I live in a little liberal bubble here in the Pacific Northwest. While there are misogynists and sexists anywhere, they aren’t vocal around here! However, when I come across blatant sexism on Facebook and the internet in general, it leaves me a bit stunned. I happened across a male calling a female a “feminazi” because she has a hyphenated last name. It left me completely stunned.

If you’ll remember, the blowhard talk-show host Rush Limbaugh coined the word “feminazi” to describe feminists. He said that it referred to radical feminists but to him, all feminists are radical. Conservative Christians often use this word to refer to women that have the gall to want to be, I don’t know – equal?

Don’t get me started on criticizing whether or not a woman keeps her name, hyphenates, and has her husband take her name or whatever. Men don’t get to decide! Women are the ones that have had to deal with the hassles of name changing. We were historically treated as property and taking on the man’s last name is an extension of that.

I am not intentionally criticizing the fact that women change their names. Mostly I’m angry because men deem to have an opinion about it. They often use the excuse that they want the family to have the same last name, yet you don’t seem them clamoring to change their names. Of course, there are exceptions to this.

I was taken off guard at hearing the pejorative “feminazi” today. It wasn’t directed at me but it really hit me hard. It’s unbelievable to me that in this day and age, this kind of thing is still said or even thought. It shouldn’t be a surprise. Our society has a long way to go in terms of women’s rights.