Feisty & Feminine: A Rallying Cry for Conservative Women

Penny Young Nance’s new book, Feisty & Feminine: A Rallying Cry for Conservative Women outlines conservative views, calls for women to hold strong to their beliefs and reveals how truly deep the divide between liberal and conservative has become in recent years.

Young Nance is the president of Concerned Women for America, a group that opposes abortion, same-sex marriage, stem cell research, pornography, feminism, and sex education. In her book, she calls upon women to be “Esther Women,” named after a woman in the Bible who stood up for her beliefs, even though she faced death.

I chose to read this book because the author’s views differ from my own. I was surprised at how many things Young Nance and I partially agreed upon, such as legislation aimed at curbing campus sexual assault and the importance of the nuclear family in society.

However, she seemed to use her religion as an excuse not to budge on some of her views when put into public practice, despite Christianity not being the only religious group in the U.S. She also claimed conservative power is waning, when in fact Republicans hold majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives. Young Nance’s perspectives are valid, but while she concludes that conservatives have to hold fast to their principles, it’s only through compromise and consideration of everyone’s beliefs that fair public policy can be made.