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The first woman in U.S. history to receive an Electoral College vote was 1972 Libertarian Party Vice-Presidential candidate Tonie Nathan. (Source: Associated Press, August 16, 2000). One of the most influential philosophers of the Twentieth Century, Ayn Rand, is revered by many libertarians and considered to be the "founding mother" of the the libertarian movement. Ayn Rand made significant contributions to philosophical thought in ethics, business, and politics. Two of her most famous literary works included Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Although Rand would have denied it, commentators have noted that the views she expressed portray her as an early representative of modern feminism. Every woman should have a career, she maintained, and as for one's choice of career, she said "what is proper for a man is proper for a woman." The first U.S. political party to affirm a woman's right to both her own body and money was the Libertarian Party. The LP consistently been on record as supporting a woman's right to her own body, as all libertarians believe that we own our own bodies and therefore begin with the precept that all humans have a right to decide what to do with our own bodies. Libertarians hold that individual rights should not be denied or abridged on the basis of sex. They call for repeal of all laws discriminating against women, such as protective labor laws and marriage or divorce laws which deny the full rights of men and women. Libertarians also oppose all laws likely to impose restrictions on free choice and private property or to widen tyranny through reverse discrimination. Recognizing that abortion is a very sensitive issue and that people, including libertarians, can hold good-faith views on both sides, Libertarians believe the government should be kept out of the question: ............."We condemn state-funded and state-mandated abortions. It is .............particularly harsh to force someone who believes that abortion .............is murder to pay for another's abortion. It is the right and obligation .............of the pregnant woman, not the state, to decide the desirability or .............appropriateness of prenatal testing, Caesarean births, fetal surgery, .............voluntary surrogacy arrangements, and/or home births." .....................-- Libertarian Party Platform, 2002 Libertarians on both sides of the issue recognize the abortion issue as a self-ownership issue. Many libertarians uphold that the fetus is not a human being with rights until it is born. Other libertarians disagree, maintaining that prenatal children are human beings and such libertarians therefore oppose legalized abortion.  Historical Female Libertarians * Voltairine de Cleyre, 1866-1912 (poet; essayist; anarchist) * Edith Efron, 1922-2001 (author; journalist; editor) * Margaret Fuller, 1810-1850 (author; poet; social critic; gender equity advocate) * Angelina Grimke, 1805-1879 (pioneer) * Sarah Grimke, 1792-1873 (abolitionist; author; motivational speaker) * Angela Tilton Heywood, 1872-1893 (self-ownership, free love, and pro-choice activist) * Lillian Harman (free love & anti-age of consent activist) * Zora Neale Hurston, 1891-1960 (author) * Judy Jarvis, 1946-2000 (nationally syndicated radio host) * Dr. Gertrude B. Kelly, 1862-1934 (author; physician) * Suzanne LaFollette, 1893-1983 (author; social critic; editor, The Freeman) * Rose Wilder Lane, 1887-1968 (anti-tax crusder; author; daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder) * Louise Michel, 1830-1905 (French educator & revolutionary) * Dr. Maria Montessori (Italian educator) * Isabel Paterson, 1886-1961 (journalist; author; objectivist) * Ayn Rand, 1905-1982 (author; philosopher; objectivist) * Cathy Seipp, 1957-2007 (former columnist, Los Angeles City Beat) * Anne Louise Germaine de Stael, 1766-1817 (author; political propagandist) * Lucy Stone, 1818-1893 (author; property rights advocate) * Joan Kennedy Taylor (author) * Mary Wollstonecraft, 1759-1797 (author; social critic) Prominent Female Libertarians * Katherine Albrecht (consumer privacy advocate) * Norma Jean Almodovar (author & activist) * Barbara Amiel (columnist, London Daily Telegraph) * Dr. Annelise Anderson (economist; senior