Women and Gender

Shields: Anti-feminism hashtag represents misinformed views

If you have been anywhere near Twitter recently, you have probably seen #WomenAgainstFeminism trending. This movement, which started trending on Twitter in mid-July, provided an outlet for women who feel that the feminist movement is not empowering. While I normally prefer to take a “to each their own” stance on things such as this, I believe these women were wrong in so many ways.

Many of the reasons that these women had for opposing feminism displayed blatant ignorance of what feminism actually means. One woman stated that she does not need feminism because she “likes being feminine.” Had she taken two seconds to Google feminism, she would know that it is about choice and equality. Feminism is not about frilly skirts versus combat boots; it is about empowering women to make choices about their own bodies.

Another woman stated that she does not need feminism because she “likes being complimented by men when she walks down the street.” Again, a quick Google search would have shown her that feminism is not trying to eliminate compliments; it is about stopping men from shouting explicit things at women, touching women inappropriately or threatening women in any way simply because they choose to go outside.

A common reason that some women stated for being against feminism was its treatment of men. Some said feminism is exclusionary towards men while others said it paints all men as villains. First of all, the argument that men must be included in order for feminism to be equal is akin to wanting to give medicine to both sick people and healthy people. In other words, men do not need this space. If men want to dominate and be the central focus there are plenty of spaces they can find.

Second, feminism does include men by seeing them as individuals, not mindless drones who must adhere to strict gender roles. While the main goal of feminism is to empower women into an equal social standing as men, a side effect of that is dismantling many of the societal pressures that men face. Feminism believes that traits like strength and aggressiveness are not necessary to be a true man. Men are constantly facing the pressure to be strong and emotionless as well as to avoid being anything that our society perceives as feminine; feminism wants to dismantle that.



If someone researches and evaluates feminism and finds that its values do not align with their own, that is fine. What is not fine however is spreading lies and misconceptions about a movement that they have not even taken the time to research. Sure, some of these women may not need feminism but there are girls who do. The only thing that the #WomenAgainstFeminism movement accomplished was turning some girls away from a community in which they could have taken solace.

Being against feminism does not automatically make these women ignorant, but if they care to speak about feminism, they should probably educate themselves first. In case anyone is confused, feminism is the belief that women and men should be socially, politically and economically equal. This allows for basic respect and rights for all human beings, regardless of how they identify. If these women take a second to research feminism, they may find that the reasons they say they are not feminists are actually the reasons they are.

 





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