Your life according to blogging sites such as BuzzFeed, Thought Catalog, and others like it consists of three equal parts of femininity, happiness, and naïve youthfulness. It’s all yours with a little bit of self-centeredness and a false perception of women’s rights.

While the feminist movement has encouraged women to pursue education and their unique career goals, such social news and blogging sites epitomize the heart of the Generation Y by utilizing the women’s rights movement as their poster child.

And, undoubtedly, such websites are geared toward a largely female audience. For instance, the demographics of Thought Catalog consist of primarily college-aged people, and women, according to the internet traffic monitor Quantcast.   

The large female following paints negative implications on the egalitarian movement. By feeding into the self-serving ideals proclaimed by such websites, both article writers and their equally-guilty viewers portray millennial-aged women in an unflattering light.

Often these sites publish many sensational articles focusing on the importance of feminine individuality and personal happiness, even if it comes at the expense of another.

One such Thought Catalog article entitled “20 Things to do in Your 20s” recommended a female readership to “royally piss off your parents” and to “have one night you’ll never forget and one you can’t remember.”

Such sites glamorize poor behavior and self-destructive attitudes under the thin disguise of youthful, feminine abandon.

Although Thought Catalog is one offender in the multitude of blogging sites, by no means are they the only perpetrator in propagating the mindless drivel.

The Huffington Post recently published a viral column from the popular blogger, Vanessa Elizabeth, entitled “23 Things to do Instead of Getting Engaged When You’re 23.”

This much shared post followed in the same vein of many Thought Catalog articles in prescribing advice for the young, single woman. 

Its suggestions included sentiments like, “date two people at once and see how long it takes for it to blow up in your face,” “be selfish,” and “have your cake and eat it too.”

Such recommendations constitute a recipe for disaster.

The me-centric attitudes proposed by popular blog sites emphasize individuality without taking others into consideration. No trace of the ideological equality from the original civil rights movement exists in the viral literature.

At some point, we sensationalized alarming, irresponsible and selfish behavior as the essence of personal expression and individual happiness. We do what we want, regardless of the harm we might do to others.

The special-snowflake mentality and the corrupted ideas of extreme feminism create a counterproductive sense of entitlement. By promoting such notions, we withdraw from our original goal: equality.

– Michelle Chan is a sophomore animal science major from Phoenix, Ariz. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.