fellow, Hoover Institution) * Barbara Anderson (Citizens for Limited Taxation and Government) * Juliet Annerino (musician) * Hon. Patricia Awada (Minnesota State Auditor) * Mary Jo Baas (former Chair, Wisconsin Women's Council) * Dr. Sara Baase (Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, San Diego State University) * Dr. Neera Badhwar (Associate Professor of Philosophy, Oklahoma University) * Caroline Baum (columnist, Bloomberg News) * Hon. Susan Bell, J.D. (Hagerstown, Indiana Court Judge) * Sandra Bernhard (actress; comedian) * Paula Berry (artist) * Sue Blevins (author; founder, Institute for Health Freedom) * Robyn E. Blumner (Perspectives Columnist, St. Petersburg Times) * Elizabeth Bowles (Professor of English, Virginia Tech. University) * Barbara Branden (author & lecturer) * Dr. Susan Love Brown (Professor of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University) * Hon. Janice Rogers Brown, J.D. (U.S. Court of Appeals Judge, District of Columbia Circuit) * Tammy Bruce (feminist; author; columnist) * Dixie Carter (actress) * Diahann Carroll (actress) * Marie Cocco (columnist, Newsday) * Dr. Emily Chamlee-Wright (Professor of Management & Economics, Beloit College) * Alicia Garcia Clark (former Chairman, Libertarian Party USA) * Dr. Frances B. Cogan (Professor of Arts & Sciences, University of Oregon-Eugene) * Carmen Connors (talk radio host, WSSR - Tampa, FL) * Shelley L. Davis (former IRS agent) * Karen DeCoster (freelance writer) * Jennifer DePalma, J.D. (attorney) * Dr. Candace de Russy (education writer and speaker) * Julie Dodge, J.D. (attorney) * Dr. Rachel Douchant (Professor of Philosophy, St. Louis University) * Nicki Fellenzer (U.S. Army Veteran; gun rights advocate) * Sarah Fitz-Claridge (founder, Taking Children Seriously; motivational speaker) * Sue Fisher (former President, Wisconsin Term Limits) * Dr. Marilyn R. Flowers (Professor of Economics, Ball State University) * Melinda Pillsbury Foster (author; poet) * Dr. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (Professor of Humanities, Emory University) * Ilana Freedman (national security expert; founder, Liberty Land Trust) * Rose D. Friedman (economist; school choice advocate) * Judith Simon Garrett, J.D. (Assistant General Counsel, Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice) * Bobbie Gentry (singer) * Dr. Mimi Reisel Gladstein (author; Professor of English, University of Texas) * MaryAnn Glendon, J.D. (Professor of Law, Harvard University) * Doris Gordon (founder, Libertarians for Life) * Kathryn A. Graham, J.D. (attorney; author; freelance writer) * Brenda Grantland, J.D. (attorney) * Dr. Bettina Bien Greaves (author; Austrian economist) * Sen. Lyda Green (Alaska State Senator) * Dr. Kim Gregson (Assistant Professor of Communications, Ithaca College) * Mary Lou Gutscher (President, Freedom Party of Ontario) * Lynn Harper (talk radio host, KOGO - San Diego, CA) * Sharon Harris (President, Advocates for Self-Government) * Ann Harrison (contributor, CounterPunch; columnist, San Francisco Bay Guardian) * Sabine Herold (french libertarian leader; founder, Liberté, J'Ecris Ton Nom) * Zoh Hieronimus (radio host) * Carla Howell (musician & candidate) * Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp (Texas State Representative) * Sherry Peel Jackson (former IRS agent) * Joanne Jacobs (author; former columnist, San Jose Mercury News) * Rollye James (nationally syndicated radio host) * Catherine Johns (former Chicago radio personality) * Dr. Nancy Lord Johnson, J.D. (attorney; 1992 Libertarian Vice-Presidential candidate) * Jo Jorgensen (1996 Libertarian Vice-Presidential candidate) * Karen Kay (romance novelist) * Vivian Kellems (tax resister; author) * Kennedy (former MTV veejay; "The Buzz" radio host, KQBZ - Seattle, WA) * Dr. Irina Khakamada (former member, Russian Parliament; former Professor of Economics) * Dr. Lynne Kiesling (Professor of Economics, Northwestern University) * Lynn Kinsky (co-founder, Reason Magazine) * Dr. Judith S. Kleinfeld (author; Professor of Psychology, University of Alaska) * Rikki Klieman, J.D. (Court TV anchor) * Dr. Rhoda Baggs Koss (Professor of Computer Science, Florida Institute of Technology) * Michele Kubby (medical marijuana activist) * Vernice "Vernie" Kuglin (tax resister, Kuglin