War on women.

• Author: Woodward, Lesley
• Position: Letters to the Editor - Letter to the editor

The rise in hostility toward female autonomy is the result of many factors in America, but the displacement of white men from a position of power is at the root of many of the problems we now face ("The GOP War on Women," by Ruth Conniff, May issue).

"Uppity" women and people of color threaten white male hegemony now as never before. The destruction of the U.S. economy has shifted much of the burden of wage earning to women and we are now seeing more women in jobs that are paying more than men earn. More women are choosing to remain single in favor of pursuing careers, which is correctly perceived as threatening patriarchy. (I am using patriarchy in its broadest sense as a worldview of domination, and moral authority over all of creation rather than being specific to males. Many women adopt a patriarchal sensibility, and many men reject it.)

Mitt Romney is a member of a...