FGC #76: From "Cosmo Girl Fantasy" to Christ – Sue Ellen Browder

"I am Woman, hear me ROAR!" It was 1971.  In my memory, I see a little girl with brown hair riding (unbuckled!) in the back seat of a 1971 green Oldsmobile, singing to the top of her lungs Helen Reddy's hit song "I Am Woman". I am woman, hear me roar,  In numbers too big to ignore And I know too much to go back an' pretend 'Cause I've heard it all before,  And I've been down there on the floor No one's ever gonna keep me down again Oh yes, I am wise, But it's wisdom born of pain Yes, I've paid the price, But look how much I gained If I have to, I can do anything I am strong...I am invincible...I am woman.... (Credit: MetroLyrics) I loved that song.  I sang it all the time.  I still remember the entire song even now.  But it's a song that I put away years ago when I realized what it was really about. How could I know during my childhood, adolescence and young adulthood that we were being fed an agenda through propaganda whose purpose was to "subvert"?  That innocent consumption of the radical feminist movement via tools of the culture -music, books, magazines, and television - was part of a bigger, insidious ideology that would damage hearts and minds through manipulation and lies about our feminine identity? I'm so grateful for the courage of my guest today, former Cosmo writer Sue Ellen Browder, in coming forth as an act of penance to chronicle her participation in, and the historical development of, the radical feminist machine in her new book Subverted:  How I Helped the Sexual Revolution Hijack the Women's Movement.   It's literally gripping, ya'll. In Subverted, brilliant author Sue Ellen describes just how the originally well-intentioned women's movement became entangled with radical, agenda-driven sexual revolutionists, through the joined forces of Betty Friedan and Larry Lader. Sue Ellen shares intimately her story of how a 1960's small town girl with big dreams became a willing participant in a billion-dollar, ideology-drive agenda - a "Made Up Revolution" - that has manipulated generations of women by purposefully distorting authentic feminine identity and promoting detrimental actions.   She repentantly confesses her role as a direct participant in the creation and perpetuation specifically of the fantasy "Cosmo Girl"  - a sexually "free", childless young woman who pursued sex with whomever she wanted (including married men), while remaining childless through abortion-on-demand and contraception. Living like the "Cosmo Girl" was supposed to empower women, and bring happiness, peace, and "freedom". Except it didn't.   Even Sue Ellen herself suffered deeply in her own personal life as a result of the lies and distortions of the "Cosmo Girl" fantasy. We've been SUBVERTED.  Listen in as Sue Ellen tells us how. Continue reading Episode 3: From "Cosmo Girl Fantasy" to Christ – Sue Ellen Browder at StaciGulino.com