In today’s society, women and men are treated more equal than ever before. Women are working alongside men in the jobs, going to school and getting a real education, following their dreams and continuing their desired studies.

Women have more options and more rights. Of course, there is still some work that needs to be done in order to achieve a completely equal world, but for the most part, we’ve come a long way.

We’ve all heard about the horrors of toxic masculinity,—(which is a cultural concept, in which it “serves to outline aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, greed, and violent domination.) —and the effects it has on others, as well as society as a whole.

However, no one ever really addresses the fact that alongside toxic masculinity, there is also toxic femininity.

Feminism is defined as “women getting/advocating for the same rights as men.” However, today’s definition of feminism has completely transformed.

Toxic femininity is completely based on the ideas of extreme and radical feminists. In fact, I believe that there are more extreme feminists than there are regular, non-violent feminists.

Despite the title given to them, they claim to have the same desires that all feminists have. However, this assertion couldn’t be more wrong. In a way, they are hypocrites. Asking for equality of all genders; however, wanting special treatment for themselves.

Feminists nowadays believe that because they bear children, they are entitled.

And the media isn’t helping to diminish this mentality: the news and social media are always showing clips and stories about radical feminists. 

For example, a video of Russian student, Anna Dovgalyuk, went viral on Twitter, showing her pouring diluted bleach onto the laps of males for “manspreading” in public. Dovgalyuk claimed to be doing this out of feminism.

Some have talked about the horrible acts of rape amongst women, and continuously attack men, saying that all men are bad, and that all women should be believed when it comes to rape accusations.

They ignore that fact that rape happens to men too, and that sometimes, rape is performed or conducted by a woman. They also ignore the fact, that, unfortunately, some women make false allegations of rape. But they don’t want to address this issue, and if they do, they call it “fake.”

I’m not saying that rape allegations should not be taken seriously, because they should be taken seriously. I’m just saying that, unfortunately, some people falsely accuse others.

These radical feminists believe that if any woman disagrees with them, that must make those women against them, and sexist, too. Case in point, one time, radical feminists attacked Ivanka Trump for wearing a pink dress.

Joan Walsh, MSNBC contributor, said, “That’s not a dress that’s made for work. That’s not a dress that’s made to go out in the world and make a difference. That is a dress that is designed to show off your girlyness… don’t tell us that you’re crusading for an equal place at the table, because you’re not.”

Apparently, how you choose to dress, determines whether or not you are a supporter of women’s rights. And because Ivanka wore the color pink, that must make her ‘against’ women’s rights.

Because of all the radical feminists, it’s no longer an act of feminism, and those who once identified as feminists, are now tossing the label, and hiding away from the real reason that feminism is a thing.

No one wants to be a part of something that goes against the original purpose and changes the viewpoints of others, for the wrong reasons.

Men can be feminists, because it originally was for equal rights between men and women; however, nowadays, these so called “feminists,” exploit men and attack them.

Men who once identified as a feminist are now withdrawing their support because no one wants to support people who attack their own gender for no reason.

The bottom line is, women are not more entitled than men, feminism isn’t the same, and the general outlook on it is not good. Feminism has lost its purpose.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the GENESIS staff. Email Lyn Jarrell at [email protected].