My Perception About What Feminism Actually Stands For
Recently there's been quite a fuss about the core idea of Feminism. And I wanted to put my thoughts in regards with the matter. It's insane how feminism has fallen to the point that it has become a gender war, when in reality, it's a war between equity and oppression. Both the genders face their own difficulties and hardships, but simply hating on one another is not the solution. Hatred has never been the solution, it has only ever proven to be a strong cause. A cause for conflicts and clashes. I urge you. Please read the blog till the very end before jumping to conclusions.
I hate it when people let the actions of a few extremists overshadow the very idea of the movement of feminism.
To define feminism, it is a concept of gender equality, focussing on equal rights, equal opportunities and equal treatment of all genders. The only reason it has "female" in it is due to a mix of historical reasons. It all dates back to the patriarchal times when women were disproportionately treated inferior and their voices and opinions were suppressed. Women in the ancient times were not allowed to vote, get education, denied equal pay, were discriminated against various spheres of life and most importantly, were subjected to crimes like domestic violence, dowry, etc. This wasn't only unfair— but inhumane as well!
The original idea was fighting for equal rights, and not to hate on men, or to overpower them.
Feminists were never against men. They advocated for equal rights and equal treatment, which even today, is not available to plenty of women in rural areas.
After India's independence, women were given equal rights in the constitution, and their status in the society was elevated from being seen as inferior to equal. It wasn't until 2000 that these rights were beginning to be accepted and backed up by the society as a whole and not solely by the constitution. Today, women are more aware of their rights than ever before.
Now that women are finally able to have the privilege of being treated equally and receiving equal opportunities, there's suddenly a fuss about the whole concept. Please note that I am not defending the pseudo feminists out there, I'm defending the belief that has been misinterpreted by the youth.
What the heart of feminism really stands for is equality, respect for one another and justness and not some man hating propaganda. Men and Women are different biologically, sure, but those differences doesn't mean the differences in the treatment. Denying education and suppressing women weren't just societal norms— that was oppression. Equal treatment shouldn't even be a debate.
Okay, here's a fact. With power, there's use and misuse. And probably that's why, in the patriarchal society, some men misused their power in order to suppress women. But that also doesn't prove the absence of men who were in fact supporting women empowerment. Similarly, there are women misusing their rights.
But we need to stop generalising and hating the gender. That's like saying democracy is bad because of the prevalent corruption in the government.
It's like how Black Lives doesn't mean only black lives matter, similarly empowering women is not about bringing men down. It refers to the protection and empowerment of a group that has been hitherto mistreated and marginalised.
At the end of the day, we are all humans. We need each other. Why tear each other down when we can lift and empower each other?
Why don't we become better human beings instead?
Simply hating the gender won't change the world. But trying to become better on an individual level can make a profound impact.
So, that's my take on this matter, my sunshines and daisies.
I hope my blog can create a small change in the hearts of those who hate the concept of feminism. But then again, how the concept is practised (or misused by some, to better word it) is a completely different story and hopefully if I ever have a change of heart, I'll post part-2 for this blog!
