Kylie Grunsfeld, Staff Columnist
In her novel “Communion,” author Bell Hooks famously wrote, “trashing feminism has become as commonplace as chatting about the weather.”
“Communion” was published in 2002, but this sentiment continues to be true today. With the presence of the internet, it has become more prevelant than ever before.
The feminist movement is an easy target to trivialize for those who do not wish for further change. “Women got what they wanted!” they say. “They can do all the things a man can do! So why are they still complaining?”
There have been multiple generations of the feminist movement, each wave attempting to make women more equal to men in practice. We have come a long way since women were considered literal property. However, it was also only as late as 1974 when women were finally allowed to open a bank account without a man’s signature.
The ownership of women may technically be a thing of the past, but it was a recent past. The idea that women can make a life for themselves is still a relatively new idea.
There are still many things that need fixing, but necessary change is something that a lot of people do not want to accept. Many do not want to give up the unchecked power of being male in a patriarchal society. What better way to keep your standing by making sure those you step on never make it out from under your boot?
When you want to delegitimize a movement, the easiest thing to target is language. Make a joke out of the terms associated with a real, pressing issue, and the issue itself becomes a joke.
We’ve seen the delegitimization of terms like “girlboss,” “girl power,” “mansplaining” — even “#MeToo.”
Take, for example, “mansplaining.” This term has unfortunately gone through a distortion since its genesis.
It was created to denote the common phenomenon in which a man explains something already known to a woman, automatically assuming that she must not understand it as thoroughly as he does. At best, being “mansplained” to is a pet peeve. At worst, it enforces the idea that women are less intelligent than men, or that they need to be taught by the more knowledgeable, more capable gender.
Despite this, I cannot think of a time recently where I have heard the term said without irony or genuine distaste. Somehow, “mansplaining” has become a laughing matter. It has effectively been turned against women — just another example of how overdramatic and man-hating we are.
“Memeifying” — or making a joke out of — feminist language is the first step in shutting it down.
People will not be concerned about something they do not take seriously. When every piece of terminology associated with feminism — including the word “feminism” itself — is reduced to eye-roll-inducing nonsense, what hope do we have of making the world see the reality of women’s plights?
The commodification of certain words does not help. Terms like “girlboss” and “girl power” have been scooped up by companies that want to make a penny off of women’s desire to be taken seriously, specifically in professional settings.
“Girlboss” definitely leaves a weird taste in my mouth. It evokes the image of a cheap desk placard or a fast fashion pantsuit.
But behind all of this are working women who want to be respected the way a man would be. Men still hold an overwhelmingly large percentage of powerful positions in corporate America.
It’s a shame these specific terms have become laughingstocks — I can imagine, once upon a time, they were actually really empowering.
For many, the words “feminist” and “feminism” are synonymous with misandry; a woman who seeks equality surely must want to put down a man to get there. It is true that many feminist women are tired of men, and see the feminist movement as a means of retaliation. This is not the case for everyone.
By assigning all feminist women this ideology, the word feminist itself becomes another word for man-hater. Feminists are crazy, woke and unreasonable, and therefore subject to jokes made at their expense constantly.
But if you say someone wants equality for women, one does not necessarily imagine the same thing they do when envisioning a feminist. Clearly, it is the term itself that carries the negative associations.
Don’t let people’s ridicule of feminist language distract from why it needed to be coined in the first place. The words themselves are not the point. It is the misogynist actions, phenomena and mindsets that they seek to bring to light.