#SorryFeminists

Overview

#SorryFeminists is a Twitter hashtag that is used to poke fun at preconceived notions about feminist codes and beliefs.

Background

On October 8th, 2012, Deborah Needleman, the newly appointed editor of the New York Times’ T Magazine, tweeted about American feminist author and Slate columnist Katie Rophie’s upcoming appearance at a New York Public Library panel event.

The sexy (sorry, feminists), smart, sassy Katie Roiphe live on stage @nypl on Wednesday night. slate.me/T6IA3g

— deborah needleman (@debbieneedles) October 8, 2012

Perhaps in acknowledgement of Rophie’s reputation as a dogmatic feminist, Needleman included a side note of apology in the tweet for describing Rophie as “sexy,” echoing the view held by some feminists that a woman should not degrade oneself to self-objectification.

Notable Developments

In less than two hours after Needleman’s tweet, mostly female Twitter users began responding with inquiries and criticisms about the apologetic side note, including some feminist authors and columnists.

<a href="https://twitter.com/debbieneedles">debbieneedles</a> Did you wrote that tweet from 1963? Impressive.</p>— emilynussbaum (emilynussbaum) October 8, 2012

Just came back from a Pilates class #sorryfeminists

— Anna Holmes (@AnnaHolmes) October 8, 2012

What a cute baby. #sorryfeminists

— Irin Carmon (@irincarmon) October 8, 2012

Throughout the day, Needleman’s message prompted a flurry of mixed responses from numerous feminist writers and others on Twitter, some of whom interpreted it as perpetuation of a feminist stereotype while others read it as a sarcastic commentary on the habits of feminist self-policing.

The confusion over the intent of Needleman’s tweet became even more widespread as some male Twitter users began chiming in with overtly insensitive tweets and even misogynist jokes.

I really like blow jobs. #sorryfeminists
— Rob Tannenbaum (@tannenbaumr) October 8, 2012

I put my women on a pedestal cause its easier to peek up their skirts. #sorryfeminists

— RMatthewSonger (@RMatthewSonger) October 8, 2012

By that evening, the satire trend culminated with the launch of the Tumblr blog “Sorry, Feminists!” which featured various examples of #sorryfeminist messages and fitting reaction GIFs. The hashtag meme was covered in real time by The Atlantic, as well as Jezebel and Slate later that same day, followed by similar reports from New York Magazine, Media Bistro and CBC on October 9th.