Why Feminism = Equality and Feminism ≠ Misandry

I rolled my eyes as I saw the first post pop up on my newsfeed after logging into Facebook this
morning; one of my acquaintances who also happened to be a Facebook friend had posted a
long, impassioned paragraph condemning the feminist movement. The status contained the
usual; details of how the author thinks that feminists want to control the world and put men
down. At one point in the paragraph, the author said something along the lines of being all for
equal rights but disagreed with feminist ideologies. It immediately struck me that there are so
many people who likely believe in equal rights but have trouble associating with feminism and
find ‘feminism’ a word and movement that does not align with their personal beliefs or values.

The dictionary definition of feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the
equality of the sexes. Yet, many people seem to have problems with the name, ‘Why not
humanism?’ ‘Why not just advocate for equal rights for both men and women instead of just
women?’ are sentences we hear all too often.

‘Feminism is about justice for everyone, but you have to name a problem, and the problem is
that it is women who have been excluded, so we need to call it what it is.’ Nigerian writer and
feminist icon Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said during an interview on The Daily Show with
Trevor Noah. That, I believe explains fully why feminism is called what it is called.

If feminism is about equality and justice for all, then why do so many hate the term feminism and
the feminist movement? Firstly, many people believe that feminism will mean that men will
eventually lose out on power, influence, authority, and economic opportunities. Secondly, many
people believe that feminism will eradicate religious beliefs, time-honored traditions, and
long-established gender roles; these changes may come across as too radical for the liking of
many people. Lastly, many people fear that feminism will bring about negative shifts in
relationships, marriage, society, and culture. The most important of these reasons is, however,
that feminism is often misinterpreted as man-hating or misandry.

It is frustrating to see that feminism, a movement that strives to free people from the shackles of
toxic patriarchy being misunderstood in this way. This misunderstanding originates from the fact
that feminists so often tend to criticize men and their actions. What must be understood here is
that patriarchy, being a social system that places men in a position of authority over women, will
inevitably cause many women to be oppressed by men, sometimes even without the man
realizing what he has done wrong.

Another reason why feminism is wrongly thought of as misandry is that women are expected to
be soft-spoken and subservient and respect the rules traditional gender norms have placed on
them. So, naturally, when women choose to angrily speak up against social injustice, they are
seen as obnoxious and aggressive, which most people consider a sign of hostility towards men.
It is important that people understand that being a feminist essentially means advocating for
equal rights and endeavoring to tear down the patriarchal social structure. Misandry or
man-hating has nothing to do with it.