A multitude of people regard feminists as individuals that do not
cooperate with or understand men solely out of resentment and are thus
accused of promulgating family breaking propaganda without taking into
consideration the reasons behind them criticizing male conduct as well
as the oppressive structure of the social institution of family. We have all
encountered people in our life that are both covertly and overtly weary of
feminism as a concept and a social movement. They either blatantly do
not believe in the equality of men and women while others that have a
distorted sense of society are of the opinion that this equality has
already been achieved. For obvious reasons, our specific views on
issues like feminism are more often than not rooted deeply in our own
first hand and personal experiences or those of the people around us,
rather than on any scientific data surrounding the issue. If we have first
handedly experienced gender-based discrimination or witnessed another
woman in our life face it, we are more likely to believe in the dire need of
achieving a truly feminist society. However, if we have not faced it
ourselves as a result of living in a protected and privileged environment,
we tend to get dubious of the legitimacy of gender-based discrimination
in today’s world.
Some people claim that the condition of women has improved because
of technology that men have created and that feminists are ungrateful
individuals that refuse to get satisfied with the level of “progress” our
society has already made. Many people are also unintentionally aversive
to the concept as unconscious gender bias is rampant within us so we
are not aware of it. In addition, such people, due to their blasé attitude,
are indifferent to gender-based discrimination while others refuse to
unlearn their problematic behaviour and perceptions either because they
are in a position of privilege and have no incentive to make effort to do
the same or because of their obstinacy.
The psychological concept of cognitive bias can also be used to explain
why some people tend to be vehemently anti-feminist. A confirmation
bias is a type of cognitive bias that involves favouring information that
confirms your previously existing beliefs or biases. If a person holds a
belief that a lot of progress has been made in society so much so that
men and women are already equal in terms of their rights and
opportunities and our society is truly feminist then whenever this person
encounters a woman that is, for example, earning more than her
husband, then they place greater importance on this “evidence” that only
supports or reinforces what they already believe. This individual might
even seek proof that further backs up this belief while discounting
examples that do not support this idea. Such confirmation biases impact
how we gather information, but they also influence how we interpret and
recall information. In the aforementioned example, such people will also
interpret news stories about violence or discrimination in a way that
upholds their existing ideas and will also remember details in a way that
reinforces these attitudes. Thus, a man with a confirmation bias that
women and men already equal in society is more likely to blame the
rape victim instead of the perpetrator.
Another reason why people, especially men, might dislike feminism is
because it has come to be associated with hating men. This is related to
yet another concept called availability cascade. An availability cascade
is a self-reinforcing cycle that explains the development of certain kinds
of collective beliefs. The idea that all feminists hate men has gained
rapid currency in the popular discourse because of its simplicity and its
rising popularity triggers a chain reaction within the social network as a
result of which the other people within this network also adopt it. The
increased popularity of this idea involves both the availability of the
previously obscure idea of associating feminism with man hating and the
need of individuals using this idea to appear to be current with it,
regardless of whether they in fact fully believe in it or not. This is
precisely why some people hold problematic opinions like feminists are
frustrated women that promote intolerance and hate in the name of
working towards gender equality.
Another type of cognitive bias that can be used to explain the aversion
towards feminism is the framing effect, wherein people decide on
options based on whether they are presented with positive or negative
connotations. The subject of feminism has been disappointingly reduced
to two poles in popular discourse. On one hand there are exclusionary
conservatives that depict feminism as a “feminazi”, “man-hating”,
“breaking up families” conspiracy against which the society needs to
protect itself to save families. For example, in India, there is a registered
men’s rights non-governmental organization called “Save Indian Family
Foundation (SIFF)” and their mission is to expose and create awareness
about the violations of human rights in the name of women
empowerment. On the other hand, there are inclusionary liberals that
ostentatiously pride themselves on being feminists. This version of
feminism attempts to implement equity while preserving traditional
institutions of power and is thus a simple concept for the so-called
progressive elites and masses to grasp and hence support. However,
both these perspectives are very narrow and restricted and ultimately
anti-feminist. It should be obvious that gender has been constructed in
society in a way that favours men or masculinity and burdens females
and non-binary genders with difficult life experiences. Be it gender based
violence, harassment, rape culture, assault on abortion and maternal
rights to gender wage gap, it is very evident that we as a society are far,
far from any sense of equality. The tendency of people, especially men,
to depict feminism as “feminazism” insinuates their sense of anxiety
associated with the potential creation of a society that dismantles the
existing patriarchal structure which is biased towards men and the
consequent deconstruction of masculinity and the power or privilege that
comes with it.
Feminism teaches people to ask relevant questions that challenge
people’s pre-existing beliefs. Feminists are inconvenient to the society
because they upset normalcy of a patriarchal society where it is
unacceptable for women to practice autonomy and question male
privilege. A New York based psychology professor Jay Van Bavel gave
the concept of identity-based model of political belief, which means that
our desire to hold identity consistent beliefs often far outweigh our desire
to hold accurate beliefs. This may be because being a part of a social
group that supports a specific belief fulfils fundamental needs like the
need for belonging which supersede our need to seek the truth. This
need for identity consistency explains why it is uncomfortable for people
to engage with opinions that challenge our beliefs or ones that challenge
normalcy. When we downgrade feminism and dismiss it off as noise, in
effect we dismiss the idea of equality that we have ourselves vowed to
uphold and practice.
Feminism is therefore, a movement for equality and a movement for
equality cannot be wrong in its intention, because equality is a
progressive concept that will always be relevant in any civic society.
-Gurman Kaur Chawla