The Relationship Between ‘Pop Feminism’ and Modern Anti-Feminist Rhetoric

By Ellie Robbins

The mid to late 2010s were a weird time for women’s rights. It became a lot more acceptable to openly consider oneself a feminist after Gamergate, #MeToo, and the Women’s Marches brought a fresh perspective on pressing issues that had too long been sidelined. We began to recognise that the movement needs to focus on being more intersectional and inclusive of groups often overshadowed by the voices of white women. Yet as a result of feminism becoming more and more part of everyday conversation, an anti-feminist counterculture spawned. 

The form of feminism that this counterculture takes offense to is the kind which dominated the scene in the ‘BuzzFeed’ era. The neoliberal feminism with just the right amount of ‘radical’ actions to deem themselves activists and to make their point heard by all through controversy. Think boob mugs, #feminism shirts, and so on. It’s criticised by intersectional feminists for taking a trivialised view of women’s issues, often reducing them to cisgender and heteronormative gestures of womanhood. Videos like “Women Paint with their Period Blood” come to mind. This was not satirical – to them, it was activism. 

I refer to this type of feminism as ‘pop feminism’. It’s an amalgamation of the movement focusing mostly on the issues of white, cis, ‘girlboss’ women and has a tendency to overshadow discussions due to its cultural prominence. Pop feminism is surface level, narrow-minded, and tends not to be especially critical in thought. “White feminism”, as it is sometimes referred to, has generally slowed down. BuzzFeed, after waning in overall popularity and respect, has moved towards more intersectional approaches and seems to have laid off the shock-value feminist performances of the past. But as Claire Wolf questioned in Revel Magazine: “Greater exposure for a social movement is typically a good thing, though, right?”

Young, mostly cis men already predisposed to sexist beliefs felt, and still do feel, ‘triggered’ by this form of pop feminism that is perpetuated on the internet. Let me make it clear that this isn’t to say that feminism must ever alter itself to make men comfortable. The common belief in these circles is that feminism is no longer about tackling gender inequality anyway, but that it has become a means to enforce a so-called ‘female supremacy’. So ALL forms of women’s activism will make them uncomfortable. Perhaps they even believe that women have more rights than men nowadays. Kristen J. Anderson writes in her book on modern anti-feminism: “a key feature of modern anti-feminism is the cornerstone belief that the work of the feminism movement is done and that feminism itself has become obsolete. [...] Modern anti-feminism tells us that those who still complain about inequality just don’t like men.” 

Some men (and women with internalised patriachal and misogynistic ideals) saw a hyperbolic, in your face style of feminism as proof that the movement had become superfluous. This then took off in these circles because it is so easy to make fun of. In my research, I found that even infamous alt-right personality Milo Yiannopolous has covered the period painting video on his poor excuse of a news site. The people that I have mentioned are more likely to consume media which present these opinions in a negative but comedic light, making the association of feminism with mockery set in stone. 

Because what else could these women possibly want? 

‘Social Justice Warrior’ is a term that has gained popularity as a result of this pop feminism online. Looking up a definition to present here took me to some rather passive aggressive descriptions, but I managed to find this one by dictionary.com: “a contemptuous term for a person who advocates a progressive orthodoxy, often on the internet, especially involving the treatment of ethnic, racial, gender, or gender-identity minorities.” Fighting for social justice should be a positive thing, yet this term has some strong negative and political connotations. Aja Romano, Vox writer, sees the ‘SJW’ label as “a huge and successful weapon in the alt-right’s arsenal; it paints feminists as manipulative, oversensitive, shrill women who attack men with claims of sexism at the tiniest of provocations”.

Another interview by Vox with vocal ‘Men’s Rights Activists’ revealed an interesting insight into what they believe feminism to be. One said: “feminism means ‘everybody is equal,' but if you said that now, these social justice warriors on Tumblr would call you sexist and garbage and tell you to die.” The interview was conducted in 2015, but many of these sentiments have only grown in popularity. Many believe that being a straight, white, cis man is the worst crime imaginable; that manspreading is a heinous act; that you can’t look at, or talk to, or even approach a woman without being denounced as a rapist. Obviously, these are exaggerated non-issues that don’t exist in the beliefs of the feminist majority. Yet to the modern anti-feminist, it is at the core of feminist ideology. And pop feminism's somewhat aggressive stance towards men only proves this to be true to the anti-feminist.

There’s a part of me that can understand where these young men are coming from, and as a feminist it’s extremely frustrating. Their only representation of feminism is through the pages and pages of content that is so easily mocked and dissected. All potentially valid points are thrown out because of the created stigma of ‘SJW’ or ‘snowflake propaganda’. Many women’s (myself included) understandable fear of men’s power over our lives is equated with hating all men.

What remains now is a group of people who feel disdain for a growing movement, that in their eyes is directly antagonising them and, by their accounts, has no real need to exist anymore. Pop feminism simply proves to them that the whole feminist plight is as trivial as what they see online. Many of the ideas that ‘BuzzFeed feminists’ presented may actually have been really significant, but the way that they presented them turned people away from the movement for good.