v. IRS) * Edith Kurzweil (Editor, Partisan Review) * Karen Kwiatkowski (former Pentagon Lt. Colonel) * Leah Lail (actress) * Heather Levy (artist) * Carolyn Lochhead (columnist, San Francisco Chronicle) * Valerie Loiret-Prunet (Professor of Linguistics & Literature, University of Paris) * Dr. Eleftheria Maratos-Flier (Professor of Medicine, Harvard University) * Sunni Maravillosa (author; former College Professor) * Dr. Deirdre McCloskey (Professor of Liberal Arts & Sciences, University of Illinois-Chicago) * Niki McCuistion (talk radio host, KDTN - Dallas, TX) * Wendy McElroy (author; public speaker; social critic) * Melanie (folk singer) * Ilana Mercer (author & cultural commentator) * Tanya K. Metaksa (author; former Director, National Rifle Association) * Karen Michalson (author; musician) * Rachel Mills (editor, Ladies of Liberty calendar) * Lee Mirabal (talk radio host, KMPC - Los Angeles, CA) * Anne P. Mitchell, J.D. (attorney; Professor, Lincoln School of Law) * Martha Montelongo-Myers (talk radio host, KOMY - Watkinsville, CA) * Carol Moore (former comedian; author; anti-war activist; successionist; war-tax resister) * Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse (author; Research Fellow, the Hoover Institution) * Tonie Nathan (1972 Libertarian Vice-Presidential candidate) * Carol Newman, J.D. (attorney) * Rosalie Nichols (author; objectivist; former Editor, Lesbian Voices) * Hon. Gayle Norton (former Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior) * Dr. Erin O'Connor (Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania; founder, Critical Mass) * Darcy Olsen (President, The Goldwater Institute) * Star Parker (author; founder, Coalition on Urban Affairs) * Amanda Phillips (former U.S. Air Force Special Agent; President, Free State Project) * Sally Pipes (President, The Pacific Research Institute) * Virginia Postrel (economics columnist, The New York Times) * Dr. Sharon Presley (psychologist; Executive Director, Resources for Independent Thinking) * Carole Ann Rand (former President, Advocates for Self-Government) * Deborah Ray (Healthy Talk Radio - Clearwater, FL) * Christina Ricci (actress) * Andrea Millen Rich (President, Laissez Faire Books) * Joyce Riley (talk radio host, KCXL - Liberty, MO) * Sara Rimensnyder (Assistant Editor, Reason Magazine) * Christine Rosen (senior fellow, Ethics & Public Policy Center) * Dr. Mary Ruwart (author; research scientist; motivational speaker) * Dr. Patricia Santy (NASA's first female flight surgeon) * Patricia Saye (columnist, Las Vegas Tribune) * Hon. Lynn Scarlett (Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior) * Kay A. Schwarzberg, J.D. (attorney; lecturer; author) * Karen Selick, LL.B. (attorney; columnist) * Mary Lou Seymour (freelance writer) * Serena Sharp (talk radio host, KUCI - Irvine, CA) * Jane S. Shaw (Pope Center for Higher Education Policy) * Sandy Shaw (life-extension expert) * Dr. Rita J. Simon (Professor of Law & Public Affairs, American University) * Dr. Tara Smith (Professor of Philosophy, University of Texas) * Lisa Snell (Education Director, The Reason Foundation) * Dr. Christina Hoff Sommers (author; lecturer; fellow, American Enterprise Institute) * Marni Soupcoff, J.D. (columnist & attorney) * Angelina Spencer (Executive Director, Association of Club Executives) * Hon. Carol Springer (former Arizona State Treasurer and State Senator) * Judy Tame (former Chair, British Association of Libertarian Feminists) * Linda Tannehill (co-author, The Market for Liberty) * Abigail Thernstrom (Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute) * Hon. Cynthia A. Thornton (member, Texas State Board of Education) * Dr. Charlotte Twight, J.D. (Professor of Economics, Boise State University) * Sheryl Underwood (comedian) * Catherine Valcke, J.D. (Professor of Law, University of Toronto) * Dr. Karen Vaughn (Professor of Economics, George Mason University) * Marlene VerPlanck (singer) * Norah Vincent (nationally syndicated columnist) * Barbara Vroman (author) * Wendy Weiss (author & business advisor) * Raquel Welch (actress) * Susan W. Wells (co-author, A Drug War Carol) * Claire Wolfe (author) * Anne Wortham (Professor of Sociology, Illinois State University) * Cathy Young (journalist & author) * Paula Young (talk radio host, WMZQ - Washington, DC) * Michele