The Independent Women's Forum (IWF) is an organization that, according to its website, "was established to combat the women-as-victim, pro-Big Government ideology of radical feminism." Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 257 pixelsFull resolution (4000 × 1285 pixel, file size: 822 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image of the Independent Womens Forum logo has been released with permission from IWF president Michelle Bernard under the GFDL. Permission is granted to... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 257 pixelsFull resolution (4000 × 1285 pixel, file size: 822 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image of the Independent Womens Forum logo has been released with permission from IWF president Michelle Bernard under the GFDL. Permission is granted to... Big government is a pejorative term generally used by political conservatives or laissez-faire advocates to describe a government which is excessively large or inefficient, or which is inappropriately involved in certain areas of public policy. ... Feminism is a collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies largely motivated by or concerned with the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. ...

The IWF is funded by Richard Mellon Scaife, Koch Industries, and other conservative groups. Richard Mellon Scaife (born July 3, 1932, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), a U.S. billionaire and owner–publisher of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. ... Koch Industries, Inc. ...

In October 2003, the IWF announced an affiliation with Citizens for a Sound Economy, now the Americans For Prosperity Foundation, with whom it shares premises and staff. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) is a conservative political group operating in the United States, whose self-described mission is to fight for less government, lower taxes, and less regulation. ...

History

Founded by Rosalie (Ricky) Gaull Silberman [1], [2] and Barbara Olson in 1992, the IWF grew out of the ad hoc group, Women for Judge Thomas. Its main goal is opposing what it sees as radical feminism. Rosalie (Ricky) Gaull Silberman (1937 – February 18, 2007) was a conservative American activist who co-founded the Independent Womens Forum together with Barbara Olsen. ... Barbara Olson Barbara Olson (December 27, 1955 – September 11, 2001) was a conservative American television commentator who worked for FOX News, CNN and several other outlets. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means for this [purpose]. It generally signifies a solution that has been tailored to a specific purpose, such as a tailor-made suit, a handcrafted network protocol, and specific-purpose equation and things like that. ... Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist and has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991. ...

IWF is a secular counterpart to Religious Right women's groups such as Eagle Forum and Concerned Women for America, but these groups often work together. People for the American Way describe IWF as a group that "opposes affirmative action, gender equity programs like Title IX, and the Violence Against Women Act." [3] This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... The term Religious Right is a broad label applied by both scholars and critics to a number of political and religious movements and groups that primarily are active around conservative and right wing social issues. ... Eagle Forum is an American conservative organisation founded in 1972 and led by Phyllis Schlafly. ... Concerned Women for America is a conservative Christian group that is active in politics in the United States. ... People for the American Way (PFAW) is a prominent liberal advocacy organization in the United States, founded by television producer Norman Lear in 1980. ... Affirmative action refers to concrete steps that are taken both to increase the representation of underrepresented and arguably underprivileged minorities and to redress the effects of past discrimination. ... Feminism is a diverse collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women, especially in terms of their social, political, and economic situation. ... Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, now known as the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in honor of its principal author, but more commonly known simply as Title IX, is a 76-word United States law enacted on June 23, 1972 that states: No person... The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law. ...

IWF members include academic women who attempt to rebut arguments in favor of measures promoting what they may perceive as privileges for women in educational affairs. One of these papers,[4] by Judith Kleinfeld, a professor of psychology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, heavily criticised a MIT study [5] on discrimination against women in MIT's science department, calling their findings "junk science." Judith Kleinfeld is professor of Psychology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and head of the Northern Studies department. ... The University of Alaska Fairbanks is the second largest campus of the University of Alaska System, and is abbreviated as UAF. UAF is a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant institution, as well as participating in the sun-grant program through Oregon State University. ... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private, coeducational research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... Junk or bunk science is a term used to describe purportedly scientific data, research, analyses or claims which are perceived to be driven by political, financial or other questionable motives. ...

IWF's constantly-updated web site shows an ever-expanding sphere of concerns, which are viewed from a conservative perspective.

Criticism

In October 2004, the Feminist Majority Foundation objected to the U.S. Department of State's decision to award part of a grant to IWF for "leadership training, democracy education and coalition building assistance" to women in Iraq.[6]. IWF will be working in Iraq with the American Islamic Conference and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a neo-conservative think tank. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) is an feminist organization. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... // Mission and History Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey The Foundation for Defense of Democracies is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and education on the war on terrorism. ... Neoconservatism describes several distinct political ideologies which are considered new forms of conservatism. ... This article is about the institution. ...

National Advisory Board

• Lynne Cheney
• Abigail Thernstrom
• Wendy Lee Gramm, Director

Lynne Ann Vincent Cheney (born August 14, 1941) is a novelist, conservative scholar, and former talk-show host who is the wife of Vice President Richard B. Cheney. ... ABIGAIL THERNSTROM Vice-Chair Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute New York City, New York POLITICAL AFFILIATION: REPUBLICAN Abigail Thernstrom is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute in New York, a member of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, and a commissioner on the United States Commission on Civil Rights. ... Wendy Lee Gramm (born 1945) is chairman of the Regulatory Studies Program at George Mason Universitys Mercatus Center, a free-market think tank based in Washington D.C. She is also the wife of former United States Senator Phil Gramm. ...

External links

• Official site
• List of grants from MediaTransparency.org
• Feminist Majority Foundation Online, "State Department Funds Anti-Women's Rights Group To Train Iraqi Women", Feminist Daily News Wire," October 5, 2004.
• Independent Women's Forum, "IWF Awarded Grant to Support Iraqi Women," September 28, 2004.
• This is What an Anti-Feminist Looks Like, letter to Venus Zine about IWF
• Independent Women's Forum at SourceWatch

This article uses content from the SourceWatch article on Independent Women's Forum under the terms of the GFDL.