Antifeminism
Antifeminism, also spelled anti-feminism, is opposition to feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educational opportunities, property rights, and access to birth control.[1][2] In the mid and late 20th century, antifeminists often opposed the abortion-rights movement.
For the Japanese band, see Anti Feminism.In the early 21st century, some antifeminists see their ideology as a response to misandry, holding feminism responsible for several social problems, including lower college entrance rates of young men, gender differences in suicide and a perceived decline in masculinity.[3][4][5] 21st century antifeminism has sometimes been an element of violent, far-right extremist acts.[6][7][8] Antifeminism is often linked to the men's rights movement, a social movement concerned with discrimination against men.[9][10]
Definition[edit]
Canadian sociologists Melissa Blais and Francis Dupuis-Déri write that antifeminist thought has primarily taken the form of masculinism, in which "men are in crisis because of the feminization of society".[11]
The term antifeminist is also used to describe public female figures, some of whom (such as Naomi Wolf, Camille Paglia, and Katie Roiphe) define themselves as feminists, based on their opposition to some or all elements of feminist movements.[12] Other feminists label writers such as Roiphe, Christina Hoff Sommers, Jean Bethke Elshtain, and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese as antifeminist[13][14] because of their positions regarding oppression and lines of thought within feminism.[15]
The meaning of antifeminism has varied across time and cultures, and antifeminism attracts both men and women. Some women, like those in the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League, campaigned against women's suffrage.[16]
Men's studies scholar Michael Kimmel defines antifeminism as "the opposition to women's equality". He says that antifeminists oppose "women's entry into the public sphere, the re-organization of the private sphere, women's control of their bodies, and women's rights generally." Kimmel further writes that antifeminist argumentation relies on "religious and cultural norms" while proponents of antifeminism advance their cause as a means of "'saving' masculinity from pollution and invasion". He argues that antifeminists consider the "traditional gender division of labor as natural and inevitable, perhaps also divinely sanctioned."[17]
Explanatory theories[edit]
According to Amherst College sociology professor Jerome L. Himmelstein, antifeminism is rooted in social stigmas against feminism and is thus a purely reactionary movement. Himmelstein identifies two prevailing theories that seek to explain the origins of antifeminism: the first theory, proposed by Himmelstein, is that conservative opposition in the abortion and Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) debates has created a climate of hostility toward the entire feminist movement.[49]
The second theory Himmelstein identifies states that the female antifeminists who lead the movement are largely married, low education, and low personal income women who embody the "insecure housewife scenario" and seek to perpetuate their own situation in which women depend on men for fiscal support. However, numerous studies have failed to correlate the aforementioned demographic factors with support for antifeminism, and only religiosity correlates positively with antifeminist alignment.[49]
Authors Janet Saltzman Chafetz and Anthony Gary Dworkin, writing for Gender and Society, argue that the organizations most likely to formally organize against feminism are religious. This is because women's movements may demand access to male-dominated positions within the religious sector, like the clergy, and women's movements threaten male-oriented values of some religions.[37] The more successful a feminist movement is in challenging the authority of male-dominated groups, the more these groups will organize a countermovement.[37]
Implicit feminism[edit]
University of Illinois at Chicago sociology professor Danielle Giffort argues that the stigma against feminism created by antifeminists has resulted in organizations that practice "implicit feminism", which she defines as the "strategy practiced by feminist activists within organizations that are operating in an anti- and post-feminist environment in which they conceal feminist identities and ideas while emphasizing the more socially acceptable angles of their efforts".[79] Due to the stigma against feminism, some activists, such as those involved with Girls Rock, may take the principles of feminism as a foundation of thought and teach girls and women independence and self-reliance without explicitly labeling it with the stigmatized brand of feminism. Thus, most women continue to practice feminism in terms of seeking equality and independence for women, yet avoid the label.[79]
Connections to far-right extremism[edit]
Antifeminism has been identified as an underlying motivation for far-right extremism.[6][7][8] For example, the perpetrators of the Christchurch massacre and the El Paso shooting appear to have been motivated by the conspiracy theory that white people are being replaced by non-whites largely as a result of feminist stances in Western societies.[80]
Many who affiliate with the white nationalist alt-right movement are antifeminist,[81][82] with antifeminism and resentment of women being a common recruitment gateway into the movement.[83][84]
Media researcher Michele White argues that contemporary antifeminism often supports antisemitism and white supremacy, citing the example of the Neo-Nazi websites Stormfront and The Daily Stormer, which often claim that feminism represents a Jewish plot to destroy Western civilization.[85]
According to Helen Lewis, the far-right ideology considers it vital to control female reproduction and sexuality: "Misogyny is used predominantly as the first outreach mechanism", where "You were owed something, or your life should have been X, but because of the ridiculous things feminists are doing, you can't access them."[80] Similar strands of thought are found in the incel subculture, which centers around misogynist fantasies about punishing women for not having sex with them.[86]