Zipp (former Editor, Playgirl Magazine) Related Books - Broad Sides: One Woman's Clash With A Corrupt Culture by Ilana Mercer - Ceasefire!: Why Women and Men Must Join Forces ... by Cathy Young - Cultural Foundations: Urban Female Entrepreneurship by Emily Chamlee-Wright - Debates of Liberty: Overview of Individualist Anarchism by Wendy McElroy - Equity and Gender: The Comparable Worth Debate by Ellen Frankel Paul - Feminists Fantasies by Schlafly & Coulter - Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand by Gladstein & Sciabarra - Freedom, Feminism, and the State by Wendy McElroy - Gender Tales: Tensions in the Schools by Judith S. Kleinfeld - Individualist Feminism of the Nineteenth Century by Wendy McElroy - Individualist Feminism Rediscovered by Joan Kennedy Taylor - Liberty for Women by Wendy Kaminer - Masculine/Feminine Themes from Luther to Arendt by Jean Bethke Elshtain - The Myth of Male Power by Warren Farrell, Ph.D. - The Passion of Ayn Rand by Barbara Branden - Power Trips and Other Journeys by Jean Bethke Elshtain - The Princess at the Window: A New Gender Morality by Donna Laframboise - Public Man, Private Woman by Jean Bethke Elshtain - Queen Silver: The Godless Girl by Wendy McElroy - The Reasonable Woman: A Guide to Intellectual Survival by Wendy McElroy - Sexual Correctness: The Gender-Feminist Attack on Women by Wendy McElroy - The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers - What to Do When You Don't Want to Call the Cops by Joan Kennedy Taylor - Who Stole Feminism? by Christina Hoff Sommers - What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us by Danielle Crittenden - Women, History, and War by Elshtain & Tobias - Women and War by Jean Bethke Elshtain Related Articles A look at consentual crimes: Prostitution (1996) An Age of Consent Symposium (undated) Anarchism and American Tradition (undated) A woman's primer on defensive firearms use (September 4, 2002) Banning pornography endangers women (1990s) California mother's triple murders shows cost of ignoring female abusers (February, 2002) Censorship won't reduce crime (1994) Don't make fun of feminists (June, 2001) The fantasy life of Ann Coulter (September, 2003) Female libertarians (2003) Feminism: A Brief Bibliographic Essay (undated) Feminism and the Limits of Federal Power (January, 2000) Feminism in Liberty (1981) Feminist urban legends (November, 2002) Feminists who celebrate rape (2002) Gender feminism's global blackmail (April, 2002) Gender madness at Columbia's campus (March, 2001) Gertrude Kelly: Forgotten Feminist Good will toward men (December, 2001) Government is Women's Enemy (1976) The Great Women's Liberation Issue: Setting it Straight (undated) Hate my father? No ma'am! (June, 2003) Levin on Feminism and Freedom (Fall, 1991) Liberty For Women: A Talk by Wendy McElroy (May 2, 2002) Ludwig Von Mises's Legacy for Feminists (1997) McElroy on Liberty (September, 1997) New study finds myths, misrepresentations in women's studies textbooks (October, 2003) NOW grabs funds for WTC relief funds (January, 2002) Real mothers don't need a mommy state (June, 2001) Review of In Defense of Women (1997) The Roots of Individualist Feminism in 19th-Century America Take back Valentine's Day (February, 2002) The trouble with feminism (April, 2001) Where are the libertarian women? (December 6, 1999) Whores and mothers: Ideas on women and pornography (1986) Why males don't go to college (November, 2002) Witchcraft and the Drug War (2001) Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers (1971) Woman vs. the Nation State (1991) Women are likely to blow whistle (July 21, 2002) Women's careers must reflect individual choices (June, 2001) Voltairine de Cleyre (Winter, 1979) Related Links Association of Libertarian Feminists Capitalist Chicks Gender Issues Research Center Glenn J. Sacks Independent Women's Forum ifeminists.us (Carol Moore) ifeminists.com (Wendy McElroy) Ladies of Liberty 2003 Calendar Ladies of Liberty 2004 Calendar Libertarians for Life Pro-Choice Libertarians (Carol Moore) RightGrrl: For Conservative Women SheThinks: Challenging Traditional Feminism The Women's Freedom Network Women's Institute for Individual and Political Justice Women's Liberty League |
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