Part of the problem is that reactionaries call themselves “conservative” even though, you’re right, they really aren’t.
In the US, equal rights for women is really a conservative idea in the original sense, because it’s something that our culture has already mostly accepted. People arguing against it aren’t conserving the status quo, they are harkening back to some bygone halycon era.
But think of how weird it sounds to say that feminists are conservative! So I think the term in practice has moved away from its original etymological meaning.
Part of the problem is that reactionaries call themselves “conservative” even though, you’re right, they really aren’t.
In the US, equal rights for women is really a conservative idea in the original sense, because it’s something that our culture has already mostly accepted. People arguing against it aren’t conserving the status quo, they are harkening back to some bygone halycon era.
But think of how weird it sounds to say that feminists are conservative! So I think the term in practice has moved away from its original etymological meaning.