Fear of Feminism

Lisa Marie Hogeland’s article “Fear of Feminism” brought up some interesting points about the stigma around being Feminist. A big problem for Feminism is the way it’s viewed from the outside. It’s common for the term itself to be met with reactions of hesitation or hostility toward the movement, even by people who aren’t terribly opposed to the goals or ideas of it. Many young women feel that being associated with the movement will effect how others see them. An important part of fighting for equality of any kind is asking questions about how things are at the present, why they are that way and how they can be changed. Big questions about changing societal structures can very easily intimidate people. It’s often like when someone is corrected on the pronouns for a queer person, they may feel bad for being called out and become somewhat resentful of the fact they’re being asked to change their ways.

Lisa mentions the importance of intersectionality and cooperation for any kind of social movement and how homophobia and racism frequently get in the way of making more significant progress. She also mentions how the construct of heterosexuality sculpts the lives of people who live it. Children are expected to fill gender-based roles in society before they’re even born yet, and heterosexuality also plays heavily in how these kids are raised and socialized. When it’s so important to a heterosexual society to procreate, it can be hard for young women to consider it when a lot of men are threatened by feminism and by social change.