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“I Thought You Were The Dad”: 57 Women Share The Most Unhinged Ways They Practice Micro Feminism
We may be living in more progressive times where gender equality is getting more attention, but society itself is still largely patriarchal. There remain power imbalances that favor men, and many people still uphold traditions that put women in a second tier.
So, as a way to stand up to the system, these people are sharing how they incorporate microfeminism into their daily lives. Yes, many of their actions will ruffle some feathers, but they are intent on making a statement, even in their own little ways.
These came from a recent Threads post that grew traction, and you will see why as you read through.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Anytime someone says “the US team could win this year!” (In regards to the World Cup), I say haven't we won like 4 times? And when they say no i say “oh you must be talking about the men's team”
RELATED:
#2
When a dad brings his kid into our clinic and doesn’t know their DOB or why they’re there I casually laugh and say “oh my bad I thought you were the Dad, sorry!” You should see their faces 🤭
Spencers slave no more 3 hours ago (edited)
It would appear both @Tobias Reaper and I are on the same page and touched a nerve with some people. There are mothers out there that don't/can't remember their kids details also. It's NOT Dad specific.
#3
When someone says “he helps with the kids,” I say, “You mean he parents his children?”
#4
I don’t move out of the way of men. I just stop in my tracks and wait for them to go around.
Recently at the grocery store a man crashed into my grocery cart because I stopped instead of moved and I guess he was that confident that I was going to haul my big old cart out of his way that he literally walked right into it.
Oh and my favorite way to address an angry man is to tell them there is no need to be so emotional. They hate that.
#5
I don’t flick off men in traffic, I give them a thumbs down. It creates disappointment vibes instead of anger. Many are really surprised 😳
#6
Very micro but I recently sent out our wedding invitations and I made sure to put the woman’s name first on the envelopes.
#7
My husband and I are both Veteran's. But whenever we're asked "Who's the Veteran?" My husband always says "she is."
#8
I’m a nurse and I say, “Your body, your choice” to male patients every opportunity I can.
Male patient doesn’t want medicine…”Your body, your choice.”
Male patient says they want to leave AMA…”Your body, your choice.”
The list goes on…😂
#9
When a kid gets hurt or is unwell and I am the one who has to make the call (I'm a teacher), you bet your bum I'm calling dad. Every time.
#11
I work in healthcare + insurance and I refuse to use the terms husband or wife. "Partner" across the board. You'd be surprised how many straights get offended
Tobias Reaper 3 hours ago
i do the same thing partner is more appropriate unless they specifically refer to their partner as husband or wife
#12
Replacing 'Sorry to bother you' with 'Thank you for your time' or 'Thanks for your patience' in emails. It subtly shifts the dynamic from apologizing for occupying space to assuming mutual professional respect
#13
I interrupt interrupters in meetings a la “Hang on just a second, Gary. I think we should finish hearing what Cathy had to say.”
Roman Arendt 1 hour ago
That's just good manners. And it would be the the responsibility of the person calling the meeting to do so, regardless of the gender of the interrupter/interruptee.
#14
Using the term "workforce" instead of "manpower", human kind instead of "man kind". Language goes a long way.
#15
When I create a survey, Female always goes before Male. It’s alphabetical order.
#16
I’m a teacher and whenever I need to move something I ask if any of my strong girls can help
Shingo Murata 2 hours ago
When I (a man) worked in some big company once, the ratio was 1 male - 5 females there. and whenever the paper on the copy machine or fax ran out, they always ask a man to go get some. and I always asked, why always the man, a woman can carry one stack of paper also. and the female manager always got upset. I was ahead of my time. it was 1997
#17
I’m a public accountant. I put the woman down as “taxpayer” and the husband down as “spouse” for every new client that is filing a married filing joint return.
#18
When building a healthcare related website I made sure all the doctor stock photos were women doctors.
#19
I try to actively use the word “women” for anyone 18 and older instead of “girls.” Guys are automatically “men” in print and elsewhere when they turn 18 (and even younger). We deserve the same respect.
#20
Not supporting cruel to women religions even if my opinion is not popular and ppl will block me everywhere
#21
if my delivery person is a woman, i wait for her to get inside her car and drive off before i go back upstairs.
