Microfeminism describes small but intentional ways women push back against deep-seated gender expectations and biases. Examples include a teacher calling the dad on a child's emergency contact form when both parents are listed, or asking “Men's team or women's team?” when someone mentions a game they just watched. It is about dismantling the patriarchy in bite-sized ways.
Tori Dunlap's Viral Call for Microfeminist Acts
Financial coach and author Tori Dunlap is a strong advocate of these small feminist acts. Last month, she asked her over 2 million followers to share “the most unhinged way that you practice micro feminism in your life.” She made it clear she did not want cutesy or soft-pedaling answers. “I'm not talking about ‘assuming the doctor is a woman,’ give me insane ones thx,” Dunlap wrote on TikTok and Instagram.
Women in the comments did not disappoint. Some of the most popular responses included:
- “I give men unsolicited tips at the gym.”
- “I change the voice on my Alexa to a male voice so that my kids don’t think they can speak to a woman and expect an instantaneous reply.”
- “I recently told an angry man, ‘maybe we can chat when you’re feeling less emotional’ and it was worth years of therapy.”
- “Stop moving out of the way for men in public. A lot of them will barge into you because they EXPECT you to make yourself small for them. Stop doing that.”
- “Calling male work superiors ‘girl’ after they refer to me as ‘bro.’”
Dunlap, author of “Financial Feminist: Overcome the Patriarchy’s Bullsh*t to Master Your Money and Build a Life You Love,” told HuffPost her favorite responses were those where women prioritized themselves in heteronormative relationships. “I loved the women who said they put their name first on their wedding invite or on the deed of their shared home,” she said.
Why the Post Resonated
Running a feminist financial education company, Dunlap often discusses ways women can incorporate these values into daily life: paying off debts, building savings, leaving abusive relationships. Asking this question on Instagram and TikTok felt like a natural fit for her brand. “We actually originally posted this video in May 2025, and it received about 30 million views, and when we reposted it again this year, we saw a similar crazy amount of comments,” she said.
“I think people love the post so much firstly because it’s petty and inspirational at the same time, but also because people love reading all the comments,” she added. “It’s like a little rallying cry.”
Expert Perspectives on Microfeminism
Susan J. Douglas, a cultural critic and professor of communication and media at the University of Michigan, said microfeminism echoes the phrase “the personal is political” — a foundational rallying cry of the women’s movement in the late 1960s. “Through seemingly minor performative acts — gestures, funny remarks and actions — these women are insisting on equitable treatment and on challenging very outdated stereotypes,” she said.
Though it may not be systemic or large-scale political activism, the way a woman moves in her personal life, especially in male-dominated spaces, can absolutely shift everyday gender norms. “The video and the comments exemplify what Gloria Steinem advocated as ‘everyday rebellions,’” Douglas said, referring to the small, routine and personal acts of defiance against patriarchal norms and systemic sexism that Steinem argued anyone could perform in their daily lives.
Darcy Lockman, a journalist-turned-psychologist and author of “All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers, and the Myth of Equal Partnership,” also appreciated the video. Women turning the tables on society’s and their own assumptions is a huge deal, she said. “When shifts like that happen, the world opens up,” Lockman told HuffPost. “It takes lots of micros to make a macro change.”
