Feminism Is Having An Identity Crisis, But The Tide Is Turning: Amber Harding
I consider myself a feminist.
Before you roll your eyes, let's talk about what that word really means.
At its core, feminism is a belief in the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. Under that dictionary definition, I'd argue most decent people are feminists.
Men and woman deserve equal treatment under the law. Obviously.
But it's the feminism movement that has taken on a negative connotation. Personified, it's the caricature of a blue-haired woman, free bleeding, screeching "f-ck the patriarchy."
And now, that blue-haired woman might just have a penis.
See, what began more than a hundred years ago as a noble fight for equality has completely lost its way.
It's still a movement, but it's moving backwards.
The De-Evolution of Feminism
At the turn of the 20th century, some badass ladies got together and said, "Hey, we want to vote."
And thanks to their efforts, the 19th Amendment granted American women the right to cast their ballots in 1920.
(Photo by FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
The second wave of feminism focused on female empowerment, the sexual revolution, and reproductive and financial freedom. In 1974, another victory: For the first time, women could have a credit card in their own name.
But then the wheels started to fall off. Instead of pride in womanhood, the feminist movement embraced a safety in victimhood.
Femininity is weak. Masculinity is toxic. Abortion is strength. Gender is a social construct.
Feminists fought so hard for so long to be the same as men that they can no longer celebrate what makes us different.
Which brings us to where we are today.
What is a woman?
In January 2017, the Women's March descended upon Washington, D.C. Thousands of women in pink "pussy hats" gathered to protest the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
(Photo by: Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Fan of Trump or not, that's not the point. An interesting thing happened here.
Because the next year — at the 2018 march in Pensacola, Fla. — organizers specifically asked women not to wear the knit hats. "Pussy hats," they said, were transphobic.
"Not every woman has a vagina, and not every person who has a vagina is a woman," march organizer Devin Cole said.
Cole, not surprisingly, is transgender – a biological male.
This event was a major turning point. And an ironic one, at that. Feminists abandoned a symbol of their womanhood because a man told them to.
But not everyone was on board. And this is where feminism's identity crisis began.
In 2018, this story was wild to me. Now, it's par for the course.
(Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
This fourth wave of feminism entirely dismisses the reality of womanhood.
Under this ideology, anyone can be a woman on any given day. And if a man says he's a woman, his fragile feelings trump the hard-fought rights of any actual female he may encounter.
I find it truly hard to believe this is what my suffragist foremothers envisioned for us.
Female prisoners are forcibly housed with violent male criminals. Female athletes are losing trophies and scholarships to narcissistic men who can't compete with their own gender. And women and children are subjected to male nudity in their own spaces without their consent.
They'll tell you your genitals don't make you a woman but their long hair and makeup somehow do.
And these activists hold power over women by weaponizing our empathy.
We need a fifth wave of feminism.
Men and women are equal. But they are not the same.
Femininity is not weak. Masculinity is not toxic. Both of these things can be true.
And that's not to say there aren't masculine women or feminine men. There certainly are. But biology is real, and it's undeniable.
I know, that's the kind of attitude that will get me called a "TERF" — a trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
But think about that for a second. A woman who rejects the idea that a man can be a woman is now considered a "radical."
(Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
So, yeah, I'm still a feminist.
But I'm an old fashioned one. I'm an adult human female, and I support the rights of adult human females.
The right to be who they want to be, to do what they want to do, and to exist safely in their spaces.
And I truly believe the tide is turning. The feminist movement overplayed its hand the minute it began to "affirm" delusional men and vilify actual women.
The fifth wave of feminism is coming, and it's rooted in reality.
Follow Amber Harding on Twitter: @TheAmberHarding