Feminism: The Revolution that ‘Got Lost in Translation’
To begin with, feminism is an ideology, a revolution that was brought forth to fight an unequal, oppressive patriarch that took away women’s freedom and humanity. A revolution that is still relevant and much needed today, despite being constantly dismissed, as people continually experience differential treatment based on the gender they identify with.
What started out as a mission to attain basic human rights and equality is becoming a weapon pointed at those who need it the most. Expressing your voice and demanding equality is met with defensiveness. In conversations that mention women’s rights, we often hear responses such as: “We don’t need feminism anymore”, “Women have equality”, “Men actually have it worse”, and many more responses along those lines. Some treat feminism as an annoyance rather than a necessity. It’s difficult to point out the exact moment where the narrative shifted so drastically. Until recent years, it was understood that gender equality was important. Women were advocating for their rights to be seen as an equal, in their families, at their job, and in their surroundings.
Studies conducted in the UK show that in 2018, 34% of the female population identified themselves as being feminist, while in the US two thirds of the 27,000 subjects also identified as the same. These figures showed a growth in comparison to the previous years. Feminist movements such as the #MeToo movement has helped in increasing awareness towards the cause, which led to the positive change. However, since the 2018 studies, a gradual drop has been seen among people who identify as feminists. It was more commonly noticed in young and working-class women. (Scharff, 2019).
So why are people, especially women, deserting the movement that our predecessors fought so hard for?
Firstly, one of the biggest misconceptions about feminism is that it does not truly believe in equality. There has been an ongoing debate about whether people believe in feminism or equality, failing to realise that feminism is a subcategory of achieving equality. The reason for this misconception is that people often mistake feminism for misandry. While feminism believes in equality for all genders, misandry believes in a woman-dominated society or a matriarch. For a long time, feminism has focused majorly on women, leading to a confusion in the meanings of both these terms. However, modern day feminism is a lot more inclusive, campaigning for an equal and safe world for cis women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Furthermore, there are many stereotypes surrounding modern day feminism. A few examples are (Team, 2021):
‘Feminists hate all men’
While being simply untrue, people once again make the mistake of associating all men with toxic masculinity. Feminists do not hate men, they hate misogyny and the harmful mentality that comes with it. Toxic masculinity allows men to perpetrate harm onto others by abusing the privilege that comes with being a man. This includes having double standards against other genders, not holding harmful men accountable or making excuses for them, invalidating the experiences of those who have experienced gender discrimination, and restricting the rights of other communities. Oftentimes men don’t realise that toxic mentality hurts themselves too, by portraying harmful narratives like “real men don’t cry”, etc. The feminist movement combats a misogynistic society, not men.
‘Feminists look down on ‘traditional roles’’
Another harmful narrative that is being passed around recently, by some women as well, is that feminists look down on other women who want to take on more ‘traditional roles’ in their lives. There is an increase in the content created on social media by women who glamorize being more conservative, create stereotypes of the traits of a feminist and shame women who fall under that category, and devalue the rights that have been restored for us. For example, trends on TikTok and Instagram where women post content saying things like:
- ‘Trad-wife’ content that glorifies extreme traditional roles
- “I’m not a feminist, I can actually cook”
- The “I’m just a girl”
While some of these trends are perceived as harmless fun, promoting such content does more harm than good.
For clarification, there is nothing wrong with taking on a traditional role in a household, but it is not something that every woman wants to do with their lives, and it should not be forced upon them. Feminism stands for the right that women should be able to choose their lifestyles, whether it is to work or be a homemaker or both, and not be coerced into undesired roles.
Gender Fatigue: ‘Feminists have a victim mentality’
“Gender Fatigue is a terminology which restricts women's right to complain about gender discrimination because it is believed that gender equality has already been achieved and there are more pressing issues to focus on.” (Gagey, 2024).
Going back to the preface of this article, many believe that feminism has achieved its goal, therefore, women have no right to complain about their experiences of gender discrimination. If they do complain, they’re perceived as being attention seeking, they are making themselves a ‘victim’ by overreacting, they are told that there are bigger problems in this world.
These types of responses are used to invalidate the victim, to refocus the narrative from the perpetrators to the victims. When the narrative shifts as such, it suddenly becomes the victim's fault for their reaction, rather than the perpetrator who acted inappropriately and in a wrong way.
In conclusion, feminism is a growing movement that is still fighting to build an equal society. Dismantling a currently existing misogynistic society does not equate to the rise of a misandrist one. It simply suggests that all genders should be able to coexist in peace, free from bias, and without one dominating another. Over time, the branding of feminism has been changed because of misinformation, therefore, it is important to be educated on the movement before creating false narratives and claiming the practices to be outdated, unnecessary, and irrelevant. It is important to acknowledge that as society evolves, feminism evolves with it, but its true meaning of achieving gender equality for all, will never change.
References
Scharff, B. D. C. (2019, February 6). Why so many young women don’t call themselves feminist. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47006912
Team, T. (2021, July 30). 4 Reasons Some Women Hate Feminism (And What They’re Missing) - The Life of Science. The Life of Science. https://thelifeofscience.com/2019/05/14/4-reasons-anti-feminist-women-hate-feminism-and-what-theyre-missing/
TikTok - Make your day. (n.d.). https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSkXkWAA6/
TikTok - Make your day. (n.d.-b). https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSkXB5qLF/
TikTok - Make your day. (n.d.). https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSkXAkkvn/
Gagey, A. (2024, May 29). “Gender fatigue” or the backlash against feminist activism. Philonomist. https://www.philonomist.com/en/article/gender-fatigue-or-backlash-against-feminist-activism
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