When feminism is reduced to a branding tool, so-called male allies can evade accountability while benefiting from the movement’s cultural cachet.
Since the start of the year, at least two high-profile ‘male feminists’ have faced allegations of sexual assault and harassment. At least eight women have accused prominent British fantasy author Neil Gaiman of rape, assault and coercion. Meanwhile, It Ends With Us star and producer Blake Lively filed a civil complaint against co-star Justin Baldoni and lead producer Jamey Heath, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation on the set. These developments are complex and contested; Baldoni has since filed lawsuits against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, and the New York Times, alleging defamation.
And yet, despite the uncertainty floating around these allegations, they still pose a question worth considering: When did feminism become a brand?
The #MeToo movement forced a cultural reckoning with the pervasive nature of sexual violence, particularly in Hollywood, bringing survivors’ voices to the forefront and demanding an examination of the systems that enable their harm. #MeToo was intended to be a catalyst for progress, however, some have failed to take the movement’s message beyond face value.
In the years following #MeToo, several high-profile men have embraced feminism not as a practice, but as a performance: distancing themselves from those exposed by the movement while reaping the cultural benefits of appearing as “one of the good guys.”
This phenomenon of “Feminism™” allows powerful men to exempt themselves from scrutiny simply by adopting feminist language and branding, all the while sidestepping deeper accountability. It centers feminism around the public images of men, rather than contending with the patriarchal systems that perpetuate harm against women.
The recent allegations against these two men highlight the potential dangers of Feminism™ to conceal anti-feminist actions with feminist branding. Best known for his portrayal of Rafael in Jane the Virgin, Baldoni has garnered praise as a feminist and advocate for dismantling toxic masculinity through his public speaking and podcasting. However, Lively’s complaint alleges that Baldoni and Heath engaged in inappropriate conduct on set and later orchestrated a smear campaign against her, potentially exposing Baldoni’s feminist image as performative.
Similarly, Gaiman has built his career on stories that often feature complex female characters and feminist themes, earning him praise as a progressive storyteller. He has also taken to social media to profess his stance against patriarchal society and explicitly self-identify as a feminist. However, recent allegations of sexual assault complicate his legacy, contradicting the ideals espoused in his work.
These allegations remain the subject of ongoing legal scrutiny, and the specifics of these cases are still unclear. Nevertheless, this moment underscores the importance of holding self-presenting allies to scrutiny.
We need men in the feminist fight. But we don’t just need their slogans or hashtags; we need their courage, their humility and their willingness to join the movement with purpose and integrity.
When feminism is commodified as a brand image, it loses its ability to meaningfully challenge patriarchal power. Feminism™ upholds harmful systems by granting powerful men the benefit of the doubt, as long as they claim some allegiance to the movement. These men gain cultural cachet and public adoration without engaging in the difficult, unglamorous work of allyship: listening to survivors, acknowledging their own complicity in patriarchal systems, and pushing to reform a system that often prioritizes them. There’s nothing wrong with claiming allyship, however, it becomes an issue when it ends there.
The allegations of high-profile ‘male feminists’ like Baldoni and Gaiman offer a critical opportunity to reflect on the broader culture that enables harm against women. What does it mean to call yourself a feminist? How does society reward men for performative gestures while placing the emotional, physical and financial burden of sexual violence squarely on survivors’ shoulders? And how do we hold allies accountable without reducing feminism to a public relations strategy?
The truth is, we need men in the feminist fight. But we don’t just need their slogans or hashtags; we need their courage, their humility and their willingness to join the movement with purpose and integrity. We all deserve to live in a world where voicing feminist values is only the baseline expectation. And that means pushing allies to consider how their feminist words can manifest into concrete feminist action, going beyond a publicity move and actually helping the women they claim to support.
Because true feminism isn’t about who you say you are—it’s about what you do.
