Although there are no bad intentions rooted in the foundational definitions of feminism, there are such people who can be pinpointed as “bad feminists”. Bad feminists are women who use a watered-down version of women’s empowerment, or selfishly apply feminism to where they are personally marginalized in their own lives.
Essentially, bad feminists are women who use feminism as a shovel to dig themselves out of their own disenfranchisement while making it harder for women to dig their own ways out. Bad feminists are women who ignore people of color, take part in cultural appropriation, ignore LGBTQ+ people, are ableist, do not recognize other socioeconomic statuses, and do not acknowledge other religions. Additionally, bad feminists do not advocate for the needs of men, too.
Feminism is for everyone.
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It is essential to use examples of women who are bad feminists so as to understand the concept of bad feminism. Controversially, it can be argued that Ariana Grande is a bad feminist. This is not to say that she does not make good music, because her music is fantastic. The ways in which she paves the way for female artists is bold and necessary, but her feminism is inherently selfish. For example, Grande stands accused of blackfishing, where people use makeup and other cosmetic means to appear black or racially ambiguous, usually altering their skin and hair.
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On one occasion, she appeared blonde and freckle faced for the cover of Vogue. Yet, in her “Thank You Next” music video, we see a woman with darkened skin and hair extensions. She is picking and choosing features from other cultures for her own financial gain.
Moreover, Ariana Grande champions Japanese culture as her own personal aesthetic. She originally got a tattoo written in Japanese to commemorate her song “7 Rings.” The music video for this song also has an overall Japanese aesthetic. The tattoo was translated as “bbq grill,” and she needed an additional character to make the translation more accurate to say “7 Rings.” Though this incident is rather humorous, it comes to show how Grande is careless in her “appreciation” of Japanese culture and language.
Another bad feminist is Huda Kattan (AKA Huda Beauty). Known as a YouTube personality and popular makeup brand, Huda Kattan is a self-proclaimed feminist, as noted on her YouTube. However, Kattan is under fire for a lot of reasons. First, she has recently been dubbed as homophobic by James Charles and Jeffree Star, two other YouTube beauty gurus. In fact, she has been called out by many other Internet personalities for having issues with LGBTQ+ people.
Additionally, she came under a lot of criticism for uploading tips on how to “lighten your vagina.” Though the post has been since removed from her website, the article is ridden with fat-shaming rhetoric, so as to explain that darker vaginas come from friction. Kattan, among other beauty gurus, is fundamentally colorist and exemplifies that skin-bleaching is still a popularly endorsed practice.
Jackie Aina, a YouTube beauty guru who is known for speaking out for inclusion and diversity, called out Huda Beauty for pandering to people with darker complexions. Instead of having products that include darker skinned customers for the sake of doing so, Kattan does it as a marketing strategy. The issue lies in the fact that Kattan is trying to stay ahead of the makeup game, and not to use her platform and company to include customers who have been systematically ignored by other brands. Though Kattan is a proclaimed feminist, her actions show that she is anything but.
In short, a bad feminist is one who uses certain tenets of feminism to push past barriers that only she experiences. This “feminist” seeks to advance herself, while pushing back other women who face different oppressions. Though women are not the only feminists, as men are as well, the worst feminists usually are women because they are stabbing their own sisters in the back. The women who spent centuries paving the way for us were women of all religions, sexualities, and races, and it is unfair to advance feminism for only white women.
Being a good feminist takes work. The Women’s Marches, protests, interviews, Ted Talks, and everything in between are each fundamentally important pieces to the puzzle of feminism. We need to hear the voices of all women and must strive to give voices to the women who have had them stripped away.
Feminism is taking the stand to speak up for all women and bringing awareness to our dehumanization, exploitation, and mistreatment. But good feminism is also passing the microphone to women who are different from us, as it is our job to speak up for ourselves, but to also give other women the opportunity to speak. It is our job to empower one another, not to take that potential power away.