Feminism has helped women gain things that once seemed impossible, or were treated like a luxury. The right to vote, access to education, the ability to open a bank account without a husband’s permission, the freedom to build a career and be your own boss. The list goes on.
But even after all that progress, there’s still a long way to go. Seriously, why are people still fighting over women’s bodily autonomy in 2026? And that’s just one piece of the daily sexism women still run into. It’s exhausting. It’s infuriating.
That’s why sometimes the best response is to vent online and say the quiet part out loud. The Facebook group Heroic Girls does exactly that, calling out the patriarchy with zero mercy. Scroll down for some of their best posts, and feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments.
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Mmm. When my grandfathers were born, they had no expectation of ever being able to vote. Equal rights? The rich keep the rest of us at each other's throats, distracting us from the real enemy - them. It's not a matter of men vs women or black vs white, but the wealthy vs everyone else.
"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose".
Load More Replies...And then there are males who decide they're women only to oppress us all over again. I have no problem with men who wish to live as women. Society should accept that and provide for their needs not take away from women.
Dear April, sounds nice but there will be another crop of deluded rich white mean who take their place. I have been hearing " once these old dudes with no clue die thing's will get better" for half a century. They just got worse.
Be careful, this line of thinking got Oprah into a lot of trouble when they took her words out of context. And I agree with you that we are currently sliding back. There was a time when conservative didn't equal evil in my mind....
Load More Replies...Am I the lucky one. Have I watched men all my life, in business, and learned from them? Have I not had men who've genuinely helped me in my career? If you want to get rid of the Patriarchy, you need to start with one huge group that are treated like property and have no real freedom. Instead of pandering to them, educate them.
Today, we’re lucky to have countless platforms where women can speak up and share their experiences. Whether it’s an online group or a protest that makes headlines, women have more ways than ever to make their voices heard. That kind of visibility makes it harder to brush real issues off as “no big deal.” And that matters more than you might think.
Why not both?! XD A dress with pockets and a pan of mac and cheese!
Load More Replies...What has precious got in it's pocketses? ..Nothing stupid, they're womens pants.
Load More Replies...Wait! Marry me first! I'll even talk to my husband about it!
Load More Replies...Yes! It really annoys me that my boyfriend can get his phone in his pocket yet I can't even get my hand in mine.
Load More Replies...American memoirist, essayist, poet, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou once said, “Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”
Every post calling out workplace inequality or story about unfair treatment chips away at the idea that these issues are normal or acceptable. It reminds other women they’re not alone.
Chasing down overall-wearing, carpenter-types while clutching a hammer, and yelling "I need you to nail something" has thus far not worked for me.
Not in the slightest. Harley Quinn (original/standard version of the character) is in a very, very dependent relationship with the Joker. She basically worships him and would do anything he asked of her. She's not really independent of him at all.
Load More Replies...It's long past time that people, not just men, learn that "No" is a complete sentence. Whether asking a girl/woman on a date, attempting to force drinks or food on someone who isn't interested or any other reason, if the response is No, then stop harassing the person.
partially blaming the entertainment media on this one. Practically every movie and TV show that has a romantic subplot rams home the "lesson" to not take no for an answer and the way to "get the girl" is to relentlessly hound her until she gives in.
Hmmmm. I was brought up primarily by my mother. Nobody had to teach me this. Strange, isn't it?
And if someone actually is the type that says "No" when they mean "Yes", take that "No" gratefully and run with it. You don't want anything to do with someone like that.
Told a contractor 3x I didn't want something done - verbally and in writing. 3rd time he asked I put it in writing, "Pursuant to my first two verbal refusals, please understand: If you do that, I will not pay for it - not the work, not the materials, and you will have to undo everything at your cost to put it back the way I want it. This is in writing to make it clear and put it on record." Fûcker asked me a 4th time. I asked him if this is going to have to get legal. Yep - he muttered "B!tch" when he turned away - but the work's be going smoothly since then.
