Feminism isn’t the enemy, but misunderstanding it might be
Savanna Stone, a nineteen-year-old “tradwife” (traditional wife) influencer, gained viral notoriety for promoting 1950s-style gender roles, advocating for women to abandon careers for domestic life, and rejecting modern feminism.
One quote that speaks out to us specifically goes as follows. “We make decisions together as a married couple, but his decision overrides mine, as he is the head of the household…Women are controlled by emotion, while men are controlled by logic.” Not only is this scientifically wrong, it is also disrespectful on multiple levels. A 2021 study published in Scientific Reports found no significant difference in the daily emotional fluctuations of men and women, challenging the stereotype that women are more emotionally volatile. Though women are often more expressive with emotions like sadness and happiness, this does not mean they are “controlled” by them or less logical, just that they may be more socially comfortable expressing emotion.
Stone commented on an interview that she would “give up her right to vote, for a more conservative nation.” Many agree with this statement, linking it to the 2024 presidential election. A majority of states were classified as red, but when a map displaying what would happen if only women voted was shown, it turned out mostly blue. Regardless of gender or political party, it’s critical that all voices in America can be heard when making important political decisions. The 19th Amendment ensured that women could vote for what they believed could better the country, and trying to go against it puts down the intensive work of historical figures such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Lucy Stone, and Ida B. Wells. Women like Stone want other women’s rights to be taken away, all to appease men.
Another claim made by Stone is that feminism caused “LGBTQ” and “transgenderism,” suggesting that the dismantling of traditional gender roles led to these outcomes. Many LGBTQ+ individuals exist outside of the feminist movement, which has historically excluded, rather than created, queer identities. Early feminist waves (e.g., the first wave) were predominantly focused on white, heterosexual women and ignored or actively excluded lesbians and queer women. While modern feminism and LGBTQ+ movements sometimes align, they are separate social forces addressing different aspects of human rights. The existence of LGBTQ+ people is rooted in human diversity, not just in social movements, meaning these identities exist outside of politics.
The rise of anti-feminism has been taking over social media platforms, not by the usual perpetrator, but instead by women themselves. This rise can be linked primarily to the urge to be seen as more attractive to the male eye by appealing to his beliefs. These women throw themselves out the window to care for men’s every need, bringing down women who support the feminist movement. Some of these women do not understand what the word “feminism” actually means. Feminism is not that women are “better” than men and deserve more than them. Feminism is about gender equality. Men and women are different; nonetheless, that does not make either inferior or superior to the other.
Anti-feminists tend to romanticize the “tradwife” lifestyle from the past, not realizing how demeaning it truly was. There’s nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home wife/mother today because you have the free choice to do so. Back then, however, women were pressured by society into “stay-at-home” roles and were kept from most job opportunities. A lot of married women during the 1950s faced domestic violence, too.
According to a study conducted in 1958 by the Women’s Bureau of the United States Department of Labor, over 1 million married women in the U.S were physically abused by their husbands each year. In addition to the horrible violence that was committed against women, little was being done about it. A Wi-Fi Talents report stated that less than one percent of domestic violence reports led to arrests in 1955.
Along with that, women were stripped of their consent rights. Marital rape was legalized in all 50 states throughout the 1950s. Later in the 1970s, a few states would begin to outlaw marital rape, yet it took until 1993 for all 50 states to recognize it as a crime.
Stone asserts that “no consent” exists in marriage, which is completely wrong. Consent is important in every relationship, even marriage. Marrying someone does not give you the right to do whatever you want with them, and perpetuating the idea that it does will only cause more women to be hurt.
Feminist activism led to marriages becoming much safer for women. It’s criminalized domestic violence, providing legal recourse for survivors and accountability for perpetrators. Diane Stuarts work contributed to the enforcement of the Violence Against Women Act, and Ellen Pence co-founded the Duluth Model, an approach to addressing domestic violence through coordinated community response and intervention programs. Without women like these, there would have been so much less progress in the fight for women’s rights.
Unlike what Stone and other Anti-Feminists may believe, feminism is not bad for our society. For everyone to progress, everyone must be equally involved, which feminism ensures. “We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back,” Malala Yousafzai said.
