Don't like conspiracy theories? You're in luck. There is no "theory" involved here. It's all on the record.

During the 50's-70's, the FBI engaged in a war against the "New Left." Their primary strategy was "divide and conquer".

Thus, when radical feminism came along it was like a gift from the gods. A declassified document from the head of the San Francisco FBI field office in 1969 notes:

The Women's Liberation Movement may be considered as subversive to the New Left and revolutionary movements as they have proven to be a divisive and factionalizing factor.... It could be well recommended as a counterintelligence movement to weaken the revolutionary movement."

"Within several years, the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations were pumping millions into women's studies programs on campus."

Laurie Penny highlighted this passage un-ironically when she penned her piece, "So, it turns out feminism is a CIA plot to undermine the left."

She neglected to mention Gloria Steinem, who broke away from the Betty Friedan school of feminism (which basically argued that women should be able to pursue careers as well) and instead hated on men ("patriarchy theory" didn't actually get a name until the 1980's, but had its roots in Steinem's man-hating doctrine).

Remarkably, Steinem was directly funded by the CIA. She herself admitted this after an expose in the Village Voice in the 70's. She didn't really offer an explanation, beyond the bizarre claim that that the CIA was actually "progressive."

Where did this feminist madness come from? Beyond the CIA, we can look to the great foundations. When you hear the name "Henry Ford" you probably imagine a young whipper snapper working on a car. No. We're talking about billions of dollars, and intriguingly, a bunch of those dollars were spent on the feminist movement just after the FBI noticed its potential to divide the working class.

The following quotes come from a new pro-feminist book on the history of foundation funding. Unfortunately it doesn't get into the Rockefeller foundation, which was apparently the initial sponsor of second wave feminism.

In 1972, Ford project officers helped establish Women in Foundations, while another organization, Women and Foundations/Corporate Philanthropy was subsequently established in 1977. (p.150)

Highlighting the seriousness with which Ford treated the still-developing feminist movement, in 1980 the foundation doubled their funding for women’s programming, “allocating $19.3 million, 10 percent of total spending, to women-specific projects for the years 1980 and 1981.” (p.173)

Ford likewise provided “seed money for Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society which quickly became the premier interdisciplinary journal in women’s studies.” (p.161, p.166)...NOW’s Legal Defense and Education Fund only received its first grant from the foundation in summer 1974; while with continued support the Fund obtained a total of $675,000 by 1978. (p.161) In summary “Ford’s greatest contributions were focused in two areas: litigation on behalf of women’s rights and the development of university-based women’s studies.”

You'll recall that Sally Miller Gearhart, the founder of the first "gender studies" program, literally advocated genocide against men and boys. The great capitalists were only too happy to finance her -- for some bizarre reason.

In 1984, the ruling class controls both the "left" and the "right". So it is today. Emmanuel Goldstein is fake, just like the lottery.

Feminism divides men and women. I couldn't conceive of a better strategy to maintain dominance if I were a member of the ruling class.