I was on Facebook the other day when I came across an increasingly popular Facebook group called “Women Against Feminism”. Intrigued I visited their page to find out what they were all about.

“Women Against Feminism” is a page where women are posting their responses to modern feminism and “its toxic culture”. Its Facebook page currently has 21,761 likes and if you visit it you will find hundreds of pictures of women from around the world holding up pieces of paper/ notepads with a list of reasons as to why they are against feminism; a kind of anti-feminism selfie if you like. This movement is not only on .com/WomenAgainstFeminism/timeline">Facebook but also on .com/womagainstfem">Twitter and .com/">Tumblr. Many of the photos mention how “not all men are rapists,” how “women are not victims of society,” and how these women “refuse to demonize the entity of the male gender”. Yet, the one that I found most shocking was: “I don’t need feminism because I feel more oppressed by feminists than by men”. This really puzzled me and made me think hard about the role and actions of feminists, thus motivating me to do some research.

The definition of feminism, provided by .com/definition/english/feminism">Oxford dictionaries, is: “The advocacy (public support) of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes,” and personally I feel that this is a good definition for what feminism used to be. Feminist movements and campaigns have changed societies, particularly Western ones, by achieving equal voting rights and pay, reproductive rights (notably access to contraceptives and abortions), as well as the right to own property for women. Thus, I think it’s fair to say that without movements like the Suffragettes and the NOW, gender equality, especially in the Western world, wouldn’t be at the stage it is today.

Nonetheless, I do feel like the tables have turned slightly and that men are in need of a movement fighting for their gender equality. This might sound absurd and many would strongly disagree and yes it does sound strange at the moment but as a woman posted on the “Women Against Feminism” Tumblr blog: “Women already get it easier, they get released from police custody faster, get lesser sentences in court, and until recently got cheaper car insurance!” Despite her slightly comical ending example, she has highlighted some of the cracks appearing in gender equality.

As for feminism oppressing women, I turn to look at the circumstances in the developing world and focus on the very complicated topic of the burka. While doing some research on this topic I found a really interesting blog post discussing the burka and feminism. Many non-Islamic and Islamic feminists believe that Muslim women are being oppressed by men and forced to wear the burka, consequently robbing them of their right to freedom of choice. They are pushing for Governments to ban the burka to give Muslim women the freedom of choice. France’s ‘burka ban’ was introduced in 2010 and it makes it illegal for anyone to cover their face in a public place (this includes burkas as well as balaclavas and hoods).

However, there are some Muslim women who say that they choose the wear the burka and this is where it gets complicated, as feminists fighting for the ‘burka ban’ to give some women their right to choose are subsequently robbing it from others; oppressing them. Moreover, some extreme feminists claim that those women have been “brainwashed” and are “lying,” thus trying to force their views on those women and disregarding their point of view.

Overall, this is a very difficult, yet interesting topic to discuss, and many articles have been written about “Women Against Feminism” including one from a Danish newspaper which has a very neutral outlook and the .com/posteverything/wp/2014/08/18/women-who-hate-on-feminists-hurt-all-women/">Washington Post which is mainly a criticism of the ideology of anti-feminists. Therefore, if you want to do some extra reading yourself please check them out.




.com/WomenAgainstFeminism/timeline">facebook.com/WomenAgainstFeminism/timeline




.com/womagainstfem">twitter.com/womagainstfem




.com/">womenagainstfeminism.tumblr.com/




pol-check.blogspot.be/2011/04/do-muslim-women-want-to-wear-burka.html




go.tv2.dk/2014-08-19-nu-g%C3%A5r-kvinder-selv-til-kamp-mod-feminismen




.com/posteverything/wp/2014/08/18/women-who-hate-on-feminists-hurt-all-women/">washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/08/18/women-who-hate-on-feminists-hurt-all-women/