Women Against Feminism

The Women Against Feminism[3][4] campaign began on Tumblr in July 2013, presumably in response to the "Who Needs Feminism" campaign.[5][6] According to the BBC, the movement is an online community that use social media to brand 'Feminism' as a 'toxic' movement. Following on the original creator of the Women Against Feminism Tumblr page is an American woman who has chosen to remain anonymous because of online harassment and backlash she has faced for her ideas.[7] Furthermore according to The Daily Dot, the campaign gathered steam in July and August 2014, when several prominent columnists and bloggers brought media attention to it.[8]

A September 12, 2017 post to the Women Against Feminism blog titled "What is Feminism?" maps out the arguments of the blog's supporters. Community member and writer Jinna states "If Women Against Feminism were asked if they believe men and women should have equal human rights and equality before the law, the answer would be a resounding 'Yes'".[9] The blog raises issue with the modern practice of feminism rather than the fundamental definition of feminism for the reason given that "3rd wave feminism is not feminism". It argues that as long as men and women are equal before the law, feminism is unnecessary, fosters misandry, and distracts from men's rights issues.

Major historical movements of women against feminism began in the 19th century. After the “women’s movement” in 1848, created by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who fought for women's right to vote a counterculture, known as first wave antifeminists movements, began. The antifeminists or this era believed the traditional way of life was threatened by the feminist agenda. Antifeminists opposed women's rights in the public and private sphere and labor forces.[10] During the early 20th century another larger opposition was towards Women's Suffrage, In Britain the Anti-Suffrage Review published from 1908 till 1918 expressed some women's hostility to the vote by collective resistance through the 1989 Appeal Against Women's suffrage and later through the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League from 1908 till 1918 and the National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage.The primary arguments for anti-suffragists were that women have no place in the political world and they believed women's obligations and duties would be diminished if there were to participate and that they would be overburdened. Julia Bush notes that "Despite their confidence in womanly strength, and in women’s distinctive contribution towards a successful society, female anti-suffragists were deeply committed to working alongside men. Women’s qualities could only flower within such a collaborative relationship. The idea of a ‘sex war’ (allegedly promoted by the ‘feminists’ and their suffragist allies) was anathema to those who sought a complementary gender role for women within an organic, stable society. ⁴⁹ Many moderate suffragists were also trying hard to avoid fostering hostility between the sexes...Most felt strongly that the complementarity of male and female qualities should be expressed through joint organization for some social and political purposes, but that there were other spheres of public work which belonged either to men or to women alone."[11]

In the late 20th century, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was passed in Congress; this was, at the time, seen as a significant victory for feminists supporting the amendment. However, this amendment only received 35 of the necessary 38 state ratifications, and five state legislatures voted to revoke their ratifications before the deadline on March 22, 1979 (later extended to June 30, 1982). Therefore, the ERA expired and never went into effect, turning the huge win into a loss for supporters of the amendment. This amendment would have granted equal rights and opportunities to, and would have imposed equal duties on, every citizen of the United States, regardless of sex. Phyllis Schlafly was a large contributor and leader of the anti-ERA movement. Among those supporting Phyllis and the anti-ERA movement were high-income men who gained the least with the bill being passed and lost more because women in the workplace would mean more job competition.[12] But there were also other feminists and labor activists like Rose Schneiderman and Myra Wolfgang who fiercely opposed the ERA on the grounds that the amendment would make privileges only extended to women illegal.[13][14] The last demographic group of non-supporters was found to be predominantly uneducated older white citizens who were married.[15] Marabel Morgan's 1973 self-help book The Total Woman, which advocated a regressive manifesto that celebrated male dominance and conservatism, sold more than 10 million copies.

