Merriam-Webster has named “feminism” its word of the year. The popular dictionary defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes” and the “organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.” It was Merriam-Webster’s most-looked-up word in 2017, with searches spiking in concert with key events like the Women’s March and #MeToo, as well as when “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Wonder Woman” were released.

Yet all of those occasions are moments where the movement itself fell noticeably flat this year:

The Women’s March, the feminist event dominating the first half of the year’s conversation, was simply a horde of women wearing pink “pussy” hats marching with crude signs. Female speakers, mostly Hollywood elites like Ashley Judd and Scarlett Johansson, ranted about how awful it might be if Republicans defunded Planned Parenthood and halted funding of their precious birth control.

It was clear the message wasn’t pro-women but anti-Trump. Some female-driven and ardently pro-feminist and pro-life groups were kicked out of the march because their political views didn’t align with the march’s progressive modus operandi.

The other feminist event of the year, the dynamic #MeToo movement, which likely spurred a large swath of the Merriam-Webster word searches, began as a result of a group of courageous women who wanted to stop sexual abuse and harassment at the hands of uber-powerful, crude and misogynist men. Women from all walks of life have named their abusers and demanded justice, in a powerful demonstration of how sickeningly far men will go to demean women but a heartening sign of change to come.

Unfortunately, in their quest for justice, the women of #MeToo and their male supporters have struggled to render it equally. Nancy Pelosi at first waffled on the allegations of sexual abuse from men like Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.). Ditto for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Al Franken’s alleged misconduct. And as Gov. Cuomo showed, Bill Clinton is still a headlining act for Democrats with national aspirations.

Even in the entertainment industry, feminism often missed its mark this year. Progressives hailed “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the Hulu version of the classic novel in which the women are forced to bear children and wear red cloaks when they go out in public, as a modern-day analogy of female suffering.

Sorry, but American women possess as much, if not more, gender parity than in most of the world. There are places where women are subjected to dystopian repression, but America with a Republican Congress isn’t one of them, and suggesting otherwise distorts not only the meaning of feminism but its adherents’ understanding of the world around them and the real — as opposed to imagined — battles yet to come.

When “Wonder Woman” came out, feminists were filled with glee about the prospect of such a strong, female protagonist — but soon came to hate her because she’s beautiful: “To me,” Christina Cauterucci wrote at Slate, “whatever chance ‘Wonder Woman’ had of being some kind of feminist antidote to the overabundance of superhero movies made by and for bros was blown by its prevailing occupation with the titular heroine’s sex appeal.”

Chelsea Handler, a popular comedian and vocal feminist, represents feminism by simply bashing other strong, accomplished women, like Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who Handler viciously attacked for the apparent sin of not looking like Wonder Woman.

At every turn, events or people hailed as feminist successes, be it the Women’s March or women in Hollywood, fail to meet the litmus test and succeed in accomplishing what so many generations of women fought for before them.

Now modern feminists wield their gender like a weapon not to create equality but to demand entitlement, not to improve or increase all women’s rights, but only the rights of women with whom they align politically. That’s a lot of things — progressivism, political bias, tribalism — but it isn’t feminism.

Nicole Russell is a writer based in Washington, DC. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, National Review and The Federalist.

Twitter: @russell_nm