Feminism has gone through three stages historically, known as 1st, 2nd and 3rd wave feminism. Having been involved in Gender Studies and written on the topic academically there has been a clear cooling of enthusiasm for feminism since the advent of 3rd wave feminism.

Very generally speaking, 1st wave feminism focused on achieving equality in the eyes of the law and 2nd wave feminism focused on social equality issues. 3rd wave feminism arose as a consequence of the (too) slow adoption by society of 2nd wave feminist ideas, the solution being to become much more aggressive and to incorporate additional repressed/suppressed minorities to amplify their voice. This was accompanied by a rise in the use of increasingly divisive and inflammatory rhetoric in order to draw attention to legitimate concerns.

Whereas this tactic of employing divisive rhetoric does succeed in drawing attention to justifiable grievances, it also alienates many who wholeheartedly support the objectives of 1st and 2nd wave feminism. When 3rd wave feminists employ rhetoric that casts blanket aspersions and advocates violence, such as "All men are rapists... and should be shot" (http://www.dailywire.com/news/8386/feminist-journalist-all-men-are-rapists-and-should-amanda-prestigiacomo -- this is unfortunately only one of countless examples), they anger large portions of the male population (who are obviously not rapists) and alienate the women who care for them while simultaneously making themselves appear as deranged out-of-touch demagogues. As such, a majority of the population actually rejects the label of 'feminist' for fear of being lumped together with 3rd wave feminists.

Unfortunately, the 3rd wave has seriously undermined the reputation of feminism by making it a divisive rather than inclusive issue through its choice of rhetoric. Currently in Britain, not even 10% of people are willing to describe themselves as feminists although ca. 70% believe in equality of the sexes. ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/only-7-per-cent-of-britons-consider-themselves-feminists/ ) This is a clear sign that 1st and 2nd wave feminist ideas have taken root in society and will (thankfully) increase in influence. It is regrettable however that 'feminism' as an identifier is now rejected by large portions of the population.