A Necessary Education On Neofeminism
This article is the web version of the Lexington Line A/W 19 print edition article. Icon photography is done by Rachael Lieberman.
Okay, I know I’ll probably get myself into some trouble here, but we all need to sit down and talk. Neofeminism, also known as fifth-wave feminism, is a symptom of a much bigger, more grotesque disease.
For those of you who do not know me, I am a self-proclaimed raging feminist. Am I encouraged to boast my clear biases in print? Probably not. But it’s crucial for context. Women are incredible and deserve equality. Feels like women are not asking for too much here.
Here’s the thing. The speedy rise of any one thing can rear a painful, well-intentioned-but-awfully-executed second head. With feminism has come neofeminism. Let’s compare the definitions of each briefly:
Fem·i·nism
noun
the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.
(extracted from the Oxford English Dictionary)
Neo·fem·i·nism
noun
an emerging view of women as becoming empowered through the celebration of attributes perceived to be conventionally feminine, that is, it glorifies a womanly essence over claims to equality with men.
(extracted from the Feminist Interpretations of Simone de Beauvoir)
To break down the difference for you, feminism is a movement advocating for equal rights between men and women (which has evolved into all sexes in recent years), which is a vital movement worth supporting. Neofeminism, my friends, is the glorification of women. It is, in layman’s terms, female supremacy.
I won’t pretend that I don’t know where this gross over-corrective action is coming from. I do. Being a woman is quite awful sometimes. Correction: Being anything besides a man is awful sometimes. I understand, as most women can, the incessant need to balance the scales by going in the completely opposite direction. However, I also understand that if I know men at all, if I know humanity at all, going completely one way or another based on passion alone always makes things worse (politicians, please take notes).
I don’t want anyone to think I’m attacking feminism, or this current fifth-wave of alleged recalibration. I’m only requesting reconsideration of the ill-informed efforts taking place. Consider the “Men Are Trash” movement that undeniably has stemmed from neofeminism. “Men Are Trash” is an extension of cancel culture, which has debatably gone too far. While the effects of cancel culture can rightfully crucify celebrity criminals like R. Kelly, Harvey Weinstein, or Bill Cosby, it can also unfairly condemn people who have only made common mistakes or had remarkably misunderstood experiences.
“Men Are Trash” began as a lighthearted joke about dating, but turned into a serious daily mantra about life. But the issue with this is that, unfortunately, there are no absolutes in this life we live.
Sure, it’s easier to blame the face of the disease, the men considered perpetrators on the surface level. It’s easier to put a huge bandage on a gushing open wound than it is to go to the hospital and ask why it won’t stop bleeding. But, not to ask the blatantly obvious follow-up question, does that wound ever heal if you don’t disinfect it?
Like I said earlier, where one head rises, so does another. Where there is feminism, there is antifeminism (if you can believe it). With one extremity comes another: where third-wave feminism from the 1990s focused on women gaining identity apart from object status, its objectors focused on maintaining that women remain domestic creatures. If fifth-wave feminism focuses on cancelling everyone who doesn’t check all the right boxes (minority, gender, sexual orientation), its antithesis focuses on antifeminist women putting men on a pedestal and denouncing their rights.
Two heads. One extremity meets another.
We aren’t focused enough, and we aren’t fighting the right people. We aren’t fighting against the right group, and we aren’t making much headway because of it. You want equality? It’s not just limited to the white dude who’s the CEO of a major corporation. It’s the corporation itself. It’s the system that allows white supremacy, racism, and sexism to be the norm. It’s the big companies and establishments that reinforce regressive ideologies. It’s a government run by and for the wealthy; it’s the money. Our voices somehow always get drowned out by the sound of a ca-ching.
The real conversations needing more coverage in the mainstream media are the ones about the corporate model of capitalism itself, the exploitation of labor, the endless goals of profit over people. Think about it.
There will always be a good fight to keep fighting, and there will always be people to fight against. The way to win isn’t by screaming into the void about how you’re right and they’re wrong taking every given opportunity you can to be angry. The way is to begin to question the underlying structures that enforce the culture wars, and who’s getting a cut every time we’re too busy yelling at each other to notice.