How Feminists Took a Hashtag and Turned Misogyny on its Head.

Doc Thompson needs your help. The conservative radio host, bless his heart, just isn't sure how to spot a feminist. In this modern age feminists can slip into any crowd, so how do you tell ordinary, wholesome women from the harpies that intermix so hazardously in society?

So he sent out a tweet asking his Twitter following to tell him #HowToSpotAFeminist using just that hashtag. The responses at first were as expected. People regurgitated the same tired, hateful stereotypes. Feminists are ugly, spiteful, they have armpit hair to their ankles, etc. It's the kind of stuff people have been saying since the suffragists. Salon covered the hashtag where Jenny Kutner wrote,

"Of course, there was also plenty of mention of feminists being people who “play the victim” and “murder babies,” but we already knew that, right? (Oh, and a feminist is always, undoubtedly a woman — never a man who fights for or even believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. But we already knew that too.)"

They always think they're so original when they call Feminists ugly. As if it hasn't been done since the age of Suffragists.

It spread to other social media websites, like Tumblr:

And then things turned. Feminsts, both men and women, took to Twitter and turned the hashtag on its head.

In various levels of seriousness people started talking about what feminism was to them. Some were simple. @Sabaa Sharma wrote, "Feminists are people who believe in equal rights between men and women. Get a Dictionary." Others relied on humor. "Look for tentacles. Lots of tentacles. Possibly looking at us turns people to stone." adviced @amandajhelling. @rhysjamesy, clearly deeply offended, wrote, "A feminist doesn't need spotting. She can lift weights on her own thank you very much. Or he."

Time posted a short article in which Helen Regan writes, "Then, in a glorious way, things got turned around. Feminists took to Twitter to show that a feminist can be any and every woman (and man). Some made poignant statements about feminism being about equality between the sexes, about equal pay and breaking down stereotypes, while others were just hilariously sarcastic."

How did Doc Thompson react to this sudden rush of helpful feminists? TakePart.com writes that his show Wednesday he "dedicated a chunk of his...broadcast to addressing the social media critiques. But an apology appeared to be the furthest thought from the shock jock's mind. He called feminists “crazy, extremists, progressives” while going through a handful of the misogynist tweets that outlets deemed offensive.

'People like us…are just speaking the truth, but it’s being spun as negative,' Thompson said.

While the intention may have been to discuss dating preferences—and Thompson’s cohorts admitted that they would have sex with a feminist if she were superhot—the crew failed to understand why their hashtag caused such an uproar. Instead of recognizing feminism as a civil rights movement, they encouraged tired tropes about pantsuits and adoration of cats."

To Doc Thomposton, this is how you spot a feminist: S/he takes your hatred and makes something beautiful from it. S/he sees your hatred but s/he doesn't let her/himself be dragged down into it. S/he sees instead a chance to create change, to show the world exactly what a feminist is: Proud to be her/himself.

It might make her/him sad to see your hatred and how it blinds people like you, and how it spreads in the small minded, but that sadness will never be end of her/him. All we need to do is look to each other to find hope, to lean on each other when the barrage of anger and misogyny becomes oppresive, and we find there more hope, humor, and strength then you will ever know.