Why Feminism?

We keep hearing the words gender equality, feminism and such being used so carelessly these days that the nobility and the true meaning of these words are now lost in time. Contrary to the general belief that the condition of women worldwide improved through colonization, the truth is that the world would have looked so much different for women if it wasn't for colonization. As prior to it many cultures around the world, especially in the East considered women to be Goddesses and in some cases as manifestation of the purest form of nature, treated them with utmost respect, gave them equal opportunities and many regions even had matriarchal societies. In addition, the spread of Abhrahmic religions also played a role in further oppressing femininity.  

The movement of 'Feminism' started in the western world out of necessity. By the end of the 19th century the world had slowly started to move into a liberal, capitalistic, rapidly industrializing set-up. Yet newly independent, democratic countries in the West failed to recognise women for having the right to vote and they were treated like second class citizens who were to indulge in vanity so as to entertain their husbands, look after the house and attend to their family's needs. No other ventures were entertained. A woman expressing her thoughts in public would be looked upon with alarm and contempt. I say, being a woman in the world in those times was truly not a walk in the park.  Feminism demanded suffrage for women and equal rights for ALL GENDERS under the constitution. But since women were the oppressed, the focus of the feminist movement naturally shifted to them just like in the case of 'Black Lives Matter' Movement. It is not that we fail to recognize that all lives matter, nor is the movement trying to say black lives alone matters. It simply says black lives matter too, given there's much violence committed against people with African roots in the past and present and the bigotry against them is undeniable. The same runs with feminism. Neo- Feminism has taken a new route where it's challenging to pinpoint a single goal for the movement. The demands have varied and so has the opinions of the activists and people who call themselves feminists. Saying feminists around the globe are alike, have the same opinion, and agrees on everything is simply not true. Internal squabbles within the feminist community is huge. 

In my opinion, while some concerns put forth by the community are extremely valid and need to be addressed, at the same time, many claims are blatantly misguided. Yes, we do need safer environments for women to thrive. We do need better child support systems. We do need to recognise that women have the right to their own body. We need Feminism because even now women get killed when they refuse to abide by Patriarchal Laws. We need Feminism because we want a world where there is no Nirbhaya and no Mahza Amini. Now when it comes to the negatives, in some cases the feminist movement's attempts to blur the lines between what defines a man and a woman have gone to extremes. Many feminists now claim that there's no such thing as a Man or a Woman when that is biologically untrue. There have also been countless incidents where you can clearly see that the woman is in the wrong, but the society refuses to say so in fear of being filed against at the court. 

This is something a friend of mine told another friend while debating each other on the need for Feminism. If a male friend of yours calls you to tell they are out alone at midnight, you wouldn't think much of it. You wouldn't even call back to know if they got back home safe. But replace it with your female friend, girlfriend, mom or your sister. You would panic till they get back home. No matter how much statistics you may find in favour of how the world is more unsafe for men, I say truth lays far beyond all these data. Also mislabeling misandrists as feminists is another thing that I see too often these days. And please. Stop blaming feminists for every crime a woman commits. 

There's only one thing any of us can do. Stop believing what popular media tell you to believe. Do not just adopt someone else's views to be yours. Do your research. Think for yourself. Otherwise, we will be building a world of brain dead zombies. 

Okies!

Until next time,

Bye!