As a little girl i heard about Emiline Pankhurst and the Suffragettes movement. 'Wow' i thought when i heard of how they handcuffed themselves to Downing st, and how they got arrested.
They were hero status for a time. *the suffragettes fought for women*
and then i grew up and read the books for myself. 
I was gutted to learn that actually they were only interested in obtaining the vote for certain types of women. That is women with status and women with money. They were not interested in elevating women in general. They were only interested in furthering themselves and those women who enjoyed upper class status.
They were quickly knocked off the pedestal. It was disappointing. 
And this sums up the reason why these groups truly exist. They only serve ulterior motives for people to exert power over others and use moral self-righteousness as a rallying cry. It's easy to pull the emotional heartstrings of people who feel injustice inhibit their daily lives, even though the real cause of that is far more complicated than what these groups suggest. It serves as a distraction from the much more serious problems that exist in society and divides society into extremist factions. Ultimately, its a tool of subjugation.
In fact it functions like a religion, you set yourself up a doctrine that promises an ultimate reward for obedience and preachment, while pinning all of society's problems on a single antagonist that is unfalsifiable, thereby impossible to truly eliminate.
That's not to say some good points are being made about unfairness (after all, you need small truths in a web of lies to better deceive people), but frankly, people are getting exploited by being followers of such groups. Think for yourself if you really want independence and freedom.
TL;DR: People are treated as useful idiots to further self-interested causes.
