Modern feminism claims to fight for equality for women.  But what is feminism?  And what do they mean by equality?  Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined by Rachel Bock, a biologist who abandoned feminism when she came to believe it was leading her away from what she truly wanted in life.  Rachel has since been vocal about her experience with feminism and its inherent dangers for women, warning:

 

“When I was a feminist I didn't understand: ‘feminists destroy the family.’  Science progressed.  I worked 70+ hr weeks, checking experiments at 3 am, in lab at Christmas....My friends had children.  Now they have families and I have publications.  Don't make my mistake.  I am not saying that girls shouldn't pursue science if they want.  By all means, go for it.  But we cannot simultaneously push girls into intense, demanding career paths while neglecting to mention that the majority of them will want children, which requires its own planning.”

 

“To be clear, I am grateful for my career and for supportive parents, teachers, colleagues that all wanted me to succeed and be happy.  I always loved science and deeply love that I was able to study it for so long.  I am not angry.  I am not placing blame elsewhere.  I made all my choices w/ the information I had at the time.  This information was heavily biased towards career and caused me to prioritize work over my romantic relationships.  There were many missed opportunities there.  The feminist view that I had was that if I didn't prioritize my science career, I was giving into the system that just saw me as a baby-maker.  I wanted to prove I was more.  There is so much wrong with that perception, which is why I feel that feminism was a cancer on my mind.”

 

Rachel Bock is a biologist with over 15 years in scientific research and writing for both technical and informal audiences.  She has received numerous awards for presentations, published in peer-review publications, and taught children, college-students, and adults about science.  Her areas of research has involved immunity/disease, evolution and genetics, physiology, ecology, wildlife, and statistics.  Rachel holds a Master’s in Biology and left her Ph.D. after 3 years when she realized the path was no longer for her.  She has since focused more time on building a fulfilling family life with absolute work/life balance.

 

You can find Rachel on Twitter at @RachelBock9 or check out her website at rachelbock9.com.