Are women who reject modern feminism independent thinkers or indoctrinated?

[SolitarySolace]

Do you think women who reject modern feminism are thinking for themselves, or are they mainly indoctrinated?

My answer is independent.

Rejecting modern feminism does not automatically mean a woman is indoctrinated. In many cases, it can actually reflect independent thinking, because modern culture often treats feminist assumptions as the default and socially acceptable position.

Many women critically evaluate modern feminist narratives and conclude that those ideas do not align with their values, life goals, faith, or lived experiences. Choosing motherhood, family, traditional gender roles, modesty, or complementarian beliefs does not make a woman less capable of thinking for herself. She may simply have examined the arguments and reached different conclusions.

True independence means having the freedom to define empowerment and success on your own terms, not only within frameworks approved by mainstream ideology.

Too often, calling anti-feminist women “indoctrinated” just means, “I respect women’s choices only when they choose what I approve of.”

That is not empowerment. That is ideological gatekeeping.

They’re independent

They’re indoctrinated

[MzAsh]

Rejecting feminism can be independent thought. So can rejecting tradition. The independent part isn’t which team she picked. It’s whether she was actually free to walk away from either one.

[SolitarySolace]

I agree that rejecting feminism or rejecting tradition can both be independent choices. The problem is that critics often only recognize agency in one direction. When a woman rejects tradition, it is called liberation. But when she rejects feminism in favor of faith, motherhood, modesty, homemaking, or traditional family life, she is often accused of being brainwashed or oppressed. That is not respecting her freedom to walk away from either side. That is only respecting her choice when she chooses the “approved” path.

[FreyaRed]

Rejecting something doesn't make you to independent thinker, since it can be infused by peer pressure or because the person is under influence of an ideology.

[SolitarySolace]

I agree—rejecting something alone does not automatically prove independent thought. A woman can be influenced by feminism, religion, family, culture, or social pressure. No one forms beliefs in a vacuum.

But there is an important distinction: feminism is an explicit ideology. Tradition is not automatically one. Tradition can include faith, family structure, cultural inheritance, moral values, and practices passed down over generations. A woman choosing a traditional life is not necessarily exchanging one ideology for another. She may simply be choosing family, faith, stability, and values she genuinely believes in.

My point is not that every woman who rejects feminism is automatically independent. My point is that critics often assume lack of agency only when women choose traditional roles, while granting agency when women reject tradition.

Influence seems to get labeled “indoctrination” primarily when it leads women toward traditional roles, while similar influences pushing women away from tradition are often framed as empowerment or liberation.

That asymmetry is what I’m challenging.

[Ariesman81Nshiiit]

This is how I see a young person's choice. The question of how to convey that the difficult path leads to the most fulfillment is the difficult part.

[Cidknee]

I think they started out seeking independent thought and direction but who knows when they started hating the opposite sex.

[LC75LC71]

Blah blah blah! Just speak fucking English! Bet you say bullshit like intersectional quiefholes and peanut allergies..

[FrodoSkywalker007]

Independent for going against the norm.