Woke is not a joke: taxing effects of performative feminism  

Recently, social media has been filled with mocking content about performative males: matcha drinking posers who pretend to care about women's rights. A performative male might be spotted reading feminist literature in a park, or posting a superficial quote feminist quote on Instagram. Regardless of how a performative male manifests themself, a common thread prevails: fake “feminism” without care or actions  to back it up. While criticizing this lack of sincerity may be amusing, it is also important to focus on the deeper implications of performative feminism, and what it reveals about us and our society. 

“Feminist” comments made by performative males are frequently glorified. We often fail to take a step back and question if what they say is anything of substance. Performative feminists will often make obvious statements that in reality are disingenuous. Further, the lack of meaning behind these statements is tone deaf when compared to the serious feminist issues millions are fighting for. Despite all of this, society continues to eat these statements up, which actively overshadows serious feminist issues, such as gender based educational disparities and violence against women. Oftentimes, men pose as feminists when it gains them attention from women, but not when it actually matters. Being a feminist, however, means correcting misogynistic jokes and comments, and standing up for women's rights, even when no one is rewarding you for it. 

One driving factor causing many to marvel at a man’s slightest perceived feminism is that society glorifies much of what men do in the first place. The bar is significantly lower for them in countless areas, from a dad’s parental involvement being disproportionately praised, to a teenage boy’s holding the door for someone being seen as ultra polite. From women, these examples are seen as the bare minimum, but we somehow view them as heroic when performed by a man. Further, while everyone should be a feminist, the honest reality is that most people aren’t with a study by the United Nations Development Programme stating that over 90% of people across all genders have bias against women. Consequently, a man’s slightest performative feminist action is frequently blown out of proportion, and overappreciated.

At the end of the day, hyping up insincere feminism is harmful because it provides a false sense of progress and perpetuates misogyny, as is often used to cover up sexist behavior. This is to say, hyping up insincere feminism lets it be a cover for sexist behavior. Suppose a man privately acknowledges to a female coworker that it is wrong for her ideas to be spoken over and ignored in meetings, but does not actually stand up for her when she is speaking.In that meeting, even if he wasn’t the one actively taking over her, and even if he acknowledged that what was being done was wrong, by not standing up for her he too is being sexist. In any social hierarchy, if you are in power and not standing up for the oppressed, you become the oppressor. In that meeting, even if he wasn’t the one actively taking over her, and even if he acknowledged that what was being done is wrong, by not standing up for her he too is being sexist. While his actions can be confused for feminism, real feminism isn’t just saying the right words, but doing the right actions when they count. 

Above all, performative feminism provides distraction from the very real feminist issues we all need to be concerned with, such as the reproductive rights currently being stripped away from countless women, period poverty preventing many girls from going to school, USAID cuts condemning thousands if not millions of girls and women into a lifetime of sex trafficking, and so many more. While it is easy to be deceived, it is important to remember that performative feminism isn’t progress, but a cover-up from the very real problems women across the globe experience. Lastly, we must remember that feminism isn’t reading Simone De Beauvoir while ignoring real-life misogyny, but working to shatter the barriers affecting billions of women everywhere. At the end of the day, the solution to the performative feminist problem is simple: everyone needs to defend injustice, without regard to who is watching.