I'm assuming you won't be giving that guy a glowing recommendation... I surely wouldn't. Nor would I have him do any more work for me. 🤔
Load More Replies...Genuinely, no one does this in real life. Also when a girl tells you no then it's no, even if she's playing hard to get then she isn't worth the trouble. No is no.
Load More Replies...But this ability to speak freely and publicly is shockingly recent. For most of history, women didn’t have these platforms. They didn’t have the vote or the education to make their voices count. Speaking up often meant risking everything, from social ostracism to actual violence.
Before feminism became an organized movement, women’s roles were largely confined to what men decided they should be. In many Western societies, women were considered the property of their fathers and then their husbands. They couldn’t own property or sign contracts in most places.
Education was reserved almost exclusively for men, and women who dared to speak publicly about politics or rights were often ridiculed or worse.
The funny part is, there *is* an International Men's Day (Nov 19th) and has been since the 1990s.
My wife bought a car. She shopped for it, test drove it, and paid for it. Guess who all the mail from the dealership is sent to? We told them to correct that, and they said they would. Of, course, they never did. Neither of us will be buying another car there.
Went through the same thing. I kept getting email that was obviously meant for my wife since she was the one who went to the dealership (Jeep) to look for a new vehicle. I was just with her because we hang out together whenever we can. The entire time we were there the salesman kept addressing me. It became annoying beyond words, and I finally told the guy, "Hey -- she's the one buying the car, and she'll be the one paying for it." He stopped for about 5 minutes and then started up again as if I were the father of a teenager who was getting her first car. Needless to say, my wife did not buy a Jeep. (And I will never again give my email address to a salesperson who's hoping to sell something to my wife.)
Load More Replies...I'd return it with "not known here." But I do like the cheque for the wife approach!
He probably knew her surname and addressed the bill to Mr. Surname
Load More Replies...Excuse me what the fresh hell has religion got to do with this ?? NONE so what’s that stupid comment for , your name fits you !
Load More Replies...Oh my word. So my comment got all those downvotes? Look, if you're doing physics at university, the majority of those in your lectures are male. Most such are heterosexual. That's just how it is. So, those who happen to be female are - well, rare and welcome (with a tendency to weirdness coupled with razor sharp minds - umm, along with everyone else in the cohort... 😬🤣). And trust me, I'm definitely right about the dress sense of the typical physics student. You're going to university to understand how the universe works - you think that sort of person is worrying about how to dress to impress in lectures? On special occasions, maybe - but otherwise? Pfft. 🙄
I don't think your comment actually got downvoted. Other random comments are getting this too, so it's probably a glitch.
Load More Replies...Yet even in these restrictive conditions, individual women pushed back. Writers like Mary Wollstonecraft published ground-breaking works such as “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” in 1792, arguing that women weren’t naturally inferior to men but appeared so because they lacked education and opportunities.
Wollstonecraft’s work laid important groundwork for what would eventually become the feminist movement, even though the term “feminism” itself wouldn’t appear for another century.
Well, he knows now doesn't he, They didn't consent to let him in. lol
Load More Replies...I was once driving behind my husband (he needed to leave car at the train station for later, we would finish journey in my car) and he made a rude hand gesture at me when I came up behind him at traffic lights. It was a joke, not at all mean. I saw a man walk over and knock on his window, this lovely guy had seen and wanted my husband to pull over to let me get far away. He laughed when we told him, but we both thanked him lots for his effort.
Not everything was closed for the totality of 2020
Load More Replies...The word “feminism” has French origins. French philosopher Charles Fourier is credited with coining the term “féminisme” in 1837. While it originally referred to “feminine qualities or character,” that meaning has long since faded.
The term didn’t gain widespread use in English until the 1890s. By then, women on both sides of the Atlantic were organizing in earnest, demanding the right to vote and own property. This became known as first-wave feminism, focused primarily on legal inequalities and suffrage.
THATS WHY IT HAS TO BE A MASQUERADE <- person who is totally chill about how Disney adapted Cinderella
But, but, but… the Disney adaptations (1950, 2015) it isn’t a masquerade ball. There are plenty of non-Disney adaptations where the ball is a masquerade, maybe you’re confusing them?
