What is a Feminazi?

An image of a woman who looks like Hitler and a nazi symbol

By Nicole Goulet

The term ‘feminazi’ reared its ugly head on my Facebook feed this week.  It showed up innocently, not as an accusation (although it is always an accusation), but as part of a casual conversation about what feminism was.  In this case, it was someone mentioning their distaste for the archetypical feminazi, the imaginary feminist who is outraged by imaginary men opening imaginary doors for her.

The term ‘feminazi’ emerged in the 1990’s, as popularized (and possibly created) by political commentator Rush Limbaugh, to refer to a particular type of “extreme” feminist (namely, pro-choice activists). “Feminazi” has since been used in a variety of ways to give negative value to certain groups of women. Some examples include:  high profile activists like Gloria Steinem; unknown feminists dissatisfied with and critical of the current status of women; and those women who do not conform to the culturally dominant beauty standards (e.g. shaving). In defining the term ‘feminazi,’ it is safe to say that it is used quite liberally depending on the situation.

This outraged feminazi, as a stereotypical representation, suggests that feminism is not bad per se, but that there are “good” feminists and “bad” feminists.  In the conversation in question the “bad” feminists were a group of young women from Sydney Girls High School in Sydney, Australia, who on March 13th, 2017, produced a scathing response to a well-intentioned video about feminism created by their Sydney Boys High School counterparts

The original video was released on March 8th, 2017, entitled, Schoolboys on Feminism.  The Sydney Boys High School students are shown looking directly into the camera, one by one, and parroting statements they heard when they interviewed women in their lives. The young men look somber in their school uniforms. This is no doubt meant to heighten the gravity of their findings. Their quotes include: “Feminism is important to me because my dad told me I should be ashamed of my body…” and “Feminism is important to me because when I give directions at work, I’m called a bitch…” and “Feminism is important to me because my dad doesn’t think I can be an engineer….”

The popularity of this two minute video was helped by George Takei, who posted the video to his Facebook feed on the same day, citing, “You don’t have to be female to give your voice to feminism”  On Takei’s Facebook page, which touts over 9.3 million followers, the video was a great success, viewed over 15 million times, and shared by almost 115, 000 people.

But the Sydney Girls were not so quick to praise the Boys for this production.  Instead, they argued that the video was yet another example of males speaking on behalf of females. That is, the idea that feminism was viewed as legitimate when supported and propagated by men potentially undermined the nature of women’s own experiences at the heart of feminism itself.  Furthermore, the Girls’ real life experiences and treatments by the Boys called into question the sincerity of their performance in the first place. The Girls cited experiences of aggression by these Boys, particularly when they attempted to create an initiative to draw attention to the gender pay gap, which the Boys denied by way of a hostile counter-campaign.  It is no real surprise then, that the term, ‘feminazi’ emerged in this context as part of my Facebook feed — the Sydney Girls became typical of ‘feminazis’ because they were women who did not want men to open the door for them.

So from the point of view of those who mobilize the term, such as the individual who commented on my Facebook feed, good liberal feminism rewards young men for their candor, while bad totalitarian feminism is dissatisfied and critical of good faith efforts (however relevant and useful such a critique might be) to the point that it hinders positive change.

What is most curious about the way the term ‘feminazi’ organizes feminism into good and bad modes is that it is generally perpetrated by people who are at best unsympathetic to feminism. So, for example, when the Sydney Boys video was posted to my Facebook timeline the individual who tagged me wrote, “I may not identify as feminist, but feminism is important to me.” By declaring that some elements of feminism have proven worthwhile but simultaneously declaring the radical fringes of the movement are irrational and anti-democratic an individual can absolve themselves of any responsibility for ongoing, difficult, and unsettling activism. Such individuals can gain from the benefits radicalism has helped them accrue without exposing themselves to the dangers of accidentally falling into the realm of “bad” feminism, without risking being identified as ungrateful for all the reforms and changes liberal society has already granted women, without risking being offensive to good faith male allies. The term ‘feminazi’ then, obscures an essentially sexist attitude behind a false dichotomy of good and bad feminism, in much the same way that arguments about good others and bad others are frequently used to hide unpalatably racist attitudes, such as the recent strengthening of immigration policies in part to remove “bad hombres.”

 

Nicole Goulet is an Assistant Professor in the Religious Studies Department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  Her work focuses on constructions of religion in relation to race, class, and gender.