#22
I’m a law student. In my notes, if I’m writing something positive, I use ‘her’ but for example I’m writing about a criminal or anything vile, I use ‘him’ 😂
#24
* Every time a man tries to skip the line, i say "it's ok, let the weak go first".
* Every time when men get triggered by healthy feminism, i say "girls, let's not oppress the vulnerable".
#25
Today, in a meeting, I said “You would be grandmothered in”, instead of “grandfathered in”
#26
Anytime any man Tries to refer to any other man in any sport as the greatest athlete of blah blah blah, I mention Serena Williams, as in “yeah, but he’s no Serena Williams”
#27
Whenever a woman apologizes to me for “being in the way”, for instance if I say excuse me in a grocery store and they say sorry, I always tell them “Girl, never apologize for taking up space. We do that way too often as women.” most of the time I get a response of something like, “You know what?! You’re right!” It’s like my fun, little, feminism pass it on game!
#28
I found a few online:
Always assuming the professional is a woman, like if someone says they've been to the doctor lately, and you assume the doctor is a lady and ask, oh what did she say/do
Starting speeches with women and children of women.
Always referring to someone as miss, even if you know she's married, only exception is Dr.
Kristiina Männiste 3 hours ago
In my country most of the medical professionals are women. A standard medical doctor for an Estonian is a no nonsense woman with short curled hair and a white coat. Anything else is a deviation from norm.
#29
Always correcting a man when he uses the word “female” instead of “woman”.
Kristiina Männiste 3 hours ago (edited)
As is right. (in Estonian the word "female" is only used for animals, and even then for animals that you consider lower than yourself. Bor example a dog is a "female dog" but a bear is a "mother bear" and a tiger is a "mother tiger"). It might be different for english, but calling a woman "a female" in Estonia equals calling her a piece of cattle.
#30
If a man seems insistent on cutting me off or walking ahead of me, I stop and say “after you, princess”
#32
i’m a passport agent. no matter what, i’m putting moms name above dads on a child’s passport application so mom has to sign above dad. extra sparkle points if the dad is “running” the appointment.
#33
We need the lady architects to always put the women’s bathroom first in the hallway of every restaurant.
Beak Hookage 2 hours ago
I'm 100% on board with this; holding it in when you need to pee as a woman is a LOT harder, because (unless highschool health class steered me wrong), we pretty much just use gravity to get it out while a man has to push thanks to having a longer urethra.
#34
I ask men if they work outside the home
And also ask “if you’re here then who is taking care of your kids?”
Related to both: Ask how they balance work and fatherhood
#35
one of my favorites is, whenever a man makes you laugh, turning to the closest girl and saying "See? Men can be funny after all!"
#36
I once called a tiger a 'male tigress'. My father was deeply offended.
Kristiina Männiste 3 hours ago
Luckily male and female tigers are both just called tiger in Estonia. If we wish to specify the gender we have to say "father tiger" or "mother tiger". We are very fond of the great grand total of three tigers that live in our country (in Tallinn Zoo).
#37
“Ladies and their creation”
#38
I call the World Cup from this year the Men's World Cup and the one for next year (when the women play) the real World Cup
#39
As a college student, I-
•assume all doctors and all professors are female until proven otherwise.
• Whenever I need to name off professionals in a field (like science) I name women first.
• question everything and do not stop kids from questioning everything
• do not smile at or be polite to men until given a good reason (like introductions or the door being held open)
I’m also a business minor so that’s pretty microfeminising in & of its self 😌
#40
When men post shirtless pics I report them for nudity.
BOBCAT SOLUTIONS 2 hours ago
Of course you do....but every chance you get you use your sexuality as way to get what you want.....shame
#41
I intentionally sought out female medical professionals, leaders, mentors, etc for my two boys. Now they’re bamboozled when they see a men in high achieving professions. Once they had a male resident pediatrician.
Mouths agape, 6 asked “boys can be doctors too?!?!”
Me: “I guess bro, but they have to work like SUPER hard.”
