Feminism - Good / Bad

Feminism - Good / Bad

( By Suhana Ahmed ) 

Image By:- Goutham Sagar

Feminism- a movement that brought a revolution in the society is unfortunately misinterpreted by a huge part of humanity. Thus, before talking about anything about it, it is necessary to know what it defines and works for. Feminism is generally defined as “the movement and belief advocating social, political and economic equality of all the sexes”. To say it in a word, feminism stands for equality.

The initiation of feminism might be for the empowerment of women, but it has been working and is found beneficial for other sexes too. Decades ago, the condition of women varied vastly from that of today. Seen as secondary humans, they had always been suppressed and oppressed- taught that their life had no meaning if not for the presence of a man.

There existed a time where, for example, practices like Sati and Jauhar were extensively in practice and were validated by society. These practices promoted the death of women when their husbands died, and suppose a widow doesn’t follow her husband to death, there laid ahead a tormented life for her. A widow wasn’t allowed to re-marry, she wasn’t allowed to wear colorful clothes and dress-up, in some cases widows were turned bald and weren’t allowed to grow hair anymore, and practices like these confined the female section of the society in a small boundary. It curbed the individuality of a woman in all the ways possible.

Understanding what feminism has done, the things that it has changed, is an important aspect, because if I, a woman, am out here speaking my mind out, it is because of this particular movement. There were times, where popular female authors, who are adored in the modern world, like Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, even the world-renowned Harry Potter fame- J.K. Rowling had to publish their books under male pen names because people would never read what a woman wrote. Disguising as a man was the only option for women to voice their words.

Theatre has always been a popular and important aspect of many cultures. On one hand, where the European theatre forbids women from participating in putting forth a play and instead, used young boys to play the roles of female characters, in India, females were allowed to participate, but were tagged as courtesans and barely were respected as humans, and we're in it for a humiliating life. Indian women back then could either be respected or have a personal stand.

Women weren’t being educated, given jobs, and even if they were to work- their options were narrow, were paid less, weren’t allowed outside of their houses, were to suppress their own dreams and ambitions, were not allowed to go to battles or play sports, were stereotyped and ridiculed, were tormented and abused and given no justice for it, were not allowed to speak of their own body, weren’t let into politics, not even were they allowed to vote. The movement of feminism brought in a revolution in those aspects. Even though to this date, the majority of the women do not experience these rights and facilities, there is progress, and if everyone co-operates, this world would soon be a better place for women.

Feminism stands for promoting the femininity of oneself, which, as society has traditionally considered associating with softness and empathy. It intends on putting every human being on the same platform, giving all equal opportunities, and since women were the ones who lacked those opportunities, it was required to uplift them by giving them leverages, such as, reservations and concessions in educational institutions and work fields, scholarships, safe transport facilities, and, forbidding practices like the dowry system, domestic violence, sexual assaults, systems like Sati, widow mistreatment, polygamy etcetera.

As mentioned before, feminism has helped people other than women too. As feminism intends on breaking the gender and the sexual stereotypes, it gives a platform for non-heterosexual people to embrace themselves and speak up. There was a time when men were expected to be strong and tough all the time, and that time hasn’t yet completely gone, but we have men who embrace their emotional side and show what they actually feel, and they also have a platform to talk about the violence happening with them- sexual, emotional, mental or physical. 

Patriarchy hasn’t victimized only women; it has made everyone its victim. It curbs the individuality of a human being by setting gender roles and classist roles without giving a choice. Feminism gives what patriarchy curbs- a choice; the choice to be whoever and however, the person wants to be. Feminism is not about women drinking, smoking, wearing short skirts, and having multiple sexual partners, but it is about having the choice to do it or not. Feminism is not about men wearing make-up and not participating in sports, it is about choosing for themselves whether to do it or not.

Feminism is not man-hating; it just shuns toxicity patriarchy enforces. Feminism promotes every sex to stand up against the injustice they face. Right now, the condition of women is really brutal- there are women who still are confined to their kitchens and their children, mothers are worshipped for being sacrificial of their dreams but they’re not motivated to not sacrifice themselves but chase their own goals, there are still women being sexually assaulted, physically abused, menstruation and female body parts are still not talked properly in the open. That is why the base of feminism is women.

As for men, the need of the hour is to embrace the emotional side of themselves; to know that crying, not being able to physically fight or not being physically strong, or not earning enough money or not wanting to work doesn’t make them any less of a man. It is for them to understand that they don’t have to provide to women, that women are and should capable to provide for themselves. They just have to support each other when in need.

Feminism is about embracing what a person, as an individual loves to do, wants to do and can do, instead of what they are told to do by society. It breaks the norm that there is a certain set of roles that women and men have to play. Feminism made the women familiar with the world and men familiar with their own houses better. Feminism, once again, gave us a choice.

As far as the hate towards this movement is concerned- it is either because some patriarchs think that women are born to serve men, or because they have misinterpreted the whole idea of feminism. One doesn’t need to concern themselves much about the former, because that is the ideology that feminism challenges and wants to change. But, the latter is something that needs education. There is a fine line between feminism and sexism- both are completely opposite. Man-hating is not feminism, but sexism- narrowing it down, it is called misandry: hate towards the sex of men.

When a woman comes out and shuns a man for having an opinion and hates men, she is not a feminist, but, she is as much of a sexist as a man is when he trashes a woman. Hating on men is as bad as hating on any other sex, and it has nothing to do with the feminist movement.

Voices are to be raised against patriarchy and sexism, and it is possible only when feminism becomes stronger and is embraced. There is still a long way to go, to accept that every human is different and their gender or sexuality doesn’t define them. There is a need to properly distinguish between feminism and sexism- for which education is needed and solidarity is mandatory.

To attain humanism, feminism is required- because women never experienced opportunities before the feminist movement. The choice of deciding for yourself is required. Feminism is not implying that women are better than or superior to men, it implies that women are as capable as men, and need as many opportunities as men are given and that men need as much support as women do. Thus, Feminism is important and beneficial.

Find and accept the real you, for all of us are individuals with individual strengths, interests, and abilities.

   

 

Disclaimer:-

The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Light de Literacy and LDL does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.