Load More Replies...Every year my sister calls or leaves a message wishing me "Uh...Happy Birthday!" in Gus Gus' voice.
Load More Replies...I never liked Barbies or any kind of human doll/baby doll XD I remember for a few years, some relatives would still give me Barbies as bday/Xmas gifts, and I would always perform "surgery" on them XD I preferred my dinosaur toys, my Transformers, and my GI Joes. I had a bunch of cheap shoddy horse toys too, and I used to play with them in the backyard - they were a tribe of meat-eating horses who had a hierarchical rule system XD They would go to war with rival tribes of horses (aka the horse toys I liked the least) and have grand battles with a lot of casualties. I was a strange child. XD
My parents bought me a doll house and I used it to reenact the manson murders. I'm really surprised they didn't put me in therapy.
Load More Replies...I had one Barbie. Just wasn't into her. Now my stuffed animals and plastic horses...
Why obviously Hot Wheels for a boy? Boys can like dolls if they want to. What a judgmental comment.
Load More Replies...As great as the clapback here is, I'd have trouble not smacking anyone that said that to me in the jaw, if I'm being truly honest.
How would they say it to you in the jaw? I'm trying to picture it.
Load More Replies..."Older" women? Not any of the older women I know. They actually fired up the civil, women's, and environmental rights movements. Please check the ageism at the door, people.
That law degree won't steal the covers and fart up the bed all night either.
The suffragette movement brought women together in unprecedented numbers. In the United States, the Seneca Falls Convention in July 1848 marked the official beginning of organized efforts for women’s suffrage.
Around 300 women and men came together to discuss the status of women and wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, which boldly stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.”
From there, the campaign grew. Activists marched and protested, and some were imprisoned or lost their lives for their activism. Women gained the right to vote in 1920 with the 19th Amendment, while in the UK, all women over 21 could finally vote by 1928. These victories came after decades of relentless campaigning.
That's true. Back before those ladies, you would have to have your husband/father sign off on you having a checking account, a car, a house. It wasn't that long ago that was the norm.
Precisely why I always vote even when the choices are all equally unappealing. Women died and suffered (Cat and Mouse Act) to enable me to vote. The least I can do is walk to the polling station.
Without them we wouldn't have the right to vote or have our own bankaccount
I think there is an old outdated law on the books in Alabama iirc that says a woman driving an automobile must have a man walking in front of her waving a red flag. Or some such nonsense. There's also an Army regulation against having relations with a chicken. It was frowned on. lol
The state of Alabama is still full of red flags, but none of them have anything to do with women drivers.
Load More Replies...I'm trying to do my part, but it's been really cold out!
Load More Replies...Lmao well I never used to but decades of a b us e changed me for the worse so come on jessica you letting the side down girl !,
Sorry you went through all that. It can change you for sure. When I got cancer I was very weak, my wife and I were arguing over her IV meth use. I threw away her stuff. She pushed me to the ground and repeatedly kicked me saying "I hope you die before the kids remember who you are." My kids don't remember her doing that thank goodness, but I have full custody now and she is in Prison. And despite her best efforts, I'm still alive.
Load More Replies...I keep hoping for a female Dexter that takes out misogynists in fun, creative ways.
Hey! We should only have to commit another 30% of the crimes! Fair's fair!
There is a scene in an old episode of “living single“ where the women are all sitting in the living room, and one of them says “I wonder what the world would be like with no men?” Queen Latifah answers “a lot of fat, happy women and no crime. “
Side note (that you won't like): crimes committed by trans women share the same profile as those committed by men, not those committed by women.
Suggesting only that the negative conditioning men are given is given quite early in life.
Load More Replies...Second-wave feminism emerged in the 1960s and 70s, broadening the conversation beyond legal rights to cultural inequalities. This wave tackled workplace inequality and reproductive rights alongside questions of sexuality and family dynamics.
Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” and Gloria Steinem’s activism helped galvanize a generation of women to question the limited roles society expected them to fill. The movement achieved significant legal victories, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title IX in 1972.
