Knowing what I do now about bot campaigns, and thinking back to my experiences online around 14-17, I am pretty sure there was (and is) a concerted effort to dilute the meaning of feminism and create the impression of an army of man-hating strawmen. Their purported existence is a crucial recruiting tool for andrew tate and other misogynist figureheads, drawing impressionable boys into the fold of patriarchal fascism. Only once in my life have I actually met, in person, a woman who believes that men are lesser, inferior, etc. I've met countless more men who espouse equivalent beliefs about women. It's not even close to any kind of balance. All I can do is try to spread this truth but it's getting harder these days. Speaking positively about feminism, as a man, in the wrong irl circles, can unfortunately get you badly injured or worse. But I have to keep trying because I refuse to accept the alternative. The bot problem just really scares me especially with the rise of AI.