The response by the media, social commentators, and feminists has included support[6][16][17][18] and criticism.[5][19][20] As of 19 August 2014, the campaign's Facebook page had garnered 21,000 "likes".[21]

Supporters say modern feminism has gone astray in some ways and cite examples such as radical feminists not supporting trans women and saying things such as, "anyone born a man retains male privilege in society, even if he chooses to live as a woman",[22] and related complaints that some feminists exaggerate women's problems while ignoring men's problems.[17] Also cited was the abortion debate and the argument that women have suffered as a result of a feminist culture that promotes casual sex as empowering.[22] In an op-ed for The Globe and Mail, Margaret Wente supports Women Against Feminism saying she believes modern feminism has become a belief system that presents a distorted view of reality based on misandry and victim-culture and she questions the existence of rape culture.[6]

Critics say the young women involved in this campaign do not appear to know what feminism is and are arguing against an imaginary foe using straw man arguments.[19][23][24] A commentator from Time writes: "Most of the posts include some reiteration of the central misunderstanding about feminism, that a core belief of feminism involves hating men."[25] A commentator from The Irish Independent wrote, "being anti-feminism is like being pro-apartheid, or a big fan of social injustice, but no one would think it's cute to hold up a sign saying that."[26] While others such as Mackenzie Cockerill note that "a global culture of misogyny is growing and flourishing thanks to the internet and its unprecedented potential for connecting people and their ideas."[27]

Commenting on the campaign, Anette Borchorst, professor and researcher in sex and gender in the Department of Political Science, Aalborg University, stated that "there have always been disagreements and debates within feminism and those debates help to advance the movement." She added that, "Feminism has always generated debate among women and it is difficult to imagine a feminist world-view that everyone can agree on."[21]

Beulah Maud Devaney's September 2015 column on openDemocracy compares Women Against Feminism to the history of women's opposition to feminism dating back to the late 1700s, suggesting that a modern anti-feminist campaign will be just as ineffective in combating the feminist movement as preceding efforts. Devaney asserts that Women Against Feminism mainly represents the view of privileged women who want to maintain the status quo and are, thus, deliberately misrepresenting what feminism stands for. According to Devaney, "As intersectional feminism becomes more popular it is, sadly, to be expected that some white, straight, cis first world women will see the emphasis on their own privilege as an attack. In a similar way feminist calls for a more inclusive beauty standard and appreciation of multiple body types can be read as an attempt to undermine the received wisdom that ‘skinny white girl’ is the ideal aesthetic." Devaney adds that Women Against Feminism has failed to stem public support for the feminist agenda, that its influence is minor, and that its arguments are, "easy to dismiss." Devaney concludes, however, that the anti-feminism it represents deserves closer examination.[28]

In October 2015, Angela Epstein mentioned the blog in an editorial criticizing feminists for being unpleasant to women who disagree with them. Epstein argues that feminists have lost their cause and are fighting unnecessary battles and overplaying issues such as women's “self-imposed glass ceiling”.[29] Recounting her experience of receiving insulting messages after sharing her stance on modern feminism with BBC News, she states, "I don't expect all women to agree with me. But there are many who do. Look no further than the proliferation of websites such as Women Against Feminism."[29]

Recent works such as Oana Crusmac's 'The Social Representation of Feminism within the on-line movement "Women Against Feminism"' argues that social representation of feminism within the WAF on-line movement is not based on lack of information, but rather on a stereotypical understanding of the concept. Crusmac's work also argues that "WAF contributes do not quality as post feminists" as "While post-feminists can be easily identified and characterised by the already famous expression "I am not a feminist, but...", WAF contributes categorically reject ay feminist resemblance and instead prefer either to be labelled as "humanist" or "egalitarian", either to be strong supporters of the traditional gender roles.'[30] Cursmac's research also reveals that social representation of feminism in the on-line group WAF has "numerous common elements with the way the second wave was stereotyped by the 80s media backlash against feminism, such as: feminism is an ideology that demonises men and does not wish equality (which is a goal already accomplished), but special treatment and privileges for women, thereby ignoring the individual contribution in shaping success or decision making. Moreover, in the same direction in common with the negative illustration of the 80s, feminism is seen as a threat to family and womanhood, and as a promoter of promiscuity."[30]

• Hashtag activism
• YesAllWomen
• NotAllMen
• Mens rights movement

• Women Against Feminism on Tumblr
• Postings to #WomenAgainstFeminism on Twitter
• Who Needs Feminism? on Tumblr
• Confused Cats Against Feminism on Tumblr