The Shortcomings of Feminism
When feminism turns to shaming, it loses focus
March 9, 2018
Feminism: a word that has been marketed so many times that teenagers today hardly know what it means. All of us are aware that feminism is about equality; however, the actions of the movement today have many wondering what feminism’s current focus is. What once started as a courageous fight to break the silence of social injustice for women has transformed into over-Instagrammed chaos with an unclear message.
According to the Women’s March website, the organization’s mission is to “harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change.” Well, what more “social change” needs to be done exclusively for women? Women have proven that they are powerful, that they matter just as much as men, and that they deserve equal rights.
Here are some of the reasons why many don’t support the feminist movement, according to Forbes: it’s associated with angry women, men will lose everything (from influence, authority, and economic opportunities), feminists want to “control the world and put men down,” they want to break away from ‘honored’ traditions, which many find scary, and feminism will cause negative tides in business, marriage, and society.
Modern feminism has swapped the fight for human rights (which we’ve already earned in the Western world) to the fight for self-empowerment. Selfishness, power, money, and competition lie at the core of the movement. Feminists focus on how many higher degrees they’ve earned, how much money they make, how high they are in the corporate world. Power feels good and they’ve gotten sidetracked by it. While achieving these goals is not unimportant, they aren’t all that matters. All of these factors are traditional indicators of patriarchal success, not feminist success.
While empowerment is an admirable quality to promote, feminists are going about this the wrong way: by only focusing on ourselves, we don’t think about how to help all women. We women should ask ourselves how we can structurally change the government rather than post a tumblr picture on Instagram about how much we should be confident in ourselves. While those posts make you feel good, they last only for a certain amount of time, achieving little in the long run. Women have long outnumbered men, but I don’t see our society becoming any more compassionate and genuine.
The issues that the Western world faces today include sexual harassment, rape, assault, stereotyping, stalking, trafficking. While many people perceive these problems as affecting women exclusively, please understand this: any form of harm can happen to anyone, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. All kinds of humans are facing these difficult issues. One in six men and 44% of LGBT youth have been sexually abused in some way. These issues are not solely about women, and “feminism” is not the correct banner under which we should fight against them.
Feminists have created a culture of fear in which many of us feel afraid to speak our opinions. Some feminists shame and silence people who politely disagree with them. Yes, I agree that some men are extremely rude and deserve to be called out, but often such attacks are overreactions. People make mistakes and jokes are sometimes interpreted as insults.
I believe in taking a stand against these hard-to-tackle issues whose effects go beyond women. Like Halsey said in her speech at the NYC Women’s March this past January, there are still wars to be won. But we must remember that all kinds of people, regardless of gender, color, and sexual orientation, are victims of violence and harassment. If feminists wish to grow their base, they must make their values more clear, be more open to differing opinions, and focus less on patriarchal values.
Roshie Xing • Oct 10, 2018 at 6:51 pm
I thought that your article was a thoughtful look at some of the shortcomings of feminism. I do agree that today, feminism seems to have been co-opted by a specific white, cis, straight sect of the movement that is often blind to the intersectionality necessary for true progress. However, as a feminist, I do not see these problems as something used to dismiss the concept but rather an argument to reform it, to be more intersectional in our consideration of other voices. I see feminism as fighting for a world in which men and women are freer, unburdened by the rigid expectations that society has forced upon both genders. Toxic masculinity, for example, a concept that teaches boys to be emotionless and assertive and girls to be acquiescent, has impressed upon generations a way of life that excuses sexual misconduct and entrenches us in traditional gender roles. And I have to question your critique of feminists as too outspoken, for creating a culture in which others fear to speak up. Maybe those images of sexual assault survivors confronting senators as they walk, yelling into microphones in protest seem uncomfortable because we as a society believe female anger to be taboo. Maybe we dismiss angry women as shrill, anti-men, or hysterical because we’re not used to it. And maybe women yell because they are frustrated that for centuries, they have only mattered when convenient.
Additionally, the problem with dismissing pure economic success, for example, is that without representation, “female” matters go unheard. It’s why even today, we’re debating whether the Violence Against Women Act should be reauthorized. It’s why there’s still no Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution or why thousands of rape kits go untested and prosecutors (mostly male) decline to press charges for rape. It’s why studies have shown that female pain is deprioritized in hospitals, why the US has the worst maternal mortality rate in the developing world (when the focus in childbirth is rarely on the mother), and why contraception and equal health care access are still problems for women. It’s why most companies have no paid family leave policies, whether maternal or paternal, or why women have to fear being fired or demoted after giving birth, because without women in power, these issues have simply never mattered. We know that women deserve equal rights, we just don’t have them in practice. Finally, to your argument on overreactions, I can see your point. Some statements are made genuinely in jest and not intended for harm. But think about how joking about rape or assault affects a victim of sexual assault. Think about how joking about lack of consent contributes to a culture that permits the lack of consent. Overreactions and analyzing the effects of such lighthearted or innocuous comments seems to serve a better purpose than allowing them to feed a culture that demeans.
So yes, when women like Senator Mazie Hirono or Halsey at the women’s march tell men to “shut up” and listen to women speak, it can seem abrasive. But women’s voices have been suppressed for so long that the only way to be noticed is to shout. It’s the only way for men to realize the daily indignities and fears that women have to live through. And it’s the only way for our experiences to be heard, because from Hollywood to news reporting to governance, our lives have been shaped under the male gaze (and, as we are finding out, a male gaze that sees women as lesser objects to exert power over). Women are thus now fighting back–for themselves and, at least with regards to the feminist movement that I know, for others who have similarly been oppressed–and to a culture that has enforced a silence upon them, it does feel overwhelming.