The Mixed Messages of Feminism

Feminism is by definition the fight for equality for women. It has been long hailed as the greatest thing to ever happen to women and has accomplished many great feats. From the right to vote, the right to work and the right to education, women everywhere can thank feminism for the opportunities afforded us today.

Throughout history, feminists have banded together for a common cause. First wave feminism fought long and hard for women's right to vote and own property. Second wave feminism fought for job equality for women and bought about more awareness of domestic violence and rape issues. There is a lot of debate, though, about what it is that third wave feminism is fighting for. Some even fear that third wave feminism is fighting not for equality, but for supremacy.

There seems to be no reliable data to summarize what third wave feminism is fighting for and this creates hostilities that extends outside of the clashing ideologies of feminism and into the general public. The massing against feminism is apparent throughout our Internet culture. It can be seen in Facebook pages such as Anti-Feminazi, which has almost 30, 000 likes or in trending topics like #IDontNeedFeminism. Women who once identified with the cause are speaking out against feminism.

Third wave feminism is seemingly increasingly problematic as its unstable messages and passionate advocates each claim to understand and live by "true" feminism. However, third wave feminism has uncountable strains. On one end of the spectrum is The Femithiest and her following, who believe that the male population should be reduced to 10%. On the other end of the spectrum is Christina Hoff Sommers, who dedicates her celebrity to criticizing the current feminist movement with her YouTube show The Factual Feminist. Somewhere in between is Anita Sarkeesian, Caitlin Stasey and Emma Watson. All of these examples show the diverse nature in feminist ideologies.

When assessing social media commentary, the mixed messages often seen as "feminist hypocrisy" is one of the main issues raised. The conflicting ideologies of feminism have even spurred the creation of the Hypocritical Feminist meme. This is evident in examples such as the backlash against Kaley Cucuo-Sweeting when she announced she does not identity as feminist. The premise of her not choosing to identify with the movement due to not seeing herself as ever facing gender discrimination was deemed offensive. This contradicts with the feminist ideology that feminism is about freedom of choice for women. There is also inconsistency in the fight against feminists being labeled as man-haters. While many will claim that this is untrue, others who identify as feminist will rally behind many campaigns such as #KillAllMen.

It would seem that for each feminist, there is a new strain of feminism true to that person. This creates a lack of identity with a complete movement. While some feminists take issue with more commonly talked about issues, such as the wage gap or street harassment, others make it a priority to campaign against what many have deemed first world problems. Examples of these are the "Manspreading" campaign, the Shirtstorm fiasco and the Ban Bossy campaign.

The lack of consistency within the movement attracts the negative connotations associated with feminism, which many such as Emma Watson are trying to overpower. Feminisms lack of stability creates a mistrust surrounding the movement, furthering the idea that feminism is no longer relevant in Western society.

If the one true feminist ideology is the belief in a wholly and vastly equal society, the message is not being properly conveyed. Although it is important to note that if the fight is for equality without jeopardizing or attacking others, the label should be unimportant, as should the backlash. If any one person is fighting for the equal rights of each person, the movement that they identify witn should be rendered irrelevant to anyone other than themselves. Simply because feminism has a lack of consistency, does not mean it should be eradicated in general. The fight for equal rights is making leaps and bounds due to many human rights movements and should continue to be taken seriously. However, this should be approached in a respectful and peaceful manner. If a standard of respect can be upheld by feminists as a general statement, it can be assumed that the negative stereotype of the angry, man-hating feminist will dissipate.