The word feminazi It has been spreading in recent decades as a way of referring in a somewhat ambiguous way to women who believe in the superiority of their sex over that of men and who want to impose themselves on men using totalitarian practices.
So far, and regardless of whether there is a person worthy of the nickname “feminazi”, this seems like just another word among the many that have been invented recently, but its existence is not accidental.
The idea to which the word feminazi refers is made up of a set of topics about feminist people. It is a journalistic invention that responds to a smear campaign directed against feminism from conservative political positions. In this way, an attempt has been made to create a discourse in which feminists are associated with Nazism
For this they have the invaluable help of the stereotypes and heuristic thinking, two elements that are taken into account in political propaganda and Social psychology
The meaning of the term feminazi can change from time to time, and what it refers to may exist to a greater extent depending on the context. Are there women who believe they are superior to men? Taking into account the number of people that inhabit planet Earth, it would be risky to say no.
However, before judging the existence of this word positively or negatively, it must be taken into account that if it is used today, it is very possible that, rather than referring to a specific person, we are referring to an entire political movement. .. relating it to Nazism. In fact, this word feminazi was invented in the 90s to delegitimize not specific people, but feminism, and the legacy of its meaning is still alive today. Because? Because the word feminazi has its roots in a smear campaign towards feminists that is more than 100 years old.
The use of generalizations and topics is constant in our daily lives. Furthermore, it is tremendously difficult to detect when we are falling into these types of intellectual slips because they are part of the realm of heuristic thinking, a mode of automatic thinking that requires practically no effort.
Often these stereotypes are due to ignorance or intellectual laziness, but in other cases there are political motivations behind these topics. The case of feminists is a clear example of this.
In Western countries, the feminist movement consolidated itself as a political agent at the end of the 19th century to demand the voting rights for women This is a claim that today seems so legitimate to us that its questioning produces immediate rejection, but a century ago it was something totally revolutionary that set off all the alarms in a moment. establishment controlled by men. It was at that time that public opinion began to be fed with propaganda against the suffragettes who asked for equal voting.
Thus, the United States saw posters and caricatures published in which the feminists of the time are described as cruel women with masculine features, with totalitarian desires whose main aspiration was to subjugate men, something that totally coincides with the concept (somewhat diffuse). by feminazi. All this, let us remember, for campaigning for the right to vote.
Looking closely at the propaganda pieces that peppered the pro- or anti-feminist debate of the time reveals that the stereotypes associated with the idea of what some people today call “the feminazi” have not changed at all since the suffragettes claimed the right to vote at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
The curious thing is not that feminists were accused of behaving just as men of the time behaved, but rather that these stereotypes continue to remain valid today, associated with a type of person who is sometimes called feminazi to denote a mysterious connection with totalitarianism and extermination. Here you can see how the posters from the suffragette era show characteristics that are still present in the memes and current comic strips.
1. Ugly and cruel women
Associate ugliness with evil It is something so common in propaganda that it is one of the most constant laws in the caricature and discredit of the political rival. Anyone who wants to communicate moral turpitude has enough to draw irregular teeth, large, bulbous noses and frowns.
2. They want to dominate man
Of course, an attribute that is implicit in the word feminazi is the will to impose oneself on others. However, this topic has existed long before the invention of the word. A hundred years ago, suffragettes were described as wanting to take away gender roles and rights. privileges to men, neglecting household chores and, in general, domestic chores.
Nowadays it is not so common to see such paradoxical criticisms of feminism (previously they accused them of doing exactly the same as men, although emphasizing the unnatural nature of the woman dominating the relationship), but the assumption that feminists are intolerant and authoritarian is still present.
3. Male aesthetics
The accusation of wanting to look like men is common in campaigns against feminism. It is understood that feminists transgress gender roles related to the idea of ”the feminine”, and that is also taken to aesthetics as if it were something negative.
Women who use their sexuality similar to that used by men have traditionally been seen as manipulators prone to use your body to achieve their own ends. From this perspective, almost any characteristic of women that can be associated with sex and that it has nothing to do with the creation of a family is portrayed as typical of women with a low moral profile, both 100 years ago and today.
It is a logic that is often used to attack feminists, who have a vision of female sexuality that goes far beyond the family.
5. They are feminists because of their hatred of men
Very often, caricatures about feminist women refer to the central role played by man in the “conversion” of some women to feminism. In this way, the motivations of the activists are attributed to an inability to relate appropriately with men. The feminazi concept fits well with this stereotype, since German National Socialism was fueled by a totally irrational contempt for some groups labeled as races.
These simple examples are part of a social situation much more complex than what can be glimpsed in a few simple caricatures, but they can serve to give us an idea about the context in which the term feminazi appears. Its meaning may be totally different in a few decades, but that does not mean that it has been put into circulation with a clear political objective in which psychology and a situation of change in favor of women’s rights come into play.
