When The Word Changed

I asked my friend what she thought about feminism, and she looked confused before saying something vague about equality. Honest answer, probably the most honest one I’ve heard to that question in years.

I used to think it was straightforward. Feminism meant women should have the same rights as men, same opportunities, same respect. That’s it. Once you achieve that, the word becomes unnecessary—it’s served its purpose. Basic arithmetic, and it made sense.

But I watched it morph into something else. It stopped being about equality and started being about whatever complaint happened to be loudest, whatever drama was unfolding online, whatever someone wanted to perform for an audience. Some of it legitimate, most of it just noise.

The real problem is the word and reality got completely unmoored from each other. Feminism doesn’t describe the push for equality anymore—it describes a kind of performance, a set of arguments, a way of being on the internet. It became the container for whatever grievance was trending that day.

So now the word doesn’t point to anything clear. Young women hear it and look confused, which is probably the sanest reaction available. The word spent its capital and there’s nothing left but smoke.