I don't think most men want to be a female doctor or a female engineer. 🤪
Male reindeer have antlers, they just shed them yearly and the females don't.
Load More Replies...Third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s, responding to what some saw as the failures and limitations of second-wave feminism. This wave embraced individualism and diversity, challenging the idea that there was a single way to be a feminist.
It focused heavily on intersectionality, a term coined by scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, recognizing that women’s experiences differ based on factors like race and class. Third-wave feminists also reclaimed terms and symbols that had previously been used to demean women, turning them into sources of power.
The standard reply for anyone should be "Back up 30 feet or so, and we'll see how that works."
Load More Replies...The beauty of never leaving the house , cos if a bloke said that to me , it gets a sarcastic comment as a reply , like I can’t see anything around her to smile at or worse depending on the day , , ie him lol it is one comment that instantly gets my hackles up ,
The only person who ever told me to smile is my mother. And she had yet to realise that was about the worst thing to say to a stroppy teenager.
Why would us guys need experience if we’ll end up with someone who doesn’t know the difference?
Conversely is this why women should remain pure so we don't realize how bad oir partner is?
Load More Replies...if a woman has never had s*x before marriage, How would she-even know if the guy was doing it the right way? She could go literally years without discovering that it’s supposed to feel good to her too.
As an alpha male I have to tell you that I find it very cringe when men have to tell people that they are alpha males themselves. I can assure you, as an alpha male, no true alpha male would do this.
What about an epsilon male...do they need to announce it?
Load More Replies...If u gotta tell people your an alpha you as far from one as you can get ,
I'm not even Beta yet. Still Pre-release testing. My coder was drunk.
Load More Replies...Found this online: "anthropologist Monika Sumra found that one of the first academic uses of an “alpha” label appeared in 1921. A researcher discussing chicken hierarchies, otherwise known as a pecking order, gave the top chicken the first letter of the Greek alphabet."
Fourth-wave feminism, emerging around 2012, is largely defined by technology and social media activism. The #MeToo movement showed how quickly women could organize online to expose systemic problems in workplaces and institutions. This wave continues to emphasize intersectionality while using digital platforms to call out inequality in real time.
Yet progress remains frustratingly uneven. Women still earn less than men for the same work and face ongoing battles over reproductive rights. The fight continues, just with different tools than previous generations had.
It's... it's a slang term, Ace. Not a grammatical error. It's a meme/slang term purposefully used in the proper manner here.
Load More Replies...Exactly this , I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself , I had to learn THE VILE HARD WAY !
"Read the full article" says the guy who failed to read the byline
Nope. Try domestic víolence, séxual hárássment, rápe, ábuse, discrimination in the workplace, and stálking/unwanted attention/verbal hárrásment. DV and rápe and all the other things DO happen to men (my father was physically, verbally, and mentally ábused by my mother) but percentagewise, those things happen to women far more often.
Load More Replies...Change "man" replying to "male." The men get it and aren't the problem. The males are always the problem.
Sorry, I don't understand this. Is this the argument that individuals aren't the same as society in general? If not, can you elaborate? Thanks.
Load More Replies...No, men are the ones worried that their spouse/GF is making more money than they are. I knew a couple that were going to Mexico. She was in IT and he was a bartender. Guess who had problems with that trip. (She didn't & he did because it was her money being spent)
My wife always made more money than me, and we both would have been delighted if she had made even more.
Do not care try to take my masculinity away from me! I will throw a hissy fit it you try!
Ha ha! Levels of misunderstanding that end up in perfect understanding....!
That's Philomena Cunk as played by Diane Morgan. Watch anything entitled "Cunk on..." Charlie Brooker apparently has the writing credits, but Diane Morgan is a force of nature.
When someone says b******t, my response is "so do cows, but they don't brag about it ".
What "certain tasks"? Peeing while standing up? Getting teabagged?
So it's not that they think women aren't as good. They just think men are better. Got it.
Truth is that all people, men and women and all other sexes, prefer to hang out with people that they feel comfortable with, which most often. Is people like themselves. This is why affirmative action is important. We need all kinds of people in all positions so that everyone gets an equal chance.
