Summary

When you hear the word feminism, what comes to mind?

This episode launches a multi-part series digging into the real history of feminism: what the early feminists actually believed, how modern feminism drifted, and the bioethical fallout in the realms of sex, contraception, abortion, and women’s place in society.

In this powerful conversation, legal scholar, mother of seven, and one of the most compelling voices speaking into women’s rights Erika Bachiochi uncovers the forgotten roots of the early feminist movement. These women understood something our culture has lost: that equality is something deeper than sameness, and freedom isn’t about escaping responsibility. They believed in a moral vision rooted in human dignity, virtue, and the profound responsibilities that emerge from sex, motherhood, and family life.

Erika explains why the early feminists rejected abortion, saw motherhood as both a privilege and a gift that deserved protection, responsibility as empowerment, and insisted that both men and women be held to high moral standards, not that women imitate male detachment. She exposes the sexual asymmetry our culture denies: the vulnerability women uniquely shoulder, and men’s unique ability to walk away. And she shows how modern feminism flipped the script, freeing men from responsibility while placing the cost, physical, emotional, and ethical, squarely on women.

We dive into:

  • The original feminist vision that valued both dignity and responsibility
  • Why early feminists saw no moral difference between abortion and infanticide
  • How the sexual revolution created false promises and real harm
  • The wounds of hookup culture and the abandonment of virtue
  • Why “modern equality” often leaves women more vulnerable, not less
  • What true flourishing looks like today for men and women

A false feminism has shaped everything around us.  This episode challenges the assumptions behind modern feminism and asks deeper questions about autonomy, embodiment, sexuality, and what women truly deserve.

If you want to understand the moral and historical reality of feminism, this conversation is essential.

Episode Outline

00:00:00 Unpacking Feminism’s Real History with Erika Bachiochi

00:03:15 Erika’s Personal Path to Understanding Feminism

00:13:30 Erika’s Spiritual Conversion and Pro-Life Encounter

00:20:52 Erika’s Book: Reclaiming Feminism’s Lost Vision

00:26:06 Mary Wollstonecraft’s Profound Influence and Natural Law

00:33:21 How Motherhood Deeply Transformed Erika’s Feminist Views

00:42:05 Modern Feminism’s Missing Vision: Critique of Radical Autonomy

00:56:57 The Bioethical Dangers of Radical Autonomy in Healthcare

01:01:56 Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vision of Dignity and Natural Law

01:07:18 Balancing Rights, Responsibilities, and Freedom for Excellence

01:25:45 Embracing Vulnerability and Motherhood’s Liberating Power

01:32:51 Supporting Motherhood and Avoiding Harmful Cultural Stereotypes

01:45:09 Advocating Legal and Workplace Reforms for Families

01:52:21 Strategies for Rebuilding a Supportive Marriage Culture

01:56:39 The Re-Emergence of Virtue-Centered Feminism Today

02:00:26 The Compatibility of Feminism with Christian Dignity

02:03:14 Erika’s Wisdom for the Next Generation of Women

About Our Guest

Erika Bachiochi

Legal Scholar; EPPC Fellow; Professor, Arizona State University; Editor-in-Chief, Fairer Disputations

Available On

Our podcast is available on the following platforms:

Apple

Spotify

YouTube

Amazon/Audible

iHeart

RSS

Share This Podcast, Choose Your Platform!

Feminism, early feminists, modern feminism, sexual asymmetry, reproductive asymmetry, women’s vulnerability, male responsibility, motherhood as privilege, equality of care, feminist history, feminist ethics, bioethics, abortion ethics, abortion and infanticide, dignity of the unborn, image of God, responsibilities of fathers, sexual revolution, hookup culture, chastity, virtue ethics, Wollstonecraft, women’s rights, rights and responsibilities, autonomy critique, embodiment, women’s dignity, feminist critique, reproductive ethics, contraception critique, male domination, feminist moral vision, care-centered feminism, human dignity, moral responsibility, family ethics, feminist philosophy, sexual culture, gender equality, moral agency, flourishing, freedom for excellence