I Have A Problem With Tiktok Feminism

Words by Jenny Jung

Everyone’s journey with feminism is unique and deeply personal. However, it is safe to say that the media we consume act as sources which guide our norms and understanding of feminism. This is why I have a problem with feminist content on social media, most prominently Tiktok. Now, I’d be a liar if I said I’m not constantly on Tiktok every moment of boredom throughout my day – most kids these days are. But this is why Tiktok feminism is so dangerous; it feeds regressive and toxic content into the minds of malleable young people who have yet to form their views on feminism. I remember as a young girl myself seeing #feminism posts on Instagram (you know, the pussy-powerperiod-blood-girlboss activism that was going on in 2012) and taking it as gospel, not realizing how toxic that brand of feminism really is. This is the effect of social media trends on young people, and it is still a problem to this day, if not worse.

To preface, capitalism and feminism are a match made in hell. The reason why emancipation has been taking so long (with so many generations to come if ever) is because capitalism exists. The patriarchy is littered with traps, with clever mechanisms to make women feel liberated and empowered and simultaneously feed right from its hands – capitalism and consumerism culture being one. Capitalism is a system born out of the patriarchy, and it serves to reinforce it. Capitalism is inherently gendered, because the means of production are always the masculine, and the commodities are always the feminine. In this society where women are groomed into being satisfied as products, there can never be emancipation. This leads to the first Tiktok trend I want to talk about.

the ‘divine feminine’, Have you ever and other futile encountered attempts of those Tiktoks with women escape from the dressed like male gaze.forest witches and/or goddesses, posing for the camera with that annoying “I am woman, I am fearless…” sound in the background? The divine feminine is a trend on Tiktok, meant to channel our powerful feminine energy, and feel empowered in this society where men tell us what women should be – yes, women sure look beautiful and radiant, but is the

divine feminine really liberation from the male gaze? Simone de Beauvoir in her masterpiece, The Second Sex writes on associating women with mysticism. Mysticism, women as goddesses, as holders of secrets to fertility, as laceclad, grape-eating, barefoot fairies, is a role that men have posited onto us. Beauvoir writes that even when men see themselves as passive to these mystical laws of nature and fertility, “he still realizes himself as transcendence”. Let’s put this simply: picture man as… well, man, and woman as mother nature – men, while overpowered and entranced by the mysticism of mother nature, still conquers, cultivates the land. So, the ‘divine feminine’ isn’t really empowering at all – we are cosplaying exactly what men want us to think we are. Beauvoir writes: “as powerful as she may appear, she is defined through notions created by the male consciousness… she incarnates only the static aspects of society… man continues to monopolise the functions that open this society to nature”. We should strive to be more than just this belittling role that men have created for us to embody just so they can cultivate us – we should strive to be empowered, strong feminists just and purely being ourselves.

Another trend I’ve seen appear quite recently is the whole male gaze vs female gaze discourse. I saw several Tiktoks just today where women show a series of pictures from when they were supposedly dressing for the male gaze – what some would call ‘basic’ outfits – then when the beat drops, they show themselves dressing for the female gaze – some cooler, more eccentric outfits. Now, I’m aware of the key criticism of this trend because – and what a surprise – I’ve seen Tiktoks about this. It’s the Margaret Atwood criticism; that we are our own voyeurs, “a woman with a man inside watching a woman”. When we make these Tiktoks of us ‘rebelling’ against the male gaze, we are still catering to the male gaze, because everything is run by male fantasies. If the pretty, preppy Barbie imagery you think of when someone says ‘male gaze’ is a male fantasy, then so is the rebellious, eccentric, dark/ light academia, or cottagecore (pick your fighter) ‘written by a woman’ imagery. One way or another, we are just commodities made to serve male fantasies. In this capitalist society controlled by the patriarch, we are all, always, written by a man – written to be consumed. “Up on a pedestal or down on your knees, it’s all a male fantasy”. Disheartening, right? The female gaze trend is not a progressive feminist movement that we thought it was, and we shouldn’t be teaching young girls to be their own voyeur. This is as best an opening I’m going to get for my next problematic #feminist trend.

– ever heard of it? It’s the jaded woman trope; she is sick of being nice to men and smiling all the time. Instead of bows, she wears ripped tights. Switch out your sparkly lip gloss for Clinique’s ‘Black Cherry’ (someone please tell me where I can buy one). She chainsmokes and has smudged mascara, even at 10 in the morning – depression can hit any time of the day when you’re a woman. This is your regular Fiona Apple, Fleabag woman. Now, I have a few problems with this trend. First, it sexualizes and glorifies self-destructive and toxic tendencies in women. Dissociative feminism claims to counter the hyper-optimistic, girlboss feminist movement, but does little more than to create just another hub of equally toxic women and (most importantly) the men who are looking for a new, more

exciting (!) brand of women. I remember just a couple years ago we were criticizing filmbros for romanticizing depressed women, smoking cigarettes on her windowsill, skinny as a stick probably because she doesn’t ever eat. So why is dissociative feminism such a revolution on Tiktok? Probably because – and yet another effortless segue to my next point(!) – the women that post under this hashtag are all pale, skinny, attractive white women with money to spend on Vivienne Westwood! Do I even have to come up with another linking sentence connecting my argument back to the problem of ‘social media feminism in the age of capitalism’ anymore?

I could go on and on, but I really must wrap up for the main event:

This is a sensitive topic. So I will preface first with a content warning – I may discuss troubling topics like trafficking, sexual violence, etc – and make myself clear in saying I am 100% for decriminalising sex work and supporting sex workers. Sex work isn’t an inherently exploitative trade, and you will see this if you go back civilisations ago, where profit wasn’t a thing that people lived for. I am not trying to stigmatise sex work as a trade. It only becomes a problem because we have started commodifying women’s sexuality and pleasure and creating a capitalist industry where men exploit these commodities to make profit. That’s when women start being trafficked, killed, and put at risk of STI transmission, rape, and abuse – especially trans women.

However, social media often shows a distorted version, and a tiny fraction of reality. Have you ever come across ‘StripTok’? These strippers are posting short videos talking about their day in the life in the industry, showing their nice apartment, relaxing and enjoyable day, and their glamorous career at night as a stripper. Then, they always end with the creator showing off how much cash they made that day. All in the name of female empowerment. I have a huge problem with this; not only are these Tiktoks at all representative of the reality of sex work, it is risking the safety of young, impressionable girls who might not know better. Sex work and consumption of sex work under capitalism is just as unethical and exploitative as any other industry. Encouraging women’s participation in sex work is not feminist, nor is it ethical. Until sex work is decriminalised and the industry is back in the hands of women, it will continue to be a hostile, psychologically consuming profession for all involved.

This is the reality of social media feminism. Impressionable minds form a regressive, untrue idea of feminism – a feminist movement that is palatable to capitalism and to men who are taking advantage of women’s sexual liberation. Let’s not give them what they want – let’s rebel against capitalist structures and emancipate ourselves.