Little Acts of Feminism You Should Start Using Immediately

I came across a TikTok recently that stopped me mid-scroll.

A woman had shared a list of her “microfeminisms”, small, deliberate things she does every day to push back against the quiet expectations placed on her, and the comments were full of women adding their own. Tiny acts of resistance stacking up in the thousands.

One woman said that when she meets her colleague’s husband, she doesn’t ask about his job. She asks how his kids are doing, what laundry detergent they use, if he knows when the next dentist appointment is.

He usually doesn’t.

Those are the questions women are always asked, the ones that assume we’re the caretakers, the organisers, the ones who just know where everything is. Turning those questions back isn’t rude, it simply exposes how deeply that expectation runs.

Another woman said that when a man interrupts her, she doesn’t fall silent like women are so often taught to. She simply says, “You can add your thoughts when I’m finished.”

It’s not about shaming him. It’s about refusing to hand over the floor. It’s a calm reminder that her voice matters as much as his.

Someone else shared that she’s stopped stepping aside for men on the pavement. A study found that most men would rather walk into a woman than move around her. Once you know that, you start noticing it everywhere. So now she just keeps walking. If there’s a collision, at least it’s an honest one.

And one of my favourites: she calls it “male basketball”. Because why should women’s sports be the ones that need a label?

These are microfeminisms. Not protests or slogans, but small choices that reclaim something subtle and powerful. They’re the pause, the decision, the moment you think, not this time.

What Microfeminism Actually Is

Microfeminisms are absolutely about proving a point.

They’re small, deliberate reminders that equality isn’t theoretical, it’s practical. They expose double standards, challenge habits, and make people notice what they’ve been conditioned to overlook.

They’re quiet, intentional acts that slip under the radar, the kind that don’t make headlines but still make history.

Most of us were raised to be polite before we were honest. To be liked before we were respected. To apologise before we even know what for.

It’s exhausting.

Microfeminism says you don’t have to perform the softer version of yourself to keep everyone else comfortable.

It’s catching yourself before you type “sorry” into an email that doesn’t need it.

It’s saying “no” without explaining why.

It’s noticing the small ways you’ve been trained to shrink and deciding you won’t anymore.

Each act might seem minor, but they build on each other. Over time, they form something powerful: a quiet, consistent rebellion that doesn’t need permission to exist.

The Conversation Shift

Microfeminisms live in language as much as they do in space.

When a man gets angry, try saying, “We can talk about this when you’re less emotional.”

Because anger is an emotion too. Women have been told for centuries that emotion is weakness, that logic belongs to men. But the truth is, emotion belongs to everyone. That simple sentence flips the script beautifully.

Then there’s the moment you bring up an idea and a man immediately mansplains it back to you. Not as a question, not as collaboration, but like you’re the one who won’t understand, as if having a uterus is some sort of brain injury.

You let him finish, because women always have, and then you smile and say, “Yes, I’m glad you understood what I was talking about.”

It’s not confrontation. It’s reclamation. It reminds him, gently but unmistakably, whose thought it was to begin with.

And since men like to explain so much, you can also let their sexist jokes land and resist the urge to laugh or smooth it over. Just pause, look at him, and say, “I don’t get it. Can you explain that to me?”

Watch the discomfort bloom as he’s forced to unpack that the punchline was at women’s expense. There’s no argument needed, no lecture, just quiet accountability in real time.

These are the kinds of microfeminist language shifts that change conversations and, over time, cultures.

It’s Not About the Men

The funny thing about microfeminisms is that men often assume they’re about them.

They’re not.

They’re about us.

They’re about how our voices, bodies, and attention have been trained to accommodate. To yield, to smooth things over, to keep the peace.

Microfeminisms give that energy back to us. Not as a weapon, but as restoration.

Because the world doesn’t need us smaller or softer. It just needs us whole.

That’s what women’s empowerment really looks like, not perfection but presence.

Small Acts, Big Ripples

The beauty of everyday feminism is how easily it spreads.

You hold your line on the pavement and the woman behind you notices.

You finish your sentence in a meeting and someone else does too.

You ask a man about his kids and another woman at the table smiles, because she’s been waiting for someone to do it first.

One act becomes a ripple.

And soon, what used to feel bold starts to feel normal.

That’s the goal, to make gender equality feel ordinary.

The Everyday Revolution

You don’t need a protest sign to make a difference. You just need to stop giving up small parts of yourself out of habit.

Refuse to apologise when you’ve done nothing wrong.

Refuse to move when you have the same right to space.

Refuse to soften your language so the truth goes down easier.

Every refusal is also an affirmation.

Every “not this time” is a quiet “I matter.”

That’s what feminism in daily life looks like. And if enough of us keep doing it, the world tilts a little closer to fair.

Final note

If you identify as a woman, tell me your favourite microfeminisms in the comments. What small things do you do that make you feel more free, more yourself, more powerful? Let’s build a list together.

If you identify as a man and you’ve genuinely read all the way to the end with empathy and reflection, welcome. You can stay.

If you didn’t, but still feel the urge to comment anyway, that’s okay. You’re probably having some big feelings right now. Maybe work through those before whining about how unfair it is that women aren’t housewives and willing victims anymore.