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IT USUALLY BEGINS WITH AYN RAND 265
more powerful man.” 53 There was a puzzling duality to Rand. Her characters
were iconic strong women, and in her personal life Rand lived
many feminist tenets. All of this was contradicted, however, by her theory
of “man worship” and her consistent depiction of women sexually
submitting to men. What made the messages particularly confusing was
Rand’s insistence that her views on men and women were rational conclusions
rather than emotional responses. In truth, Rand’s fi ction was
part projection, part identifi cation, part fantasy, and accurately refl ected
the tangled sexuality of her life. Setting these contradictions aside,
other women focused simply on the positive messages in her fi ction.
Former Objectivists became active in several organizations dedicated
to “individualist feminism,” and Rand’s work, particularly the character
of Dagny Taggart, was lauded as inspirational by the pioneering tennis
greats Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert. 54
Rand’s excoriation of feminism was refl ective of her general distemper
throughout the 1970s, a mood that began to alienate even her most loyal
fans. At the end of 1971 she terminated publication of The Objectivist,
announcing a new fortnightly, The Ayn Rand Letter. The Letter was a
shorter publication, written exclusively by Rand with occasional guest
appearances by Leonard Peikoff. Again Rand had trouble sticking to
the ambitious publication cycle she set for herself, and the magazine’s
appearance was erratic. As the volume of her new writing decreased, her
annual speeches to the Ford Hall Forum became an increasingly important
conduit between her and the many readers who continued to track
her every move. The question-and-answer sessions she held after each
lecture were a particular fl ashpoint.
Prompted by her fans, Rand offered a number of controversial stances
that particularly outraged libertarians. Her statements after the “Age of
Envy” speech in 1972 were particularly disturbing. Asked about amnesty
for draft dodgers, Rand told her audience that “bums” who didn’t
want to fi ght in Vietnam “deserve to be sent permanently to Russia or
South Vietnam at the public’s expense.” She praised labor unions and
Congressman Henry “Scoop” Jackson, an ardent militarist. Her praise
for Jackson was based on his aggressive stance toward the Soviet Union.
Previously Rand tended to downplay the Russian threat, believing its
command economy could never match the military prowess of the
United States. Now she became implacably opposed to disarmament or
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