Disclaimer: I am not a misogynist, I’m not a so called “incel” and I’m not MGTOW. There are many women I respect and love. The purpose of this take/article is to shed light on some flaws within the feminist movement that the feminists refuse to acknowledge. Also, women are not synonymous with feminism. Most men and women are not feminists but still believe in true equality. You don’t have to be a “feminist” to believe in true equality. I don’t consider myself a feminist yet I still believe in true equality. Because politics aren’t black and white, it’s a false dichotomy and a oversimplification to assume that politics are either “this or that”. I agree that there are some things that could be improved about each of the world’s nations but extremism like 4th wave feminism, anarchy etc are not the correct ways.
Feminism has been around for many decades now and while it may have helped women achieve equality, it also has had it’s issues for which it’s reputation has been tarnished. One of the those particular issues is how it tends to contradict itself in many ways, causing both it’s followers and opponents to be confused as to what side(if any) the ideology is really on. In this take/article I’ll be discussing the many contradictions expressed by the feminist movement.
Oversimplification and confirmation bias: When people debate about feminism, the first defense for the movement is the cliché on paper definition of feminism.
“The advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.”
Sounds like a decent cause right? That’s the impression most people get when they google the word “feminism” since the first thing that pops up is that definition. However, the definition quoted above is merely the on paper definition that isn’t actually put to practice and further more, feminism in reality is supposed to be a wide range of different causes. But most people miss this and resort to a confirmation bias and oversimplification by assuming the definition is enough proof of what feminism is about.
What feminism is supposed to be but isn’t: On paper, the ideology is supposed to be both a human and civil rights movement that advocates for the equality of all people regardless of race, sex, religion, political views, cultural identity etc. But despite the average feminist claiming that feminism cares about everyone, it doesn’t. It divides groups into two categories, the underprivileged and the privileged with the latter being the scapegoats for the ideology. Which is where the criticism against feminism comes in and why the 4th wave feminists are known by the three letters. “SJWs”
Us vs them/barking up the wrong tree: One of the major contradictions is how the feminist movement vilifies certain groups despite claiming to fight for equality. It vilifies Asians, Whites, Christians, males, right wingers, baby boomers, traditionalist Hispanics and pretty much any right wing minority.
Racist and misandrist roots of feminism: The one thing feminist supporters don’t like to talk about is the racist and misandrist roots of feminism. Some of the early feminists(suffragettes) where racists, they didn’t want to allow blacks to vote. While feminist figures like Valerie Solonas Considered men to be inferior to women. Even today many 4th wave feminists still look down on men.
To be provocative or not? The early feminists up to the 1960s constantly demanded that women be allowed to wear revealing clothes without being stigmatized. Prior to the 1960s women were expected to be as covered up as possible, even the female navel was censored in the media. But post the 1960s, women were finally allowed to wear revealing clothing. Ironically nowadays, 4th wave feminists discourage scantly clad clothing in favor of women to once again cover up. Here’s the thing feminists don’t understand or don’t want to acknowledge. Women who dress in a provocative manner are doing so on their free will, nobody is forcing them to. It really is ironic how the feminists are attacking a woman’s liberty to wear whatever she wants.
body shaming and heightism: For a movement that constantly attacks body shaming, it still does a lot of body shaming of it’s own. 4th wave feminists currently acknowledge that only heavy set women and Amazonian(tall) women can be victims of body shaming, nobody else. All while the 4th wave feminists constantly shame short men, muscular men, petite women, skinny women, fit women and feminine women. So in a sense 4th wave feminists practice both body shaming and heightism. The heightist sentiment is based on fallacious reasoning considering that regardless of a person being short, medium or tall. There’s always pros and cons to your height.
Their stance on religion: Their stance on religion is rather confusing. While there are many anti theistic feminists who hate religion in general, there’s roughly around the same amount of feminists who hate Christianity but vehemently defend the theocracy of the Middle East. For those that don’t know, Christian communities don’t discriminate against women, a woman has the same rights and privileges within Christian communities as men. But in middle Eastern theocracy, women are treated like property rather than fellow humans. Instead of constantly lashing out at Christians, feminists should be focusing all their efforts in the Middle East.
Unusual infighting: The feminist movement is surprisingly not as united as you’d think. Within the feminist movement there’s a lot of infighting going on between different sub factions. Examples: White feminism vs black feminism, or a no true Scotsman “not all feminists are like that”(NAFALT) vs “fake” feminists.
Hypocrisy of objectification and sexualization: Feminists are known for constantly bickering about the hyper sexualization and objectification of women. But only if it’s men sexualizing and objectifying women. Feminists don’t seem to care if it’s a woman sexualizing and objectifying another woman, a woman sexualizing and objectifying a man or a man sexualizing and objectifying another man. That being said, there is indeed a growing trend of men being objectified in the media, where’s the feminist outrage?
Feminism and gender roles: Feminists constantly claim that they are against gender roles but in reality want to reverse gender roles. They promote the inconsiderate and illogical idea of the masculinization of women and the feminization of men. This is an obvious sign of feminist misandry that is aimed at subjugating the male populace.
Male feminists/White Knights: One has to question the logic of these guys, they call themselves “feminists” without realizing that they’ll never truly be accepted within the feminist community. In order for them to be merely tolerated within the feminist community they have to meet many feminist ideals and basically become sycophants. Once they say or do something that isn’t approved by the feminist and liberal community, they usually end up receiving a lot of flak from the feminists. These guys claim to be fighting for equality but neglect male issues and are hostile towards women who don’t buy into the feminist rhetoric.
Proto-Totalitarianism: Feminists also claim that they are against totalitarianism yet practice some proto totalitarianism of their own. They like to express their views without any restrictions yet try desperately to censor those who have opposing views. Example: blocking people on websites just for having different views. They also try to force their views and standards onto others. Example: feminists constantly shaming traditional masculinity by calling it “toxic” masculinity all while they try to force metrosexuality onto men which they erroneously call “Positive” masculinity. If feminists truly were against totalitarianism, they’d respect people’s rights and liberties. And they would let people be who they want to be and do whatever they want as long as no harm is being done. If 4th wave feminists want to be respected then they should quit blaming fictional oppressors like the so called “patriarchy” and “toxic masculinity”. Feminists might mean well but unfortunately their actions are misguided.
These are the main contradictions that I’ve noticed about the feminist movement and pretty much any so called “progressive” movement. but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are many more contradictions that aren’t listed here. That being said, here’s another quote from George Orwell.
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