The War on Feminism

The word feminism (from the French féminisme) first appeared in the late 19th century. At its origin, it described a rights-based equality movement responding to clear legal and civic exclusion. Early feminists fought for concrete, measurable changes: women’s suffrage, property and inheritance rights, access to education, and legal recognition as independent persons rather than dependents of their husbands. In short, feminism began as a straightforward claim — women should have the same civil and legal rights as men.
Over the 20th century, the term expanded. Feminism came to address not only law and policy, but also culture, workplace dynamics, sexuality, family structure, and broader systems of power.
Today, however, the word has become thinly spread. It is often used as a catch-all label for social change, sometimes conflated with “wokeness,” sometimes framed as an attack on tradition, and often portrayed as hostility toward men themselves.
At the same time, backlash movements have grown louder, linking feminism to social anxieties about marriage rates, shifting gender roles, and declining birth rates. In many corners of public discourse, calls are emerging to roll back women’s autonomy in civic, educational, and economic life in the name of restoring stability or tradition.
This discussion asks: How did a movement for legal equality become a cultural battleground? What is feminism today — and why does it provoke such strong reactions? Most importantly, how do we have a serious conversation about gender, rights, and social change without collapsing into caricature, stereotypes or hostility?

Let's talk about it!

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