Feminism as a Part Time Job
How “performative” feminism is damaging, and how to make a real difference
Feminism is a truly incredible thing, which has seen major success, with many brave movements and resolute activism helping to shape modern society; creating a safer and happier world for many.
However, there is one thing that is consistently hindering feminism as a whole - something that I call “Feminism as a Part Time Job”. Today, I will be discussing the various forms of part-time feminism, and the ways that you (yes, you), can help to minimise it.
Part-Time Feminism
I have no doubt that, at some point, you have come across a post on some social media along the lines of:
So I saw this guy doing x to this girl today - It was so wrong!! I hope she’s doing okay, that guy was the worst!! #feminism #downwiththepatriarchy
…
See anything wrong with that? Exactly! This (fictional) person didn’t do anything!
This is one of the many examples of part-time feminism. In general, I would define it as claiming to be a feminist, and talking about feminism, while taking no (or insufficient) action. This definition isn’t perfect, there will be a few cases in this post that I would consider to be part-time feminism that doesn’t necessarily fit this definition.
While I don’t really want to stereotype anything too much, there are several trends in this category that I have found throughout my (admittedly rather short) experience with feminism:
“Convenient” feminism
“Exclusionary” feminism
“Supremacist” feminism
“Twitter” feminism
So, let’s get into it, shall we?
“Convenient” feminism
This one needs little introduction. These are the “nice guys” of the world - people who are feminist until it stops being convenient to them.
It’s pretty clear how this is harmful - a person may claim to support feminist ideas to get something that they want. Quite often, the main motivation for this is the pursuit of a date or sex. When they (inevitably) get rejected, of course, a switch is flipped and their true identity is revealed.
In reality, a convenient feminist isn’t a feminist at all. They do not truly believe in feminist ideals, nor do they take part in the associated activism. It is completely performative, with no true substance whatsoever.
So, how can we help to reduce convenient feminism? As will be a common theme in this post, some of the main methods of reducing this are education and exposure. It is essential that people are better educated both by their parents and educational institutions.
Many of the people that fall into these ideals do so because they are either misinformed on feminism as a whole, or are not taught the dangers of their beliefs. If we are to help reduce performative feminism, better education is crucial.
“Exclusionary” feminism
An exclusionary feminist is an individual who (a) pursues feminism, at the expense of another group of people, or (b) pursues feminism, excluding a certain minority. At least to me, the most prevalent example of this is the TERF (Transgender-Exclusionary Radical Feminist).
As a transgender individual myself, I find it deeply disturbing that individuals such as J.K. Rowling are able to spread such blatant hate for a group of women, and then claim to be a feminist.
This issue goes further than just feminism - it comes from a deeper form of hatred and bears a sickening resemblance to the ideals of fascist movements (see The Danger of Transphobia).
I find it concerning that such movements such as the LGB alliance and other TERF groups are even allowed - clearly more action is needed to stop the hatred and oppression of such a minority.
To eliminate exclusionary feminism more than simple education is needed. While education is undeniably effective, there simply aren’t enough legal protections in place to stop such an obviously discriminatory movement.
In my opinion, exclusionary feminism is fundamentally antithesis to the ideals presented by feminism. If you do not believe that all women deserve equal rights, then you do not believe that any women deserve equal rights.
Feminism should be an all-or-nothing affair: you either support all women, or you support none at all.
“Supremacist” Feminism
This is another extremely harmful form of “feminism”. It takes the concept of male supremacy that has dominated our society for millennia, and flips it on its head. Instead of pursuing complete gender equality, these people instead pursue female domination.
These people do not believe that men and women should be treated equally - they believe that men should be subject to the exact same oppression that women have faced in past years.
This is extremely damaging - and is completely opposed to the goal of feminist movements. Not only is this an extremely dangerous line of reasoning, it also acts to reduce overall support for feminist movements.
If a man’s only experience with feminists is of these people, they will not support feminism. Why would anyone support a group of people who actively threatens to oppress them?
Eradicating supremacist viewpoints should be a very high priority in feminist communities. It changes the fundamental point of feminism. No longer are you pursuing equal rights for all, but you are instead pursuing the exact thing you wanted to destroy.
How is a total matriarchy any different from a total patriarchy?
In order to actually eliminate such harmful views, education and support is absolutely vital. Many of the people in this category come from a history of abuse. These people were subjected to horrors at the hands of men that I certainly couldn’t even dream of.
If these people are not given the support they need, this trauma festers and ferments, until it is transformed into a deep-seated hatred for men as a whole - not just the patriarchy. To avoid this, we absolutely must introduce better support systems for survivors of abuse and sexual assault.
“Twitter” Feminism
Twitter feminism is less “harmful”, and more just plain “inconvenient”. It doesn’t help feminist movements at all, but you can’t really claim that it actively harms them.
A twitter feminist is, plain and simply, a keyboard warrior. They are someone who claims to support feminist ideals, while never acting on them. This could be for a variety of reasons, some valid, and some less so.
For example, someone may fall under this category as they are unable to take action for whatever reason - such as an abusive household. In this case, this is perfectly okay. Any amount of action is better than none at all.
However, many people in this category are simply doing it performatively. They may post about feminism online in order to gain clout - interested only in followers and likes. They may post about feminism online, while having no desire to take part in any actions of substance whatsoever.
So I saw this guy doing x to this girl today - It was so wrong!! I hope she’s doing okay, that guy was the worst!! #feminism #downwiththepatriarchy
…
Twitter feminism isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Instead of outright reducing it in some cases, it would be better to introduce better support structures to aid people in pursuing their activism and improving their life.
However, in the case of the performative activists, there’s not a whole lot that can be done on an individual level, except ensure that you yourself are not a twitter feminist.
You should ask yourself, ‘Did I do anything to help?’ If the answer to that question is no, then you should resolve yourself to show your feminism, instead of just saying it. Speak out when you see something wrong.
Take action - don’t just sit on the side-lines watching.
Drawing a Conclusion
Feminism is a deeply complex movement with many different groups and ideologies mixed in. In fact, most part-time feminists won’t fit into any of these groups entirely - they may be a mix of multiple or something completely different altogether.
This post was not meant to be a comprehensive guide, but is instead intended to shed some light on the more internal issues faced by feminist communities, that may act to move us further away from equality, and back towards a society that we have tried so hard to move away from.
It is my hope that you can take at least something of value from my overtired ramblings. Know that I really haven’t proofread this at all, so there may be a few oversights here and there.
I really just wanted to get this one out before the idea slipped my mind. It’s been too long since I posted anything of substance!
Until next time,
~~ Tori