#42
PCP here. I always discuss evidence for/against prostate exams at an annual. Present the evidence. Then say, “your body, your choice”, to drive home why bodily autonomy is important. Also call the dad’s with results from kiddos testing, etc. This may be a controversial one. When the heterosexual male is in my office with his wife/GF, and she attempts to speak for him, I tell her “Ma’am, you may not always feel well to attend. It would be a disadvantage to him to not learn to answer for himself.”
#43
feminism just means we want to be equal. so I like to point out when we don't have equal representation on boards, as CEOs, as founders, as VC, as famous chefs, etc.
#44
Male populated not male dominated field “Being a ____ is a male populated field”
They don’t dominate
#45
Asking expectant fathers if they’re going part time when baby arrives
#46
I make travel arrangements and when it is wife/husband traveling together, I book everything in the wife's name from the car to the hotel. And I always put her name first in the email when I say "Hi [insert wife's name] and [insert husband's name]
Rika 24 minutes ago
What if the wife has no driving license ? Car rentals usually require the name on the booking to be the driver's for insurance reasons. Same for hotels, the wife is in for some trouble if the card used for the booking is the husband's. At least, ask them first before doing that kind of sh*t.
#47
I don't stop talking when someone talks over me. Sometimes I put my hand up as I finish. Then I politely yield the floor to the interrupter.
#49
I decided female is the standard gender for things, unless proven otherwise. For ex, if i see a spider or bird or any creature idk the gender of, its a she.
#50
You know how everyone who owns power tools ends up with one brand-family that they stick to? (DeWalt, Makita, Ryobi, etc)
Well you are now a “___”-girly.
“Oh yeah my dad’s always been a DeWalt-girly too”
It brings a lot of fun to the conversation.
#51
Everytime I'm arguing with a man I always remain calm and indifferent. When he starts taking things personally or showing he's minimally nervous, I say he's too emotional right now and we can talk again later, when he's feeling calmer.
If he starts shouting, I say he's "too hysterical".
#52
Not moving out of the way when you’re walking by men is elite but also just loudly taking up space anywhere feels good
#53
I noticed men more often say they live by themselves, and women say they live alone, and I didn’t like that people may errantly conflate “alone” and “lonely,” so now I write “by herself” instead of “alone” so women’s aloneness doesn’t get viewed as loneliness more easily than men’s.
#54
I tell men that they’d be more attractive if they smiled, and when they do, I say, “I guess it doesn’t work all the time.”
#55
When I spell things on the phone, I don’t use any male names for the letters. F like Francesca, L like Lucy, M like Michelle.
I also don’t watch men’s sports anymore. I only watch women’s sports. It’s literally the best. Women are amazing.
#56
I do an Uno reverse on the country music radio standard of only playing one song by a woman per hour. When my phone is connected to the work truck Bluetooth, the whole crew is going to be listening to 98% women, trans, and non-binary musicians for the whole drive to the work site. They have to put in requests if they want to hear a straight white man sing.
#57
I always ask men to repeat what they said, I can’t ever “hear” them the first time.
What do you think ?
Senjo Krane 1 hour ago
Many of these are just reverse mysongyny. These attitudes don't help to create a harmonious world.
Lukas (fuck/transphobes) 1 hour ago
Some of these are good- not moving when a man expects you to move for him, adjusting language to be less male-forward (though I think it's better to move towards gender-neutral language rather than either gender). But some of these were cruel. Why would you mock someone for their appearance just because they're a man? Or berate them for making you laugh? Feminism is about equality. We as a culture will never get anywhere by being petty and trying to put men down for being men- just as men should not put down women just for being women. We are all humans, first and foremost, and leading with respect does the most good for all of us.
Senjo Krane 1 hour ago
Many of these are just reverse mysongyny. These attitudes don't help to create a harmonious world.
Lukas (fuck/transphobes) 1 hour ago
Some of these are good- not moving when a man expects you to move for him, adjusting language to be less male-forward (though I think it's better to move towards gender-neutral language rather than either gender). But some of these were cruel. Why would you mock someone for their appearance just because they're a man? Or berate them for making you laugh? Feminism is about equality. We as a culture will never get anywhere by being petty and trying to put men down for being men- just as men should not put down women just for being women. We are all humans, first and foremost, and leading with respect does the most good for all of us.
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