**It's been a bad few days for feminism. Radical magazine Feminist Times announced its last week of publishing and now, the Internet has seen ‘Women Against Feminism’ go viral. So what's with this new wave of anti-feminism? Zoe Beaty reports…
‘“This is what an anti-feminist looks like’. That was the message on pictures circulating the web, standing up boldly against women’s rights. Two things were proved in the process: 1) white board slacktivism should die a death and 2) sadly, many women don’t know what feminism is. And all on Emmeline Pankhurst’s birthday.
Of course, it's always great to see girls who are confident enough to publically stand up for what they believe in (credit, ironically, to feminism) but it's their idea of feminism - and women in society – that seems to be dangerously flawed.
The members of the ‘Women Against Feminism’ Facebook page, who have proudly posted pictures of themselves against signs like ‘I don’t need feminism because I can own up to the mistakes I’ve made in my life" and "I don’t have to blame them on the completely fictional ‘Particarchy”’- say they believe in equality, not feminism.
Many add that they don’t need feminism ‘because I am not a victim’. But what if you are a victim? The page details countless and varying attitudes towards feminism, but the most worrying thing is their assumption that feminists are exaggerating the threat against women.
One member posted a naked picture of herself next to a sign that reads ‘I don’t need feminism because getting drunk and having sex with a stranger is just irresponsibility NOT RAPE’. Let’s stop for a second and take in some of the very real statistics here. In this country alone, 69,000 women - and 9,000 men - were raped last year, and a staggering one in five women have been the victim of a sexual offence or attempted offence.
In reality, what’s clear from this week’s online outburst is that the meaning of the word is agonizingly misunderstood - and a huge step back in achieving equality that, feminist or not, everyone seems to be striving for.”
So what's your experience of feminism? Take a look at the Facebook page and let us know what you think @Grazia_Live.