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Defining a Good Cause Through Hatred Is a Choice

Of bra-burners and angry vegans.

Taru Anniina Liikanen
6 min readDec 20, 2021
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

I was talking to a man about feminism the other day, and it left me thinking.

“But you’re not a feminist feminist, are you?” he asked at one point. “I hate feminists.”

“Um, yes I am, and I think you are, too.” He chuckled. I needed to explain myself. “I believe you and I both think men and women should have equal rights. Therefore, we are both feminists.”

He agreed, but kept on speaking about a video he’d seen of some YouTuber quizzing participants at a women’s march that had left the feminists looking dumb.

My sister is a feminist, too,” he said at one point, somewhat disheartened.

“So, if women you like and respect, such as your sister and I, are feminists, why don’t you choose to let us be the representatives of the cause in your mind, instead of women you don’t like?

He was surprised by what I said. But when you’re talking about something you objectively know is a good cause, this seems pretty simple to me.

We’re the 21st century bra-burners

The old bra-burner feminist stereotype is alive and well.

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Taru Anniina Liikanen
Taru Anniina Liikanen

Written by Taru Anniina Liikanen

Stand-up comedian and recovering political ghostwriter. Finnish by birth, porteña at heart. Bad jokes frequent.

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