--- title: Sons of Anarchy Sold Kick-Ass Biker Feminism at the Barrel of an AK-47 description: Feminism would have better luck if it were wicked and fun. canonical: https://time.com/3626694/sons-of-anarchy-sold-kick-ass-biker-feminism-at-the-barrel-of-an-ak-47/ author: Elizabeth Wurtzel article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-09T23:46:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:43:02.623Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Sons of Anarchy Sold Kick-Ass Biker Feminism at the Barrel of an AK-47 og:description: Feminism would have better luck if it were wicked and fun. og:url: https://time.com/3626694/sons-of-anarchy-sold-kick-ass-biker-feminism-at-the-barrel-of-an-ak-47/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8875fbd77ee80ab0/69876dce524fc0ff38deb4d8/katey-sagal-sons-of-anarchy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3726 og:image:height: 2096 og:image:alt: Actors David Labrava, Dayton Callie, Christina Applegate, Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Kurt Sutter, David Faustino and Ed O'Neill at Katey Sagal's Star Ceremony on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Sept. 9, 2014 in Hollywood. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sons of Anarchy Sold Kick-Ass Biker Feminism at the Barrel of an AK-47 twitter:description: Feminism would have better luck if it were wicked and fun. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8875fbd77ee80ab0/69876dce524fc0ff38deb4d8/katey-sagal-sons-of-anarchy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Sons of Anarchy_ Sold Kick-Ass Biker Feminism at the Barrel of an AK-47 > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://time.com/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) ## Elizabeth Wurtzel Dec 9, 2014 11:46 PM UTC  Actors David Labrava, Dayton Callie, Christina Applegate, Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Kurt Sutter, David Faustino and Ed O'Neill at Katey Sagal's Star Ceremony on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Sept. 9, 2014 in Hollywood. Actors David Labrava, Dayton Callie, Christina Applegate, Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Kurt Sutter, David Faustino and Ed O'Neill at Katey Sagal's Star Ceremony on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Sept. 9, 2014 in Hollywood. Albert L. Ortega—Getty Images by [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://time.com/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) ## Elizabeth Wurtzel Dec 9, 2014 11:46 PM UTC You can sell feminism with AK-47s. That is what I learned from _Sons of Anarchy_. I used to think the problem was that men were against feminism; turns out it is women who hate it. Men just needed better packaging. Give men a body count with motorcycles and they love women’s lib. For the last seven years, I have watched all seven seasons of _Sons of Anarchy_, the FX version of “Hamlet”—if Denmark was riding around on Harley-Davidsons in northern California. I have watched Jax, the president of the motorcycle club, marry an astonishing neonatal surgeon. I have seen a 60-year-old grandmother be powerful and hot in high heels. I have seen working mothers with excellent daycare. This has happened on a television show that is enormously popular with the thug testosterone demographic. Alert Gloria Steinem: Feminism has won! Of course, _Sons of Anarchy_ is mostly bad to women, who are mostly biker old ladies—when they’re not employees of the house of ill repute that the club owns. But the world is mostly bad to women. The world is also mostly terrible to men. One percent—make that point one percent—of the population owns almost everything. How is that good to much of anyone? But at least the leading ladies of _Sons of Anarchy_ are intense characters. The show has righteous aspirations. It believes in two big careers and two little kids in one family. All the hedge fund managers I know have stay-at-home wives. Bikers do it better. Besides: Every yin needs a yang. It’s TV. They need lingerie. There is also a lot of Jax’s bare butt. And since the bikers do time all the time, there is plenty of prison sex. _Sons of Anarchy_ favors pandering equality. It is just dirty. Tonight is the series finale, and if it’s true to “Hamlet,” there will be blood. If it’s true to “Hamlet,” no one here gets out alive. (Recall Hamlet inadvertently killed Polonius before all the advertent stuff.) _Sons of Anarchy_ is a show about casual killing. I try to count the dead on every episode, and it isn’t possible. Bodies fall on the side of the road and land in shallow graves, or they just lie there like timber. Often the death was a mistake. The violence is so oh well. I was raised on the beautiful gore of Sam Peckinpah, so you’d think I wouldn’t mind, but I do. I find it awful. I find it awful, and I can’t stop watching. I love _Mad Men_ as much as the guy who lives down the hall, but I prefer crime shows. I love dumb ones and smart ones. I love _Law & Order_, but in a pinch I will sit through _Blue Bloods_. Those engaged in evil—and the ones fighting it—are at extremes. People just propulse. It is like watching a meteor shower, but with a plot. The women of _Sons of Anarchy_ are exceptional not because of a feminist agenda, but because they live outside the law. When the rules don’t apply, Grandma is always having a one-night stand with one hot number. Without rules, a lot more happens. Feminism would have better luck if it were wicked and fun. Of course, everything would be better off being wicked and fun. _Sons of Anarchy_ is not brilliant TV. I’m not even sure it’s good TV. It is enormously popular, but I don’t know anyone else who watches it. I just love the crazy. I love the way the men spend their days killing whoever they mistake for a problem, and then they are scared of the women because the women are fierce without guns. It is respect for a power you can’t understand. It is respect for love. That’s the part of Shakespeare that _Sons of Anarchy_ got right: We do terrible things because of love. We don’t need hate to have a miserable time. Love will ruin us. You’ll see. In the end there will be nothing left. _Elizabeth Wurtzel is the author of_ [Prozac Nation](http://www.amazon.com/Prozac-Nation-Elizabeth-Wurtzel/dp/1573225126)_,_ [Bitch](http://www.amazon.com/Bitch-In-Praise-Difficult-Women/dp/0385484011/ref=pd%5Fsim%5Fb%5F2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0CQ07D42QVPZKQDEN7YZ) _and_ [More, Now, Again](http://www.amazon.com/More-Now-Again-Memoir-Addiction/dp/0743223314)_. Her latest book is_ [Creatocracy: How the Constitution Invented Hollywood](http://www.amazon.com/Creatocracy-How-Constitution-Invented-Hollywood-ebook/dp/B00Q5145B8/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417973601&sr=1-1&keywords=creatocracy)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3626694/sons-of-anarchy-sold-kick-ass-biker-feminism-at-the-barrel-of-an-ak-47/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3626694/sons-of-anarchy-sold-kick-ass-biker-feminism-at-the-barrel-of-an-ak-47/"},"headline":"Sons of Anarchy Sold Kick-Ass Biker Feminism at the Barrel of an AK-47","datePublished":"2014-12-09T23:46:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:43:02.623Z","description":"Feminism would have better luck if it were wicked and fun. 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