So we got our last Coivid stimulus check and I suggested we check out bathroom vanities for a remodel. My wife, practical person she is, "How old is the furnace?"..."umm..20 y/o"..we got a new furnace.
I got my wife, among other things, a cobweb duster. Far and away her favorite gift this year.
I have an ostrich feather duster, and I love walking around idly dusting random things while being attacked by the cats trying to catch the strange bird. I wouldn't have been angry at getting it as a gift, as long as I could give you an automatic window washer.
Load More Replies...I,ll buy my own washer , cooker etc thanks don’t need a man to do it for me , I,ll also fit the washer to ,cooker I leave to qualified sparkies obvs also all household appliances I always choose bought ,n fitted 🤷♀️
Wait... Women can read assembly and set up instructions? Whatever next!
Shoot I'm the one that assembles things in our home. My husband can't figure out instructions to save his life.
Load More Replies...My experience is that women are more likely to get the assembly right on the first try, because they're better at remembering to read the instructions first. Our Kallax looked mighty weird on the first attempt.
The only time I had trouble assembling a piece of DIY furniture, the person I called for help - a man, because I didn't know any females who could help at that time - also had a lot of trouble. It wasn't me, it was the directions.
Lmao I’m the queen of flat pack stuff ! and I don’t need no de structions either ,they always useless , I’ve also taught my daughter as well as my son ,
Isn't the lack of pockets in womens clothes something to do with the handbag manufacturers? Some sort of agreement. Not sure if this is true but I can believe it.
I came across a video once explaining something like it goes back a couple of centuries where women's clothes didn't come with pockets so they couldn't hide feminist pamphlets/forbidden books, limiting their knowledge, ability to conduct business and economic opportunity. Carried on from there for one reason or another. Something along those lines.
Load More Replies...D**n it I am gay. Excuse me whilst I break the news to my parents.
We are currently experiencing a crisis level of fragile male egos. The streets are littered with pieces.
Me too! I am so gay! There is something brilliant about having married an "equal"! In many respects, my wife is so much better than I am!
Of course, calling yourself an assassin and hiding your face just screams self-confidence and masculinity...ah, sorry, I mis-spelt 'edgelord'.
Oh heavens no! Not the exposed brastrap! GASP! I'm not looking forward to this nonsense when I eventually go on HRT... the fact that people think it's inappropriate to show a brastrap is wild.
Wait until it gets a little chilly and the níppareenos show, even through one's bra/shirt layers XD You'll get disdain and dirty looks from other women and unwanted attention/laser-focus stares from men. Wishing you luck on your future HRT journey and I hope it goes smoothly! <3
Load More Replies...It depends on if I am trying to keep my cross-dressing low key or if I'm in a "shock and awe" mood lol.
I once, whilst playing pool aged ~21, had a woman in the group i was with come over to me to tell me that my thong was showing when I bent over to take a shot (this was the era of low rise jeans), and then she and her friends laughed behind me about it. This was over 20 years ago and I still want to tell her to grow up and stop policing what other women wear.
At the risk of falling exactly into the trap, my belief is that 'mansplaining' is when men feel the need to explain things to women, without first checking if an explanation is wanted or needed. If it WAS wanted or needed, then it isn't mansplaining, just a man explaining. Women of BP, thoughts?
Is it really mansplaining if the guy has been explicitly asked to explain something?
While canvassing for the 2024 US elections a guy told me he couldn't vote for a woman because they are too emotional. I guess we should be grateful for the even-keeled leadership of D. Trump.
Good thing that a comment from a bystander couldn't make him yell "Fuck you" and flip the guy off, right?
Load More Replies...Ahem. What's this nonsense about "men's inability to show and properly communicate blah blah blah"? 🤨 Take a leaf out of Professor Germaine Greer's book and stop talking about things you don't understand - that is, men.
Wow, wouldn't it be nice if men also did the same thing about women and female-centric problems and issues such as menstruation, abortion, etc.?
Load More Replies...As they say: Men are nervous their date is gonna reject them, women are nervous their date is gonna k**l them.
