a-time uninformed moderate, would deny political discourse was the reason.  Still, on a fateful day, she asked how I could have voted for Donald Trump being the moral person she thought I was.  As the conversation unfolded, she emphasized to me that she was now quite knowledgeable about the political landscape.  When I asked her thoughts about Kanye West’s support for Donald Trump, it was evident she had not heard about this topic.  She looked equally dumbfounded when I questioned if she knew who Valerie Jarrett was.  After a frosty exchange about not including me in a gathering that would be dominated by her Democrat friends, we parted ways.  Later, I confronted her about taking the moral high ground as she voted for a woman whose moral scruples had a great deal to be desired.  Also, I wondered about her holier-than-thou attitude as she joined the Left’s chorus in denying Barack Obama’s follies.

Since that time, most who are within the behavioral health disciplines have increasingly embraced the extreme language of the left.  Although other enlightened diversity experts promote the narrative, female therapists are at the forefront signing their names with preferred nouns and pronouns such as She/Her/Her.  Now, there are at least thirty-seven pronouns.  Another friend of mine, a therapist who worked on a college campus, became so confused with some of the pronouns that she asked a student if she could just refer to them by name.  Begrudgingly, the student said yes.

Therapists now often identify clients as cis-gendered, those who maintain their ”assigned” birth sex.  Straight, or gay, no longer suffices.  Most therapists are women and are driving the narrative.  A few months ago, one therapist courageously questioned the idea of people having casual sex in such realms as polyamory.  She indicated how some viewed these behaviors as hurting them.  Unfortunately, this therapist received pushback on this old-fashioned and judgmental position.  At some point, she caved, thanking another therapist for enlightening her.

Mental health professionals are less shy about expressing their social justice ideals, but these activities extend to other disciplines of education.  Many well-degreed females from all professions are joining together as fair and just sisters to upend society.  These purportedly illuminated women emphasize the significance of differences, but only involving those in agreement  with their standards.  How about those between men and women?  We can’t say, never mind do.  These so-called oppressed women often blame white men for the patriarchy inflicted on them.  As in other cultures, women often set the tone for societal norms.  We could say that about societies where the women carry out Female Genital Mutilation to advanced countries where women insist they are no different than men.

I have seen several older and young women who have acknowledged the emptiness of the hook-up culture, which arose out of being liberated to “be like men.” Although there was no name for it, one of my long-term, over sixty-year clients acknowledged the pressure of the 1970s and 80s concerning these issues.  Even back then, such behavior for women went from being pinned with a scarlet letter to being rewarded with a badge of honor.  Did most of these women feel good about themselves?  The answer to that is a resounding “no.”  Will they admit that publicly?  No, again.

More recently, I heard two different examples of this kind of behavior.  One of my lovely thirty-year-olds recently became engaged.  This client felt a need to discuss some residual shame about chaotic behavior from long ago.  These random activities occurred during a drunken haze.  I reminded this woman that the culture had set the tone, but more importantly, the behavior had ceased.  I also emphasized that like it or not, men and women are different, to which she agreed.

A few months before COVID, a delightful client, a college student, was going out on the town with her friends.  She told me they would probably drink and hook up.  When I asked what the hook-up meant, kissing or more, including sex, she said rather sheepishly that it depends, because it is part of the culture.  This Gen-Zer is a composite of many young women who succumb to this peer pressure.  Most of them anesthetize themselves to endure the lack of connection with a stranger disguised as an intimate coming together.

White, educated, liberal females are not retreating from their collective mantra any time soon.  Under the guise of "white male oppression," they continue to set the stage for increased moral relativism and cultural rot for all.  These mama bears are allowing their children to be indoctrinated by this feel-good because it is a feel-right portrayal of history, literature, art, science, and politics.  Until these formally educated women become truly enlightened about their vast freedom and power, society will continue to slide into a slow but steady decay.  Ladies, wake up.  It is time to get genuinely ”woke.”

Elizabeth Naham is the pen name of a mental health professional