110042026

Sarah
Cause and Effect Essay:
Why Some People Hate Feminism

Intro

*One in three men believe feminism does more harm than good (globally)
*Fewer women identify themselves as feminist even though they believe the value
of gender equality.

Thesis: Antifeminism is a structural issue, which not only results from the
misconception of feminism’s pursuit but also manifest in the culture of misogyny.

Cause:

I. Misunderstanding: They don’t really understand the core values of

feminism---- which is about equality of men and women
a. Emma Wasson’s example (sexuality)
II. Fear/Anger: Many people fear that feminism will mean that men will
eventually lose out – of power, influence, impact, authority, and control, and
economic opportunities. *Shift to point III
a. Fixed gender roles and stereotypes (Masculine culture)
b. What is Patriarchy and how it works.

III. Fear/anger + Punishment: Feminism is associated with strong, forceful, and

angry women, and society continues to punish that.
a. Patriarchy *Shift to point II (social phenomenon)
b. Hegemonic Masculinity
IV. Effect:
Misogyny has been rampant in our society.
For examples: Slut-shaming, male gaze/ 女權自助餐、洗碗機、霸社……
 Conclusion:
How can we change?
TA: for women to not be persuaded by patriarchal men

Draft

What things come to our mind when we hear the word “feminism”? It’s the

legal term like “equal work equal pay”, strong waves of sexual liberation and

#metoo movement, or just another ideology stirring up the polarization between

different genders? According to statistics, one in three men believe feminism does

more harm than good; what’s more, fewer women identify themselves as feminist

even though they believe the value of gender equality. In open discussion, some

would label feminism as “went too far” or “over-demanding”, and this impression

somehow extends to the length to the phenomenon of “antifeminism.” As the

matter of fact, patriarchy does exist today; more importantly, antifeminism is a

structural issue worthy of attention, which not only results from the misconception

of feminism’s pursuit, but also manifest itself in the culture of misogyny.

On the surface, antifeminism often comes from minor misunderstanding. In

the era of social media, people are equipped with medium to voice their opinions;

at the same time, they are also bombarded with tons of information, and this
creates unfriendly online environment, where key focus often being distorted in

sensational way to incite hatred from different groups. The most common myth of

feminism is to see it as a single ideology for one group’s benefits; on the contrary,

there are many strands of feminism being proposed. They came from different

historical contexts, the legal status of women in certain countries, or other factors,

and these brought about different routes to achieve different goals; for example,

women’s political participation in early times, equal access to employment and

education in liberal feminism, control over their body and identity in radical

feminism... But the core value of feminism is not just about promoting women’s

welfare but bringing the revolution to advocate for gender equality and dismantle

the systemic oppression against women and other marginalized genders. Overall, it

is a social, political, and cultural movement, trying to create a society where all

individuals, regardless of their gender, have equal rights, opportunities, and

freedoms. As we can see, what feminism pursues often being misunderstood as a

vicious way to make women more superior to men, and we must identify that this

idea is wrong.

Secondly, the constant trend of feminism brings another question: Why

should we need this? Does any gender inequality still exist nowadays? Sadly, the

answer is yes. According to a survey in 2020, about half of Americans say granting

women the right to vote has been the most important milestone in advancing the
position of women in the country. Still, most U.S. adults say the country hasn’t

gone far enough when it comes to giving women equal rights with men. “The

crucial elements of patriarchy as we currently experience them are heterosexual

marriage, female childbearing and housework, women’s economic dependence on

men, and institutions based on social relations among men—clubs, sports,

unions… churches, and armies,” quoted from a strong claim from Marxist

feminism, rethinking the social role of women in industrialized times, which is

subordinate comparing to men. As we mentioned above, it is “socialized notion”,

not comes from biologically thinking---- Woman is not born to be a woman but

taught by society to “become” a socially approved woman. And this also reminds

me of a slogan called “the personal is political”, proposed during the second wave

of feminism in the 1960s and 1970s, which emphasizes that personal experiences,

particularly those related to gender and sexuality, are inherently political and

reflect larger societal power dynamics. This suggests that the struggles and issues

faced by individual women are not just private matters but are in fact shaped by

larger societal structures and power relations. For example, a woman who

experiences domestic violence may initially see it as a personal problem between

herself and her abuser, but feminists argue that this violence is part of a larger

pattern of gender-based violence that is supported and perpetuated by patriarchal

power structures in society. From previous times, feminine traits have often seen
useless or flawed; for example, in Freud’s theory, the development of femininity is

originally a flaw, because women don’t have penis, and it somehow shows how a

masculine culture being intensified and become a reality, but in fact this is not

from science but by social construction. When we faced with injustice, people

sometimes overlook the influence of cultural construction embedded in society,

and this keeps necessary changes from happening. Personal is political, the reality

we experience is often what the environment constructs for us, and this must be

seen and identified, not being labeled as “normal”, which is partly feminism doing

for better goods for the society as a whole package.

“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their

feet off our necks.”, said Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one prior Associate Justices of the

Supreme Court of the United States. Finally, someone speaks out the truth, and this

all came back to the masculine culture/society, one that stresses different

expectations for men and women; men are expected to be assertive, competitive,

and focused on material success. Women are expected to be nurturing and focused

on people and quality of life. And this is what feminism want to tackle, ideas

constructed to stop individuals from pursuing what they desire, no matter the

career path or personal representation of themselves; ideas that strengthen the

value of binary opposition instead of showing the possibilities in diverse spectrum;

ideas that judges one’s value not from his or her character but gender
classification. Unfortunately, this is not all people’s ideal, some of them may fear

that feminism will mean that men will eventually lose out – of power, influence,

impact, authority, and control, and economic opportunities. Or even worse, there’s

a bunch of sounds keep punishing this kind of revolution, because feminism is

associated with strong, forceful, and angry women, whom others want to silence.

Later, there’s a huge echo assemble to call those feminists to shut up or even label

them as “mad women” or some problems need to fix. And this is what we see in

the culture of misogyny---- the ones holding the misogynic belief would classify

women into two types, one is good and another is bad and totally wrong, and

constantly jeer at those don’t follow the “rules”; for example, they may call women

“dish-doing machine” to emphasis the idea that women should stay at kitchen and

do “their responsibility” or criticize women who are sexually harassed that “they

wear so less that a man should have a bad idea of hers.”

As mentioned above, there are three reasons why some people would hold so

much bad impressions on “feminism”; including the misconception of feminism

itself, the patriarchy perpetuated in society and constructing the reality, and

unfriendly reaction from the misogynic side. Compared to previous days, we do

have more freedoms and opportunities, but there are still rooms for improvement to

reach the equality. What we must bear in mind is that if “personal is political”, then
political things are often start from personal ideas, so what we can do is do not let

other voices to tell us what should we become, but fight for what we truly deserve.