When I moved back home for a bit after college, I would text my bestie and also tell my younger brother. I'd tell them the guy's name, where I'm going, his phone number... Thankfully nothing ever happened, but better safe than sorry.
Load More Replies...Yup and call friend to confirm safely home afterwards (and adding in a date debrief as a side benefit).
It's useful to know which men are made uncomfortable by feminism. In fact, it's all you need to know about them.
She's so awesome! She dumps on MAGA Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) all of the time.
Load More Replies..."Wait a minute - Xena can't FLY!" "I'm NOT Xena - I'm LUCY LAWLESS!" "Oh..."
I mean, kinda both? XD But for me, it was caused/perpetuated/first inflicted upon me by my mother all throughout my childhood and teen years. Then I managed to date a guy for 24 years who was basically my mother in dude form! Good times!
I was always to not be a distraction, give way to other people, be polite and considerate, and never to confront people.
Load More Replies...Naw. If I'm angry, trust me; you'll know I'm angry. It takes a lot, but you'll know.
Ha, oh same. I'm not a shrinking violet, but I understand why some women are.
Load More Replies...Ladies, really. Teach yourselves not to cry when angry. It totally screws up your aim.
I absolutely refuse to deny my emotions if that's how I feel. If someone else can't handle it, so much worse off for them when I am finished with them.
Load More Replies...Sometimes I cry when I'm angry, and it just makes me angrier and frustrated, and I can't say what I want to say clearly. It's the worst feeling. I never realized there was a reason for it, but I realize now I was never allowed to be angry as a kid. As a teen, I cried a lot and cut myself. Now I just cry when I'm angry, it's literally the only reason I've cried in the last 10 years.
You learn to not show anger if you have been a child and have always been punched in the face by your father for showing anger to him.
Note: this post originally had 70 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Julie S: some of us white men aren't anything like as confident as you seem to assume. Everyone's different. White men without wealth and power often struggle as much as anyone else. Yes there are such things as "male privilege" and also "white privilege", but both mostly work out to be "not suffering from specific disadvantages and discrimination". Doesn't necessarily get you anywhere, especially not in such a class-stratified society as the UK.
Load More Replies...The term is "suffragist". "Suffragette" is a derogatory term meaning "a cute little suffragist" ("cute" not intended as a compliment). It was a media-generated insult for impatient women who were getting a tad less "polite" in their activism.
Callum Young: "suffragette" might have been coined with that meaning, but the women so labelled were the very antithesis of "cute little girls". They took direct action, some of it violent (they'd had enough of being on the receiving end...). The suffragist Edith "Garrud is best remembered for training the Bodyguard unit of the Women's Social and Political Union in jujutsu self-defence techniques to protect their leaders from arrest and from violence by members of the public. Garrud is credited with forging the image of the militant suffrage campaigner trained in hand-to-hand combat that came to represent the militants' struggle for the vote. " Links follow.
Load More Replies...Julie S: some of us white men aren't anything like as confident as you seem to assume. Everyone's different. White men without wealth and power often struggle as much as anyone else. Yes there are such things as "male privilege" and also "white privilege", but both mostly work out to be "not suffering from specific disadvantages and discrimination". Doesn't necessarily get you anywhere, especially not in such a class-stratified society as the UK.
Load More Replies...The term is "suffragist". "Suffragette" is a derogatory term meaning "a cute little suffragist" ("cute" not intended as a compliment). It was a media-generated insult for impatient women who were getting a tad less "polite" in their activism.
Callum Young: "suffragette" might have been coined with that meaning, but the women so labelled were the very antithesis of "cute little girls". They took direct action, some of it violent (they'd had enough of being on the receiving end...). The suffragist Edith "Garrud is best remembered for training the Bodyguard unit of the Women's Social and Political Union in jujutsu self-defence techniques to protect their leaders from arrest and from violence by members of the public. Garrud is credited with forging the image of the militant suffrage campaigner trained in hand-to-hand combat that came to represent the militants' struggle for the vote. " Links follow.
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