“I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I … am … a … man!” wailed Joseph Merrick in the film ‘The Elephant Man‘ when cornered by a heckling mob.
Times have changed and social progress means that the sick and disabled are no longer subject to torment such as this. No, nowadays such treatment is only meted out to high-profile women who have the temerity to say “I am not a feminist!”
I am aware of at least two examples in as many months, both senior politicians, namely Julie Bishop (Australia) and Louise Upston (NZ). Lots and lots of sneering comments in a multitude of articles, tweets, and Facebook comments. Only strong bad girls break ranks with the feminist sisterhood.
You rock ladies!
(Postscript September 2022) The latest notable development in this topic has been the views noted by feminists in relation to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, which have ranged from bored to harshly critical and deeply unpleasant.
Untenured Carnegie Mellon critical race theory professor DOUBLES DOWN on vile tweets over Queen’s death saying she feels ‘disdain’ for the monarch (10 September 2022) USA
Pauline Hanson tells Senator to ‘*** off back to Pakistan’ over comments about the Queen (10 September 2022) Australia
See also:
The green-left and Twitter warriors ‘always think conservative women are fair game’ (15 April 2021)
Feminist, anti-feminist and non-feminist (2 May 2020) by Fidelbogen
‘Not interested in the truth’: Phyllis Schlafly’s daughter blasts ‘Mrs. America’ as feminist hit job (14 April 2020)
The women demonised for championing men’s rights (28 November 2019)
Going after my children is too much for me, by Janet Bloomfield (16 January 2019) And unfortunately another female MRA is forced to remove herself from the fray
In Their Own Voices: Former feminists Explain Their Rejection of Feminism, by Barbara Kay (24 June 2018)
Finally, powerful women are speaking up for the rights of men. Equality just got a step closer (11 September 2017)
Scientist wins Miss USA, slammed for ‘conservative’ comments (15 May 2017)
Why I’m Not A Feminist: a takedown of the ‘narcissism’ of modern feminism (7 March 2017)
Feminism associated with being ‘anti-male’ and ‘pro-abortion’: Kellyanne Conway (24 February 2017)
Honey Badger Hannah Wallen presents a video explaining why she is not a feminist (1 February 2017)
Karen Straughan explains why she is not a feminist (31 January 2017) Video
As A Mother Of A Son, Kellyanne Conway Gets Why Feminism Has Become Toxic (31 January 2017)
Why Do We Care If Kim Kardashian Is a Feminist? (16 August 2016)
13 female celebrities who have bizarre definitions of feminism (12 August 2016)
Lisa Haydon Spoke Out On Feminism And Pretty Much Everyone Wishes She Hadn’t (23 May 2016)
International Women’s Day 2016: What women who don’t identify as feminists have to say (8 March 2016) UK
10 prominent women who don’t identify as ‘feminists’ (8 March 2016)
Q&A recap: Alan Jones ‘hopes’ he’s a feminist, but Michaelia Cash rejects label (8 March 2016) Australia
Former Femen activist Sara Fernanda Giromin backflips, declaring war on feminism (31 December 2015)
The Feminine vs. Feminism: Strong Women Rejecting Weak Ideas (1 October 2015)
Lena Dunham and Lorde on the “gotcha” feminist question (21 June 2015)
Lauren Southern tells: Why I am not a feminist (2 May 2015)
Angry Feminist Backlash Not Enough To Get Young Hollywood Star To Change Her Views (24 March 2015) The same actress is discussed here and here
‘Big Bang Theory’ Actress Asked If She Is A Feminist, Her Response Made Feminists FURIOUS! (1 March 2015)
I am not a feminist because … A response to Laci Green’s ‘I’m a feminist because …’ (19 January 2015)
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting forced to apologize for saying she’s not a feminist (4 January 2015) Reddit mensrights discussion thread and linked article
What’s made Julie Bishop so afraid of feminism? (12 November 2014)
Is the Pope a Catholic? (3 December 2014)
Meet the woman who took on Kate Winslet: Fathers4Justice manager Nadine O’Connor (29 January 2014)
10 Celebrities Who Say They Aren’t Feminists (17 December 2013)
Susan Sarandon Says She’s Not a Feminist: Why She Dumped the Label (8 July 2013)
Other posts in this blog most relevant to this topic: