“Many women, I think, resist feminism because it is an agony to be fully conscious of the brutal misogyny which permeates culture, society, and all personal relationships.” ― Andrea Dworkin
Across the internet, we are seeing a range of discussions involving women who identify as anti-feminists. I was initially perplexed as I wondered why a woman would oppose the pursuit of equal rights. To fully grasp this situation, we have to ask ourselves a couple of questions, starting with: How is feminism even perceived today?
Feminism, in its nature, has always been a divisive topic. Even over a hundred years ago, women were resisting the suffragette movement, arguing that the clear differentiation of roles between men and women upheld society (perpetuating female inferiority and (white) male superiority). Artwork and slogans continually painted the suffragettes in a terrible light intended to be insulting, framing them as disorderly, poor mothers, unattractive, and even as lesbians – an approach to damage their reputation and derail their movement. The presence of anti-feminism within online discourse is not only a reactionary stance against the pursuit of gender equality, but also a cultural and political move that aims to reinforce traditional gender roles and hierarchies while deliberately neglecting intersectional identities. This, consequently, preserves existing power structures that benefit a specific demographic.
To further build context, let’s quickly run down the waves of feminism:
- The first wave (late 1840s) primarily called for a woman’s right to vote.
- The second wave (early 1960s) focused more on workplace equality and women’s education. Like the first wave, it failed to recognize and involve WOC (women of color).
- The third wave (early 1990s) particularly believed feminism could not exist without sex positivity, diversity, and intersectionality.
- The fourth wave (early 2010s) is quite clearly marked by the online world, with the rise of movements like #MeToo. By this era, many loud voices considered feminism to have abandoned its political roots.
We ask ourselves what’s next? When will we declare a new wave of feminism?
If we look up feminism in dictionaries, we find many definitions – the one we are following in this conversation being: “Feminism is the belief that women deserve equal social, economic, and political rights and freedoms.” Most existing variations will agree that, at its core, it is about men and women deserving equality despite their differences. People tend to suggest that men and women cannot be equal because they aren’t the same, but we lose so much by making ‘same’ and ‘equal’ mean the same thing. Instead, it is about equality of opportunity, and this doesn’t have to mean no respect for our differences. However, considering the role of socialization in an anti-feminist worldview, they likely internalize these gender stereotypes and roles – leaving them to believe women are inherently better suited to carry out certain activities. So, if there is a woman who believes that her primary role is to be a mother or do housework, feminism can feel like an attack on one’s liberty to do that. Forbes further expands on this hate for the feminist movement.
- First, feminism has been associated with angry, forceful women, and studies have shown that women’s perceived competency significantly reduces when judged as being forceful.
- Secondly, people fear men will lose opportunity, influence, and control if feminists dominate the social landscape and put men down through matriarchy.
- Next, people worry feminism will dismantle honourable traditions and religious beliefs rendering gender roles unfamiliar, therefore scary and even plain wrong.
- Lastly, people feel it will overall have a negative trickle-down effect on people’s relationships, culture, and even business opportunities if women are on the same playing field as men.
21st century studies still show further associations of feminism with man-hating, and controversial queer identities, as well as an overall rejection of femininity – similar to the perception of suffragettes through the lens of anti-suffragettes. Anti-feminist dialogue within media spaces reinforces gender roles and the patriarchal structure by perpetuating stereotypes about women’s capabilities and depicting them in traditional roles. Additionally, in framing feminists as threats to their opportunity of being homemakers and mothers, they also perpetuate the idea that feminism has gone beyond its grounds, destabilising society and infringing on men’s well-being. These notions uphold already existing power structures and slow down any progress towards a more egalitarian society.
Additionally, anti-feminism fails to be intersectional because it doesn’t recognize women in need of feminism. Women at the intersection of patriarchy, class, and race are largely disadvantaged. Social media platforms (i.e. Instagram and TikTok) reveal that most, if not all of the women speaking in favour of anti-feminism are neither lower income nor POC. Curiously, the demographics of women who are feminists seem to strongly overlap with those who are anti-feminists. A 2018 poll suggested that racial gaps are evident with white women being over twice as likely to identify as feminist (26%) as opposed to Hispanics (12%) . Intersectionality is important because it brings forth countless women who face an enmeshment of oppression based on their identity, such as Black women who face both racial and gender depression simultaneously. Acknowledging intersectionality makes the entanglement of different power systems more visible, highlighting the need to address these interconnected issues.
Anti-feminism arguably fails to be an ‘organized effort by a group to effect change in the face of resistance by other human beings’, a key element of defining social movement, according to anthropologist David Aberle. However, there is room for debate, as it still represents a collective sentiment shared by many individuals. Anti-feminists are reacting to a perceived shift in gender roles and power dynamics, feeling threatened by what they see as a growing feminist influence. It primarily focuses on challenging specific aspects of feminism, aiming for individual-level change within existing societal structures, which could make it an ‘alternative social movement’: seeking partial change on an individual level.
While considering anti-feminist motivations can help us be more empathetic, there are still more arguments in favour of a more equal society. More egalitarianism has mutual benefits for men and women, with research has shown that couples who share housework report being happier in their relationships. Above all, what would benefit us is striving towards curating a more unanimous definition of feminism. Not in naïve hopes of instantly converting anti-feminists, but to give way to more uniform definitions and the reduction of stigma around feminism. It’s not as simple as a 2-step questionnaire, but it’s crucial, nevertheless, for the sake of gender equality and the dismantling of power structures that harm the masses.
Featured image by Kaitlin Brito.
