Thursday, April 7, 2016

Feminism #ATOZCHALLENGE

Right on Day 1 of this challenge, I had decided that I would write on Feminism when it came to letter F. 

I am a feminist. Not the kind who is hesitant to admit it. Rather the kind who would proudly announce it from the top of the building if required. Not the bra-burning, men-hating kind. Not the kind who go on a tirade when a guy opens the door for you. That is basic human nature and kindness. I would do the same for others. I am a feminist who is against the patriarchal values. I am a feminist who believes that even though urban women have achieved some footing, the rural women still have a long way to go. I know it because I am from a small town where my mom is still concerned what people would think about my character when I wear bright red liptstick at home.

But recently, people have come to associate feminism with the 'nots' I have mentioned above. I feel anything related to feminism is slammed for being against men. There has been a string of incidents that indicate a conspiracy regarding this. To mention a few, I remember the letter by Shenaz Treasury on women's safety that was declared as a publicity stunt and brushed aside. Then came the video of Deepika Padukone's My Choice. Even now, I see memes from them. The video tried conveying a pretty strong message which was again slammed by the sanskari internet. The most recent one was this video put up by some guy about a drunk girl abusing a guy in the Delhi Metro. It caused such outrage and the story was picked up by all content websites, right around the Women's day. All this has now convinced me to form my own conspiracy theory that there is a force at work which secretly swifts through all feminist posts and categorically tries to find faults in them, thus distracting us from having the real conversation. 

You really don't have to be against men to be pro-women. There is enough space and love in this world to be able to do both. It is not two sides of a coin which you need to pick. It is rather two pillars of humanity that needs to uniformly strong. 

I agree that there are feminist fanatics as well. But then, any belief has fanatics. That does not mean the entire belief system is flawed. 

So after this rather long heartfelt feminist post, all I would like to say is cheers to Feminism and feminists. 

P.S.: Men can be feminists too. And letting men in on a female secret, I can vouch for the fact that women find men who declare themselves as feminists extremely sexy. Look up Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth if you want proof. 

4 comments:

  1. I'm writing on a novel right now with a suffragette thread. Fascinating history of the mill girls and how they learned to work together. Wear that bright red lipstick!

    @ShonnaSlayton from
    Author Shonna Slayton: A to Z of the 1800s

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  2. This is so true, and I agree with you on everything you've said. Sometimes I wish that feminism was given a different title, anything to veer it away from being equated to misandry. There are too many people out there standing against feminism...with "gender equality", though they are the same. Perhaps feminists need to make sure they are also talking about issues impacting men, just to better portray that they aren't trying to put men down..but empower them also.

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    1. Yes. Recently I read how someone said people must either be sexist or normal. That is how we should have probably defined feminism. I just wish this view develops in the coming times.

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