Harley Quinn, the popular pigtailed homicidal manic who in recent years has become somewhat of a reluctant feminist icon since her big-screen debut in the 2016 film Suicide Squad played by Australian actress Margot Robbie.

While many feminists may see the DC universe bag girl as some kind of empowered heroine, the character’s emotional dependency on her on-and-off-again lover, the Joker, has always been the complete opposite of what feminism supposedly stands for. In fact, her strained relationship with the supervillain is a feminist’s nightmare. Dysfunctional and mentally and physically abusive yet the alleged feminist Harley Quinn keeps going back for more.

In the early stages of their blossoming relationship, the former psychiatrist known as Dr. Harleen Quinzel began to develop feelings for the mentally deranged yet endearingly charismatic patient and changed who she was to please the man she was falling for. Often putting her entire existence in danger just to prove her warped love and devotion for him, the Dr lost her self-worth and individuality, morphing into a demented version of what he wanted her to be and as a result, Harley Quinn was born.

Harley is intensely jealous and possessive of her man. Without him, she is nothing.

But wait, hold on, aren’t strong independent feminists supposed to operate independently without men? So why in the hell are feminists persistent that Harley is one of their own?

By digging deep into the twisted and unhinged mind of Harley Quinn and dissecting who she actually is, you soon begin to uncover that in no way, shape or form is she a feminist. On the contrary, she loves her ‘Puddin’ and is not afraid to show her vulnerability and emotional reliance on a man who completely disregards her.

Puddin!?

In a woke world where most feminists are fat, out-of-shape clinical obese slobs with obscene pink-dyed hair, Harley Quinn possesses none of those radical feminist stereotypes. While Harley does indeed have outrageous hair colour, one thing is for certain, Harley is not part of the fat acceptance movement. Harley Quinn is a superb gymnast who can land, stretch, performs marvellous feats of acrobatics and uses her feminine assists to her advantage. She isn’t afraid to be feminine, in fact, she loves her womanly assets and owns her sexuality whereas most radical feminists are ugly, uptight, angry, aggressive, man-hating misandrists with hairy armpits.

Why so serious?

If you are one of those easily offended feminizes that gets triggered at the sight of a man in a suit, let alone a man in a bat suit then Harley Quinn is not the heroine feminist you wish her to be. Harley loves men, especially her ‘Mistah J’. But as much as she loves her men, Harley also knows how to have fun. One of Harley's defining and most loveable personality traits is a sense of humour that is to die for, quite literally in most cases. While most radical feminists will find absolute offensive in everything, Harley Quinn is the kind of girl that just wants to have fun.

"We're bad guys. It's what we do."

Harley is adorably evil and is probably a little bit of a misanthrope, meaning that she hates humankind and the very fabric of society (except for her Mistah J of course). To have the cold-blooded and diabolical mind of a psychopath predator like Harley Quinn means despising everyone which rules out virtue signalling about the latest social justice trend on Twitter. Although Harley acts out of 'devotion' for her unstable maniacal boyfriend, she regularly unleashes mayhem on the innocent people of Gotham when she fights by his side. Harley has been responsible for many deaths and more often than not, relishes in her murderous chaos, meaning she won’t be posting a Ukrainian flag emoji on her social media bio anytime soon.

"Aw, c'mon Puddin don't cha wanna rev up ya Harley? Vroom vroom!"

Feminists like to portray themselves as strong, independent and career-minded women who don't need men. But you see, the thing with Harley is she is more ‘stand by your man’ than an independent woman. Harley Quinn desperately needs the Joker. She craves his attention and validation. In her own words, Harley accepts that domestic pain is part of the appeal of being in a relationship with a manic clown "You think after living with Mistah J I'd be used to a little pain". Her coercive relationship with the Joker is what drives and fuels her, with the everyday reality of assaults, threats, humiliation and intimidation she experiences (and accepts) as part and parcel of being with a man struggling with his own mental health issues. Harley is emotionally weak and fixated on the Joker. Harley accepts that love is complicated, but feminists reject the notion of weakness and convolution altogether because they are so desperate to appear strong and indestructible when the reality is they are not.

"Harley Quinn pleased to meetcha!"

There are some similarities when it comes to Harley Quinn and Feminists. Vexation, temper, rage and irrational behavioural issues. However, Harley symbolises everything feminists fight relentlessly against, that being inequality. For you see, Harley in her deepest heart just wants to be a regular stay-at-home mum and housewife in curlers. Looking after the kids while her green-haired hubby heads off to work. She wants to have dinner ready for her Mistah J when he comes through the door after a long day at the office. And to be honest, is that such a bad thing? Feminists fight so hard against tradition yet are often the first to embrace (and expect) traditional masculine roles. In the words of Harley herself "Martha Stewart, eat yer heart out!".

Harley may be disturbed, insane, unbalanced and quite frankly stark raving mad but one thing she most definitely is not, is a feminist.