In 2025, despite decades of conflict for equality, feminism in Poland faces an unexpected problem: less and less women want to identify with it. The latest study “Poles 25: Joys, Tensions and Fears” reveals that only 31 percent of women in our country call themselves feminists. This is amazing data, given that the vast majority of Poles support the key demands of the movement, specified as wage equality, freedom of choice or combating violence. Why, then, does the word “feminism” itself make distrust and even resentment, leading to a turning distant from the thought that is to support them? Dr. Jowita Radzińska from SWPS University, a sociologist, an ethics expert and a philosopher, wonders whether it is worth fighting for this word, or whether it is better to look for another concepts that present have greater possible for merging, specified as "community" or "sisterhood".
The burden of ‘self-reliance’: Why do women feel burdened?
For many women, the thought of independency promoted by any streams of feminism, paradoxically, has become a origin of additional burden. Dagmara, a 39-year-old babysitter, believes that feminism “only to us women did harm.” He explains that the drive to be independent and strong ended with “everything on their shoulders”: work, home, children, bills, without support. She cites the situation erstwhile her husband left, and she asked her brother to aid repair the equipment. She heard that as a feminist she should be on her own. This shows how men perceive women who do not have the right to ask for support due to the fact that “they wanted it themselves”.
Basia, 42-year-old erstwhile social activist, notes that women's-men's relations were besides affected. Men present are afraid to compliment women on the street or talk, fearing harassment charges. Instead, they're looking for contact on the portals. Basia emphasizes that “from 1 utmost we fell into another”, where the female is afraid to admit that she wants to be looked after and the man – that he likes the girl. According to her, an effort to completely obliterate differences between sexes leads to absurdity, ignoring natural predispositions or upbringing that affect roles division.
Feminism that divides: The issue of abortion and “too positive” narrative
Another origin that discourages women from identifying with feminism is the interior ideological divisions. Iwona, a 45-year-old librarian, stresses that “all the values that carry this movement are close to her”. She would like a planet where women are more visible in science, education, politics, and their work is rewarded on an equal footing with the work of men. However, Iwona does not call herself a feminist due to the fact that she opposes abortion. He knows that for many environments it is automatically disfellowshipping, although he believes that women can be supported and fought for their rights, while having a different opinion on specified a difficult, morally complex subject. In her opinion, feminism could combine if it was more open to the diversity of voices.
Although she supports the right to abortion, Magdalene criticises any feminist groups for being overly positive, even as something “cool”. He believes that specified a communicative does not aid to build knowing and support for women making this hard decision. For her, present this movement is associated with "aggression, hatred of all men" and "d*py problems", which discourages her from identifying with him.
Why the aversion to the word? Myths and deficiency of knowledge
Dr. Jowita Radzińska indicates that the main origin of aversion to feminism is primarily Not knowing. Many people have no time or chance to see what feminism truly means, which opens the way to the emergence of myths. In the Polish context, opponents of feminist ideas successfully built negative feminism, debilitating narrative, which easy hits the susceptible ground of ignorance. As a result, many people associate feminism exclusively with its most extremist fractions, which, though they have the right to exist, are not a complete image of the movement.
Ania, a declared feminist, emphasizes that feminism is simply a consciousness of equality between women and men, which does not mean that they are identical. He believes that allegations of "sharing society" or "hate towards men" frequently duplicate those who unreflexively repeat slogans or deliberately ignore the fact that sex inactive affects the position of an individual in society, especially in accessing power, money or key resources. Feminism, according to her, is not a reason for inequality, but an effort to answer them.
Another origin is the reluctance to recognise that discrimination inactive exists. Many women who successfully combine work and household life, frequently at the expense of sleep or rest, see their achievements as evidence of affluence and strength. They do not want to hear that they could be victims of any discrimination, due to the fact that in a culture where the communicative "If I succeeded, it means that I can", that is simply a very understandable attitude.
The Future of the Movement: Can Feminism “regain”?
Dr. Jowita Radzińska emphasizes that feminism in its basic definition is nothing but concern for the welfare of women. This is simply a broad concept that does not exclude another voices and could be in parallel with an approach focused on the well-being of men. The expert admits that the right to decide about her body is included in the catalogue of women's rights, but no single opinion should exclude from the thought of feminism. She recalls the Women's Congress, where Catholic feminist, extremist and mainstream in 1 debate, showed a variety of positions within the movement.
The word “feminism” itself has become besides hard for many people, burdened historically and socially. Dr. Radzińska wonders whether it is worth inactive fighting for this idea, or whether it is better to look for other, more common terms, specified as "community" or "sisterhood". Nevertheless, it does not exclude the anticipation of recovering this concept through a more inclusive and open public debate. Unfortunately, the expert is skeptical about whether the change will happen spontaneously. It stresses that the only real way to improve the situation is by conscious, collective effort, primarily in terms of Education and building local cooperation spaces. Without science, how creatively and reasonably different, how to conduct dialog with empathy and respect, it is hard to anticipate feminism to regain its strength and universal designation in Poland.
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A large disappointment for feminism. Only 31% of Poles identify with him! Why?
