In other words, the wide circulation of popular feminism also means that there is another popularity that we need to contend with. While for many a broader acceptance of feminism as an identity, concept, and practice is exhilarating, this acceptance also stimulates fear, trepidation, and aggression for those who find feminism to be a threat.  That is, when feminism is in the air in the way it is in current culture, it is not surprising to find backlash from patriarchal culture.

... So, backlash is not new. But it does feel different in this moment. The feminist zeitgeist is situated alongside a new misogynist zeitgeist. Yet, while these two contexts coexist, it is the former that garners most attention while the latter is hardly acknowledged as anything more than rare marginal outbursts.

— Banet-Weiser, S. (Jan 21, 2015). Popular misogyny: a zeitgeist. Culture Digitally.