[Trigger warnings: sexual assault, fgm, murder, suicide, police brutality, violence against women of color, trans folk, disabled people, and children. ]

This age old question is one of the most googled phrases relating to feminism you can find. And the angry feminist stereotype is everywhere; in media depictions, in the minds of bigots, in the mind of centrists who think “both sides are bad,” going all the way back to war time propaganda posters and beyond.

Despite the fact that it’s a stereotype that doesn’t apply to every feminist, one thing is clear. We have a reason to be angry, no, scratch that, we have countless reasons to be angry. Anti-feminists have it stuck in their heads that we’re complaining about nothing, and that we choose to be angry for attention. According to them the world is perfect and we’re plucking things out of thin air.

This thought is very popular, even though it’s a solid fact that marginalized communities are treated, excuse my French, like utter bullshit. Trans women of color face a disproportionate amount of violence compared to any other community. There are young girls all over the globe having their genitals mutilated in the name of ‘pureness.’ 45-75 percent of sex workers will experience workplace violence over their lifetime. Murder, violence, sexual assault, microaggressions: these things make us angry. We weren’t born angry looking for a reason to cry about nothing.

And not to shock you, but we care about men too. What’d have thought? The risk of being shot as a black man is is 2.5 times higher than for white men. Oh, and they’re shot just for sleeping in their car or eating an ice cream so jot that down. Trans men have high rates of suicide, the disability pay-gap affects disabled men, and toxic masculinity is destroying young boys everywhere, especially cishet males. These things also make us angry. But people tend to forget this part, conveniently.

Governments, the military, and police forces all over the globe are killing protesters for daring to speak up about the injustices of the elite. And the earth is literally dying, burning. The violence gets worse everyday, no matter where you live. But they affect the marginalized most of all. But feminists are just making shit up, right?

If you looked at any of these statistics and news stories and thought ‘well that’s because they’re snowflakes who deliberately put themselves in harms way,’ as if that’s at all logical, then congrats! You’re part of the problem. You don’t deserve to hold a point of of view, if all you’re seeing is yourself. That helps no one, not even you. If you’re an anti-feminist who somehow found themselves on this feminist site, did you open those hyperlinks? Did you read the statistics? Or did you just see the highlighted text and scoff? Maybe you did read them, but did you shake your head all the while and call it fake news? Bad science? This is another reason why we’re angry. Right wingers, people who ‘stay out of politics,’ Trump supporters; you don’t even consider the possibility that we’re suffering. That the world, the climate, culture, is suffering, because of the hellhole that is white supremacy, and the ever powerful patriarchy. You block it out, you ignore it. You lie, cheat, steal, and pillage, then turn around and call our research null and void. You’re damn right I’m angry.

Imagine working on a paper for college; researching it deeply, having a personal connection to the topic, spending time perfecting it and knowing it reflects facts. Only for the teacher to glance at the title quickly, roll their eyes, and say “no, this is a fail, it’s all wrong,” despite not having read it. That’s bound to make anyone angry, and that’s what it’s like to deal with an anti-feminist. To deal with all bigots.

Spending our time trying to teach others about how poorly the rich white cishet able bodied neurotypical patriarchy treats us, only for people to turn around and say “actually…I’m not going to research what I’m about to say: but no you’re making all that up,” all to soothe their ego. This would make you angry too if it related to a topic you cared about.

The only difference between social justice activists, and those who hate us, is that we can seek out real happiness, and share it with others. We can seek it in the triumphs of our community, the art we create, the progressive steps the world sometimes makes, our friends, ourselves. You? You’re always angry, and about things that really don’t matter like rainbow stickers, and the breast size of CG women. How sad. It’s almost as if being nice to people and understanding our differences, can make you happier.

So why are we so angry? Actually read what we’re writing and you’ll get your answer.

Have a thought about Stephanie’s answer? We encourage your civil communication with our writers. Tweet us at @fembotmag or reach out to us on our Facebook page.