Antifeminism is broadly defined as opposition to some or all forms of feminism. This opposition has taken various forms across time and cultures. For example, antifeminists in the late 1800s and early 1900s resisted women's suffrage, while antifeminists in the late 20th century in the United States opposed the Equal Rights Amendment. Antifeminism may be motivated by the belief that feminist theories of patriarchy and disadvantages suffered by women in society are incorrect or exaggerated; that feminism as a movement encourages misandry and results in harm or oppression of men; or driven by general opposition towards women's rights.
Feminist sociologist Michael Flood argues that an antifeminist ideology rejects at least one of what he identifies as the three general principles of feminism:
Antifeminism is entirely a reactionary movement, and a counter movement is defined as a "conscious, collective, organized attempt to resist or to reverse social change" Canadian sociologists Melissa Blais and Francis Dupuis-Déri write that antifeminist thought has primarily taken the form of an extreme version of masculinism, in which "men are in crisis because of the feminization of society".
"Antifeminist" is also used to describe public female figures, some of whom (such as Naomi Wolf, Camille Pagila, and Kate Roiphe) define themselves as feminists, based on their opposition to some or all elements of feminist movements. Other feminists label writers such as Christina Hoff Sommers, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Katie Roiphe and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese with this term because of their positions regarding oppression and lines of thought within feminism.Daphne Patai and Noreta Koertge argue that the intention of labeling these women "antifeminists" is to silence them and prevent any debate on the state of feminism.