 

photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Feminazi_1.jpg

 

 

 

 

8 Replies to “What is a Feminazi?”

  1. I think the article misses the central point of why the term was coined.

    In any political movement you are going to have wide swaths of people who may generally agree, but who vary in fervor, commitment, energy, and other factors. Another way of saying this is although George Will, Rush Limbaugh and Mike Cernovich may generally agree that free market capitalism is good they go about the politics of defending that belief very differently. Likewise, Al Sharpton, Bernie Sanders and Louise Rosealma on the Left.

    For those “in the middle” their voices are usually drown out by those on the extremes, so they develop shorthand terminology to identify those on the opposite side whom are most like themselves in temperament and commitment whom they can most likely talk to, and those whom they cannot. And this phenomenon is true not only of the general Left/Right divide, but of each individual issue in that divide. It is in no way limited to feminism.

    These terms, (in this case Feminazi, but you could substitute Social Justice Warrior or Antifas on the Right, or on the Left, Bible-thumpers, or more context driven use of Fascist and Bigot) are usually derogatory towards those who are “bad” and cannot be “reasoned” with. There is more than a little similarity here with the process by which stereotyping occurs.

    Unfortunately, when the extremists drive the conversation as is happening today, holding onto moderate views becomes an untenable position to hold, subjecting more moderate position holders to rhetorical attacks from both sides, if not more. This is why both the Social Justice movement and the alt-Right are growing, squeezing the middle into “taking sides” – as if the middle had not already done so in their own way – and making some very strange bedfellows in the process.

    It also means that eventually the rhetorical-if-slightly-stereotyping shorthand which the moderates could identify their opposites on the other side now becomes a weapon in the hands of the extremists.

  2. Thank you for your response, Thomas.

    To be clear, I am fully aware of the political positioning that led to the term, “feminazi,” (so I beg to differ that I missed a central point) and am now more curious about why it is a term that is used by moderates, or those who at least express sympathy for feminism.

    In particular, I do not think it is enough to say “The Right does x” and “The Left does y” while the moderates have no place to go and no way to articulate their ideas. For in the broad context of feminism(s), the moderates represent the hegemonic discourse here in North America. They create what is socially acceptable feminism, as shown by the popularity of the Sydney Boys High School video.

    The term, “feminazi” is more than “slightly stereotyping,” when it is used as a rhetorical device. It imposes extremist (to use your words) ideology onto women (to my knowledge, it has never been applied to men) to create opposition. The term itself suggests that feminazis are violent, willing to commit genocide, and are a threat to society, if we are to take the term, “nazi” seriously. This means that rather than recognizing that there are different understandings of feminism, certain people are categorized as extremist or dangerous, whether or not they view themselves this way.

    My ultimate point then, is our need to be critical of the usage of the term, and to unpack what it means when specifically “moderates” use it, particularly when it is thrown out casually to voice disagreement to certain aspects of feminism.

  3. This outraged feminazi, as a stereotypical representation, suggests that feminism is not bad per se, but that there are “good” feminists and “bad” feminists. What is “good” and “bad” feminists?

  4. In particular, I do not think it is enough to say “The Right does x” and “The Left does y” while the moderates have no place to go and no way to articulate their ideas. For in the broad context of feminism(s), the moderates represent the hegemonic discourse here in North America. They create what is socially acceptable feminism, as shown by the popularity of the Sydney Boys High School video.

  5. How do you feel about terms like “toxic masculinity” and misogynist? These terms are thrown about by feminists on a regular basis.

  6. Thank you for your response. As noted in my piece: “So from the point of view of those who mobilize the term, such as the individual who commented on my Facebook feed, good liberal feminism rewards young men for their candor, while bad totalitarian feminism is dissatisfied and critical of good faith efforts (however relevant and useful such a critique might be) to the point that it hinders positive change.”

    I would like to clarify that I do not think that “good” and “bad” feminism is a reality, but it is constructed through the ways that we use language. It is implicit rather than explicit.

  7. Agreed. It is interesting that the term, “feminazi,” which was created by people who would no doubt declare themselves “Right wing,” is now utilized by “moderates”–at least in a general sense. But even these categories that we are using are problematic, as they suggest that diverse views are easily categorized and accounted for.

  8. I’m unclear as to whether your question is an accusation or an attempt to discuss other (related) terms. It makes sense that misogyny/misogynist are terms that are used by those who declare themselves to be feminists, as part of their aims is to locate and critically evaluate outcomes of misogyny. The concept of “toxic masculinity” can indeed be part of that analysis as a means to explore diverse ideas about masculinity and the ways in which it impacts everyone, not just women.

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