Over the summer, there was a brief stint when a particular Tumblr blog generated discussion, and even sparked controversy, among many casual Internet browsers.

The Tumblr was called “Women Against Feminism,” and it was constructed around the idea that as independent, equal members of society, women shouldn’t need to be in support of an institution fueled by a “toxic culture,” rife with supposed double-standards and misandry.

One particular feature of the Tumblr page was a segment in which these supposedly anti-feminist women posed with signs on which they explained their disinclination toward feminism with a single statement. Examples varied in their content and level of seriousness, but some general examples were:

“I don’t need feminism because I don’t want to politicize my gender.”

“I don’t need feminism because being whistled at on the street isn’t oppression.”

“I don’t need feminism because I don’t need to demonize men.”

The posts gained a significant amount of negative attention. In most cases, feminists deemed the sign writers and photo subjects to be misinformed, naive and disgustingly egocentric. But were the sign writers against the true ideals of feminism, or were they against their own understanding of feminism? Chances are, these sign writers’ understanding of feminism came from some uneducated post on the Internet. This is highly problematic, though, because often times both sides of the feminism argument perpetuate venomous discussions on a basis of misinformation.

Put generally, feminism is the collection of movements that work to establish equality — politically, economically and socially — for all women. The idea is great. Equality is great. But, all “-isms” appear that way on paper. It’s when they are put into practice and individuals are allowed to establish “their take” on the “-ism” where things get out of hand, and meanings become misconstrued.

One major circumstantial factor which distinguishes contemporary feminism from its preceding movements is the large role the Internet plays in its presentation. Third-wave feminism isn’t completely new — it began around 1992 — however, one of the primary ways it shares its many ideas and subjects of debate is through the Internet.

The Internet, as a collective whole, is arguably one of the loudest and farthest reaching advocates for feminism. Through blogs and social networking sites, millions of individuals and organizations are able to express their thoughts surrounding the movement. And while it’s great that so many people possess the ability to spread their inner thoughts, it doesn’t always create the most productive environment.

In this particular case, fiery, aggressive online advocates of feminism mislead an uninformed crowd (the sign writers), who may have based their own opinions on a skewed view of feminism.

Chances are these sign writers would probably be in support of the views of feminism if they fully understood its intentions.

When you’re online and posting opinions, you are doing so in an environment that is very much isolated from the people by whom your opinion will be received. Through this isolation, you gain an increased sense of confidence and safety since you will probably never come into physical contact with this ambiguous audience.

This, in some cases, might lead you to structure your online opinion in a way that is more forward and inherently aggressive than the way you would voice the same opinion in the world outside your desktop. The result in the case of this Tumblr example shows how bold statements can develop into emotionally-driven rants with very few facts. This is not a terribly effective way to help educate the uninformed.

Scrolling through the comments section of a particularly thought-provoking piece is consistently a nightmare. Once you sift through the vast array of misspellings, improper grammar use and innuendo-laden usernames, you’ll find a disgusting collection of personal, aggressive, stabbing accusations. You’ll find faulty logic. You’ll find logic backed by absolutely nothing, and this is how this Tumblr page came to exist.

I think that feminist ideas are vitally important to almost everybody in one way or another. And it goes without saying that the Internet is a tremendously useful tool by which to spread the doctrines of contemporary feminism in a way that is fast, easy, and effectively able to reach large quantities of people.

However, using the Internet as the dominant means by which feminist topics are spread is a dangerous notion. The simplified versions of feminist ideas, uneducated remarks mistaken for fact, and “cheap” sensationalist representations of this popular “-ism” dangerously misconstrue feminism and what it strives to do for women.

Such misconstructions are damning for feminism, and the result is a widespread awareness of misinformation.

Carly is a junior in FAA. She can be reached at [email protected].