Feminist Stereotypes
She is always angry and offended by everything, she hates men and there is not a single thing in the world that she despise more than the terms “mansplaining” and “manspreading” which she herself actually created. Did you guessed who she is already? Of course you did - she is the crazy man-hating feminist stereotype on the internet.
But let’s describe her in other words which are closer to reality. In order to do this, we need to outline the differences between the stereotypical feminist and the actual one. The stereotypical feminist is radical, she want to make a change, but not for the society, usually just for herself. Mostly, she opposes every male right that and movement that is out there and the international Father’s day is an abomination for her. On the other hand, the actual feminist wants equality between the sexes and she supports all human rights movements and celebrations that matter. But why do we hear more about the crazy person that makes us cringe than the actual activist?
The reason is simple – people love to make fun of other people. And the stereotypical feminist is just so easy to make fun of. With her numerous demands and ridiculous views she is the perfect subject for a meme of a funny YouTube video. But the stereotypes that she brings with her are waking something more than laughter. She is slowly but surely becoming the symbol of the feminism in the internet, and even though a portion of the people can easily separate her from the actual movement for woman rights, the majority of the internet users are indentifying her as the face of the feminism.
‘’Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth’’. The same can be said about stereotypes about feminism or in general. What started as a social and political movement to establish and achieve social, political and economic equality of the sexes is now viewed by many as a destructive and aggressive ideology. A research held by students at the University of Connecticut published on http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com, found out that a big portion of the interviewed people think that feminists are: ugly, uptight, angry, aggressive, harsh, strident, demanding, dogmatic and man-hating, or they think other people might describe feminists with those adjectives. Only 26 percent of people say that feminist is a positive term.
This shows that people who actually believe in the positive approach of the ideology are losing the fight with uprising anti-feminist beliefs and statements which are getting more and more popular both online and offline. The stereotypes towards the feminists are coming from those people who use the movement to their personal advantage and justify their actions or themselves in one way or another. This however is nothing what the feminism stands for, and like I said earlier some people do draw the line between the two, but some simply don’t or choose not to.
In order to break the stereotype of the mad woman screaming “PATRIARCHY” on the street, we have to make sure we are louder than her /but not by screaming/. Instead we need to make sure that our words and the words of all of the people who support and believe in the feminist ideology will be heard. The voices of the people who stand for the cause for the greater good, and not just for their personal agenda are the ones that matter, and if we want to make a real change in the world, the voice of each one of us should matter. Marching naked on the street and getting included in a “crazy feminist compilation” video is only revolutionary for so long.
Write articles about what you believe in, write letters to your government, write a Ph.D.; Help your community and unite people, because only through unity we can reach equality. And don’t be afraid if you’re painted red with the Angry Feminist stereotype - your example in the fight for equality is what matters in the end.
