The Feminist Stigma

By Rhiannon Winner on October 10, 2015

In many arguments made by a feminist, they’ll often cite the dictionary definition of the word to prove a point. For the record, the dictionary definition of feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Oftentimes, the person arguing with a feminist will insist that they do believe in equal rights for men and women, but that they don’t believe feminism is actually trying to achieve those goals.

To a feminist, this is incredibly difficult to counter, because we’re immediately confused. A feminist will likely reply, “What do you mean you believe in equal rights, but you’re not a feminist? Of course feminism is trying to achieve equality! It’s in the dictionary definition I just showed you!” The argument will inevitably continue in circles until someone throws in the towel.

There is something unnerving about the fact people believe feminism is different from the definition. If people don’t believe a movement stands for what it says it does, then something must have gone wrong. Right? So why do people think that feminism is markedly different from the dictionary definition?

The effect of the media on people is well documented. The way women are portrayed often leads to low self-esteem and body image issues in women, and men are expected to act strong in all situations, which leads to feelings of inadequacy for them. The media can help make or break a movement, and they’re certainly not trying to help the feminist cause. Celebrities deny they’re feminists in fear of bad press, and feminists are rarely brought into arguments on talk shows and the like. With a few exceptions, like Emma Watson’s beloved feminist speech, feminists are either excluded or downright demonized. Even Watson’s impassioned speech was decried by many feminists for being too male-centric, and shying away from a bolder stance. Although this is changing, it has been the norm for so long that a full change is a long time away, and a cultural shift even further. So a tech savvy person might not be too keen on feminism, if almost every time it’s brought up is negative.

Even more people aren’t convinced, because they’ve already been taught that women are equal. Women can vote, women can serve in the government, the armed forces, or in any business. Women are CEOs and scientists; a woman is leading in the polls for the Democratic primary, and a woman barely eighteen won a Nobel Peace Prize for advocating for a child’s right to education. Because women are successful in the world, some may take this to mean women are entirely equal, so they assume feminists just want to take power away from men in the name of equality. This view neglects Western women who still make less than a man, are discriminated against, and portrayed as sex objects. Even worse, this ignores many of the women who don’t live in the West. Many women worldwide still lack basic human rights on the basis of their gender, and the assumption that women are “equal” harms these women most.

People don’t believe feminists when they explain what feminism is because they’ve already been taught a false definition. They’re not going to believe what a feminist tells them, because in their eyes, they’ve already seen feminism, and it doesn’t fit the dictionary definition.

It’s a sad thing to imagine a movement for basic human rights stymied by, primarily, jokes and an abundance of misinformation. Feminists will fight on to earn women equal pay, equal opportunities, and more, but first, maybe we need to pause for a moment. The word feminist still carries a stigma. Mention it in public, and chances are that someone’s lip will curl in disgust, and an argument will ensue. Before we can expect people to jump on board with a movement that has been weighed down by a negative image, we need to educate the public on feminism: people need to be educated one person at a time. We shouldn’t have to fight just for people to agree that women deserve equal rights, but nothing has ever been easy. Every fight for equal rights has been met with harsh opposition, but in the end, equality always prevails.

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