Overheard in Carrier

I was sitting in Carrier library earlier today and I again was listening in on conversations again. I'm not sure what the context was but these girls seemed to be talking trash about another girl. The conversation was escalating when one of the girls says "Is she a feminist? I could tell." Now, again, I'm not sure what the context is but they uttered this statement as if it was a bad thing. 

This doesn't really seem to be an isolated incident. It seems that many women on this campus think that being a feminist is a bad thing, a thing to be ashamed of. People tend to be afraid to admit that they are feminist for fear of being made fun of. If a person is a feminist, it seems that they are looked down upon as extreme or man hating. I think this is because of the way the media has portrayed feminism. For decades, feminist were (and still kind of are) known for bra burning, and not shaving their legs, and staying forever single. Despite the fact that there are plenty of feminists (men and women) who do not fit into the stereotypes, it still seems that being a feminist is not a thing to be proud.

People like to say that we have made great strides in terms of fighting sexism, but I don't think this social stigma proves a lot. Men tend to be made fun of even more for being feminist, despite probably being our biggest ally. 

I just don't know what we can do as a culture to make it clear that feminists don't hate men, and feminists don't think women are above men. People in the media need to make feminist characters more prominent and more unlike the radical ones (like in Legally Blonde). 

As always, let me know what you think in the comments.