On social media, you have probably come across videos of women being portrayed as overly aggressive and irrational about a social or political issue. If you scroll down to the comment section, you’ll find a stream of comments like, “Look at how aggressive she is just because someone disagreed with her. Typical feminist,” or “All feminists do is yell and scream without making any sense.” 

I once came across a TikTok video in which a girl passionately explained why she supports feminism. She expressed her desire for a world where women are treated better and have equal opportunity. However, the comment section was flooded with arguments claiming that women already have plenty of rights and accusing feminists of ignoring the need for men to be treated equally. Some comments went further, suggesting that feminists exaggerate minor issues and call the feminist speaker a “man-hater”.

People who comment like this are simply revealing their stupidity. Being aggressive and irrational aren’t characteristics of feminists. If people only encounter feminist movements through social media comments, it’s likely to foster increased hatred and perpetual misunderstandings towards feminists. 

What’s worse, most people don’t even care about these negative consequences, they simply don’t consider it any of their business.

The real meaning of feminism

While many people criticize feminists by making sarcastic comments on social media, they often fail to understand the true meaning of feminism. 

Feminism advocates for gender equality, ensuring that women receive equal treatment regardless of their gender. In promoting women’s rights, feminism does not imply hatred towards men or a desire to undermine their rights. Instead, it seeks to create a balanced society where everyone is treated fairly.

For example, Emma Watson’s HeForShe campaign emphasized that feminism isn’t about hating men but about creating a society that treats people equally regardless of their gender. 

I’ve encountered classmates who disagree with the feminist movement because they assume it’s about wanting women to dominate men. Thankfully, after I told them that feminism is just about fairness, they can accept different opinions and have slowly come to agree with the actual ideas feminism supports. 

Feminist = angry women?

The idea that feminists are “angry women” is widespread on social media. When you hear the word “feminist,” do you feel that arguing with them is pointless because they don’t have logic and can be overly emotional over an opposing opinion? That’s also what I used to think.

However, feminism isn’t irrational. Just because you see a video of a woman being loud and not making sense doesn’t mean she represents the feminist movement. Every social movement has outspoken supporters who say dumb things. That doesn’t mean they speak for the whole movement. 

But more importantly,  if a video shows a woman being emotional when arguing about gender equality, it doesn’t mean she lacks logic or loves picking fights. It might just mean she cares deeply about the topic. 

Women being passive is a stereotype. We can also be aggressive about opinions we care about, but it doesn’t mean we are “irrational.” The truth is, when men do the same, society tends to see them as passionate, confident, or even powerful, like Bernie Sanders sounds when talking about income inequality. 

Men and women both advocate for equal rights, but the way we’re treated for doing so is not the same. 

Why social media is making it worse

Social media can be a hostile environment for feminists because of its algorithms. For instance, say you liked a video in which a person says feminists just start shouting when someone points out flawed logic to them. The algorithm will assume you find this kind of video engaging and will start suggesting videos where people criticize feminists. 

I’ve experienced this firsthand. After watching and liking a video that criticized feminists for being overly sensitive, my social media feed was flooded with similar content. The algorithm assumed I agreed with these views, but my initial engagement was not about agreeing with anti-feminist opinions but agreeing that the conversation was illogical. I didn’t mean to imply that all feminists are illogical or aggressive or that I generally disagree with feminists.

If you agree with or like just one of these negative opinions, the algorithm will assume you endorse this kind of content. This is a problem because while the algorithm is doing its job to promote content the platform thinks you like, it can also cause coercion and osmosis of opinions, making you hate feminists. This is how so many boys have become radicalized against feminism. You’re blindly accepting what you see online. 

Over time, you are becoming one of the antis, agreeing with negative social media comments about feminists. This cycle can lead to a lack of informed understanding and further polarization.

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Social media is a toxic place where ignorant people speak with confidence about feminism without knowing what it is. They work to convince us that all feminists are irrational. The next time you carelessly agree with a negative comment towards feminism, try to understand the feminist movement first. Don’t create further polarization by blindly accepting everything the media – or someone random on TikTok – tells you. 

Feminism is about equality. Stop believing feminism is aggressive and illogical. Because if feminists don’t stand up for women’s rights, who will?