The Angry Feminist

abstract

A modern feminist meditates on prototypical female figures and their contribution to the feminist social justice movement. The prototypical female figure is analysed from the perspective of behaviour through the lens of socialisation, particularly in terms of what society deems to be acceptable female behaviour. Historically, women are encouraged to be gentle, kind, and demure. Society rewards these submissive and passive behaviours with the label of true femininity: being a 'lady'. Unfortunately, the stereotypes that feminism aims to dismantle are the very qualities it is measured against because feminist women are still asked to conform to this feminine behaviour, lest they be called Angry Feminists. The author analyses their identity as an Angry Feminist, a common label used in online and real-life discussions about what a feminist is, the notion that there are different types of feminists, as well as which 'type' of feminist has the most impact. Even though personal experience and conventional wisdom both agree that more flies are caught with honey, is limiting feminist rhetoric to the constraints of being socially pleasing not an anti-feminist act in itself? The Angry Feminist is an archetype that is immediately portrayed in a negative light and often presumed to be man-hating, hairy and unwillingly but terminally single, or at least without a ‘cis-het’ male partner. This characterisation of the Angry Feminist is a direct contradiction of the prototypical female figure and femininity that society accepts and encourages, in other words someone motherly, patient and ‘nice’. How then, can an Angry Feminist also be feminine? The Angry Feminist has virtues and shortfalls, but it carries considerable social stigma – some say this persona does more harm than good. However, gentle corrections do not trend on Twitter, and if masculinity is allowed to be angry for banal reasons like rugby scores, then so should feminists for social justice issues like equality.

keywords:

• feminists
• patriarchy
• stereotypes
• anti-feminist
• stigma
• femininity

Notes

1 This term is a contraction of cisgender heterosexual.

2 #metoo is a hashtag that denotes a collective online women’s movement starting in 2017 conceived by Tarana Burke as “a kind of bat signal between survivors of sexual violence.”

3 #menaretrash is a hashtag that is used in online spaces to refer to toxic masculinity.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Helen Aadnesgaard

Helen Aadnesgaard is on a mission to bring feminism to everyday conversation. She relates to feminism through the lens of gender as a construct and the performance thereof. From visiting a feminist squat house in Berlin to being a social media justice warrior, she’s trying to find her place in the world and is working towards pursuing further education in gender studies. Currently, Helen is a copywriter and ensures every brand she works with does not perpetuate or contribute to gender stereotypes. You can talk to her about feminism any day of the week at [email protected]