Samenvatting

This bachelor dissertation examines whether there is a noticeable stigma against Feminism in
the Netherlands and in the Republic of Ireland. To answer that, it looks at the image of
feminism in selected Irish and the Dutch online newspapers. Additionally, interviews with eight
young women were held as well as current literature on the subject was studied.
In regards to whether young women are refusing to identify as feminists, the results of the
interviews showed that young women did not stop identifying as feminists. Even though some
women said they were not feminists, the majority of the interviewed participant still identified
as such. According to four of the interviewed women, sexism has played a part in their
willingness to engage in feminist actions and beliefs. This accounts for 50% of the participants.
One participant mentioned that she relates to feminism after having followed courses on
gender equality. This connects to the studies done by both Macalister (1991) and Bargard and
Hyde (1991) who argue that women who follow women’s study courses are more inclined to
start identifying with feminism.
The interviewed participants were well aware of the stigma against feminism. Six of the women agreed to there being a stigma against Feminism in both Ireland and the Netherlands to this day. None of the participants seemed to hold any stigmas against feminism themselves. Six of the participants made use of newspapers (online and/or printed) on a frequent level, however none of them have noticed stigmas against feminism in the articles with correlates with the findings of this dissertation during the analyzing of the four Irish and Dutch newspapers. Newspapers of both countries handled the topic in a similar way and the Irish sun stood out in promoting feminism and educating its readers The conclusion is that taking on a feminist identity is difficult because it is an stigmatized identity that is not necessarily visible for the outside world as well as it being an identity that can be voluntarily chosen and not determined by race or culture. Feminism still has a long way to go until it reaches absolute equality but it is on the right track.