“Feminism” and “patriarchy” are counterproductive terms.

Before my hot take I want to clarify what these terms mean to me.

Feminism is gender equality. Its aim is an even playing field with equal opportunities for all genders. Feminism is for authentic fairness.

The patriarchy is systemic sexism that has been embedded into modern society so deep that it’s a challenge to get rid of. It’s existed throughout history and inflicts gendered prejudice on everyone, and it comes from everywhere.

Based on these descriptions feminism is clearly the protagonist while the patriarchy is the villain of the story.

Consequently I completely support sentiments like “feminism vs the patriarchy” and “destroy the patriarchy”.

The problem is the facets of language. As well as subconscious connotations. The prefix “fem” means women and the prefix “pat” means men. As unfortunate as it is, people may be ignorant to what these terms actually mean and only hear the prefixes. To those people, the sentiments sound like “women vs men” and “destroy men”