The death of feminism? One in three women say it's 'too aggressive' towards men and they don't need it any more

One in three think feminism is 'too aggressive' towards men while a fifth believe the movement is 'old-fashioned' and no longer relevant



It is the movement that, among its many triumphs, won women the vote. Yet, for the average modern woman, feminism is dead, research claims.



Just one in seven women describes herself as a ‘feminist’, it found, with younger women even less likely to describe themselves as such.



A third view traditional radical feminism as ‘too aggressive’ towards men, while a quarter no longer view it as a positive label. One in five describe it as ‘old-fashioned’ and simply ‘not relevant’ to their generation.

'Old fashioned': A third of women view radical feminism as 'too aggressive' towards men while one in five think it is not relevant to their generation

Today’s women are also more likely to see millionaire author and single mother JK Rowling as a good role model than feminist icon Germaine Greer – who received only one in 50 votes among respondents.



But parenting website Netmums, which conducted the poll, says the results prove just how much the movement has achieved – because women no longer feel oppressed.

The website’s founder Siobhan Freegard added: ‘Modern women feel traditional feminism is no longer working for them, as it’s aggressive, divisive and doesn’t take into account their personal circumstances.



‘They simply don’t view men as “the enemy”. And it’s clear there is no longer a “battle of the sexes” but a coming together of the sexes to make society work for everyone in it.’

Role model: Millionaire JK Rowling, left, is seen as a more positive role model than well-known feminist Germaine Greer, right



Nowadays, the survey claims, more than a third of younger women cannot imagine a time when men and women were not equal – a far cry from the society which inspired the Suffragette movement, which helped obtain universal franchise for women in 1928, or the Ford sewing machinists’ strike, which ultimately led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970.



Fewer than one in ten women aged 25 to 29 identified with feminism, compared with a quarter of those aged 45 to 50.



One in six said feminism had gone too far, ‘losing sight of the natural roles of men and women’. Instead of fighting for equality, two in five now want to ‘celebrate difference’ instead.



However, 70 per cent of younger women feel far too much is expected of them, with unprecedented pressure to ‘be red-hot lovers, domestic goddesses, climb the career ladder and look like supermodels’.

