Hear Her Roar

Cathy Young from the August/September 1999 issue

Resentment Against Achievement, chastises "neo-Randians" who repudiate Rand's opinions on sex roles for buying into "simplistic and unsound victim-feminist positions, which depict male dominance in entirely negative terms." But, while Sheaffer affirms that "Rand's views on the positive aspects of male dominance deserve...as much respect as her writings on other subjects," he seems to agree with Rand's feminist critics that her thinking on sex and gender is riddled with inconsistencies. And he is dismissive of one of her core beliefs: that sexual attraction is based on rational values and that a heroic man must pursue a strong, heroic woman whose "surrender" will give him a sense of accomplishment. Sheaffer argues that this theory was literally a rationalization of Rand's more fundamental Dionysian view of sexuality, expressed in the violence of her sex scenes.

In his most interesting argument, Sheaffer challenges Rand's assumption that her paradigm of femininity as the worship of a superior man would not preclude women from achieving any position except the presidency (which, Sheaffer astutely notes, Rand saw less in real-life terms than as a symbolic pinnacle of authority and accomplishment). In fact, it cripples the romantic options of any high-achieving woman, greatly narrowing the range of men she can "look up to," so that "female heterosexuality and female achievement seem to be inherently antithetical." Sheaffer thinks Rand was on to an important truth, even if she didn't quite know it herself.

Next to anodyne pieties about "gender as human-made," Sheaffer's candid belief that male dominance is the natural way of things is perversely refreshing. Yet taking his argument to its logical end, one must conclude that Randian philosophy puts women in an impossible bind: They are forced to choose between achievement, which Rand regards as the supreme human value, and heterosexual femininity, which she regards as the supreme female value. In that case, one might even argue that women would be better served by cultural conservatism, which does not place so absolute a premium on achievement and treats the traditional feminine sphere with more respect.

The alternative is to allow that, whilethe tension between female heterosexuality and achievement can be real, it may not be nearly as universal or inevitable as Sheaffer believes. Quite a few high-achieving women, notably Margaret Thatcher (one has to wonder what Rand thought of her), seem to have been happy with unheroic men. Rand herself had a gentle, passive, "nurturing" husband. Sheaffer is undoubtedly right that her husband's lack of heroism was a disappointment to her; yet when she pursued an affair, it was with a younger man to whom she was a mentor and idol. Perhaps it was the image, not the reality, of male dominance that Rand craved.

Was this view of relationships in some ways a reflection of prevailing cultural norms? Sheaffer pooh-poohs this idea, pointing out that Rand was willing to defy many other widely held values. But the most daring rebel can have a conformist side. According to Brown's compelling analysis, which relies on biographical information as well as Rand's work, Rand did imbibe the notion that intellect, ambition, and strength were male attributes; thus, her possession of these traits made her insecure about her femininity. Exaggerated "man worship" was a way to reaffirm it. Ironically, this allowed her to create a vision of heroic womanhood.

Too often, Rand is either revered as a prophet or dismissed as a crank. Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand approaches her as a writer and thinker of profound insights and equally profound contradictions, who offered an important and inspiring but flawed and limited vision of life. These contradictions and limitations are perhaps nowhere more evident than in her views on women--for whom, perhaps, her message of healthy selfishness was especially valuable.

To Rand herself, such treatment might have seemed more insulting than outright dismissal, and many orthodox Randians will no doubt take the same attitude. But only such a serious approach can ultimately end Rand's intellectual marginalization. This volume takes a major step in that direction. In the process, it addresses issues of sexual equality and difference that are more relevant than ever today.