The Popular Misconception of Feminism

Feminism is the idea of promoting equality, it works towards the values of acceptance, equity, respect and the balance of powers for everyone regardless of gender. So why is there so much negativity surrounding this empowering movement?

The reason is simple: society tends to associate feminism with misandry - hatred or prejudice against men.

In order to explain this popular misconception of feminism better, we would have to go all the way back to at least the 1700s. One of the very first records of members of society advocating for the feminism movement was recorded in the 18th-19th centuries, it was highly controversial and defied social norms. It was not uncommon to identify the patriarchy from recordings of ancient civilisation dating as far back as 3100 B.C, when women were often used as a means of trade between tribes for marriage according to historian Gerda Lerner, it is believed that this established the social norms of male dominance over females. Women were often objectified and granted less power when compared to men in society, especially during the times when discrimination against women was abundant. Needless to say during the 1700s, patriarchy was still very much a highly accepted societal value, it affected the way children were brought up and more importantly, attitudes towards women. Gender inequality back then was as institutionalised, which explains why advocating for feminism was first perceived as a highly frowned-upon movement.

Nowadays, we can see more and more celebrities publicly advocating for gender equality, however amongst them only a small number of influencers identify themselves as feminists. This reaction could be explained by society’s tendency to associate feminism with misandry. Although the feminism movement has become significantly more acceptable and popularised in the 20th and 21st century, we still are unable to completely dissociate the movement from terms such as female superiority or male discrimination.

Taking Korea as an example, back in September, 2019 a group of people, mainly South Korean women, were protesting on the streets demanding a permanent halt to spy cameras and sexual violence after the infamous Burning Sun sex scandal that exposed numerours involved celebrities, politicians and people of high powers in South Korea. Despite Korea’s technological advancements and its dominant influence on modern pop culture, South Korea still remains as a deeply patriarchal country, establishing the grounds for why the culture is so against feminism and feminists. South Korea’s discrimination against women stems from its deep-rooted patriarchal ideologies, it is believed that due to the history of military sexual slavery South Korean women were subjected to during World War II, gender discrimination and stereotypes of weakness and strength, femininity and masculinity were justified, resulting in internalised opppression due to the normalisation in society. One of the many examples of gender discrimination stemming from the patriarchy in South Korea is the wage gap between men and women, it is estimated that men earns up to 33.6%-46.9% more than women in the same field. While the #MeToo movement has motivated a lot more South Korean women to stand up for themselves and identify with the values of feminism, the movement received a momentum of hate from members of the society. Some people there see feminism as a means to unfairly treat and encourage prejudice against men, as they believe the movement promotes associating terms like violence and sexual assault with men. Additionally, the toxic alpha-male dominance, which is when male assume dominance by default in society by associating masculinity with power and strength, is still a respected value that acts as the backbone of South Korea’s patriarchal state.

As seen above, the popular misconception of feminism has led to a wave of hate and opposition in society as they interpret the movement as demanding female superiority and generating prejudice against men when it really advocates for equality and equity instead. In order to put an end to the impacts of the misunderstandings culture to this, a big ambitious step would have to be taken, it will need time and also more people to stand up for the movements values and identify as feminists, to educate and advocate for the correct beliefs. People are not against gender equality, but they are against the term feminism due to its negative connotations. Feminists are not asking for gender superiority, they are advocating for equal rights, powers and respects for everyone regardless of gender. Feminism is the radical notion that both men and women are human beings and are equal, feminism is being against any form of discrimination against both women and men. It’s time we start supporting each other, advocate for equality and equity between everyone and put an end to the popular misconception of feminism.