02/10/2015

Misrepresentation of feminism?

Whilst doing a good old Google search for some reference imagery, I came across this picture.
Initially, I thought it looked interesting and had a nice little summary of each wave underneath - until I reached the description of the third wave feminist. I have to say I strongly disagree and I'm actually a little bit gobsmacked. I went to the page where it was originally posted (blog here) and I actually couldn't believe that this person truly believed this about feminists today. 
The author writes that third wave feminists are typically "privileged, middle-class, suburban white girls" and claims "feminism is now about female superiority, misandry" and "anything that puts men in a bad spotlight". Towards the end of the article the author goes on to say that they do identify as a feminist, but not that type of feminist. 
In my opinion, this person is hugely misinformed about the movement. They see websites such as Tumblr and Facebook as a "breeding ground" for that 'type' of feminist, but why is this a bad thing? For the most part, the author is just describing misandry (are they forgetting misogyny also exists?). Misandry is not a part of feminism - it is about the equality of the sexes, so issues for all genders are addressed. If feminists throughout history had the technology and connectivity we have today, perhaps things would have progressed more quickly. Having platforms such as Tumblr or Facebook to write about a movement and ultimately spread it across the globe has allowed these ideologies to reach places they never would have previously. As the internet is such a huge part of our lives now, I think it is so important to use it to promote change or challenge society. 
It seems like the author of this blog is taking examples of extreme ideals and interpreting it as a representation of everybody (something that happens a lot with religion too!). Just because someone screams the loudest, doesn't mean they are the majority. 

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