Tons of thousands of social media outrages, videos, documentaries, chat shows, interviews and what not on Feminism. Yet it still becomes necessary to explain the true meaning of feminism which is not a personal, domestic or national issue it has to be viewed as a humanitarian issue.
In today’s world understanding Feminism is more complicated and cumbersome than understanding the Union Budget of the country. Regarded as ‘man bashing’, ‘loud voices’, storehouse of misuse and abuse of privileges and position’ I regard and revere Feminism as ‘the saving grace of humanity’. It is not a mere political theory or an ideology, or adjudicated in a court of law or lambasted at the masses. It is a silent truth of life from which people are afraid. First of all Feminism not only works for women it equally affects the men as it empowers an individual to see not only from a woman’s eyes but from the sense of justice. It demarcates boundaries of good and bad if imbibed in purest of the form.
Feminism is not just about advocating woman’s rights out there, raising a few slogans and then going back to the normal way of life. It is about transforming ideals into reality where women are equal to men in all walks of life. It is easy to post pictures wearing shirts/t- shirts to ‘more power to girls’,”I am a feminist are you”? , yet equally daunting to be one. So what is Feminism exactly? Is it about giving reservation to women, or about giving privileges to the already privileges or simply uplifting the ‘already empowered’? It simply means to begin a discourse by the simple realisation of the fact that women are equal to men. And neither sides need not to take help of’physical supremacy’, ‘mahila mukti andolan’ or fake cases of abuse over who is the better of all. Feminism regards the difference created by God between men and women as strength of humanity and not as the reason for dehumanising each other. Decoding Feminism is one of my absolute achievements for I have always been accused of propagating the ‘destructive wave of feminism’. Now I understand that the collective power of all the women can be called destructive but calling feminism destructive speaks volumes of the illiteracy of the person who says so. It is not destructive or home breaking, it is about reform and redefining every single norm which is discriminatory on the basis of gender, it is that “spiritual solace” which puts human rights and position of women in society above every religion, belief or custom. Feminism can only be termed as destructive by people who fear that the male chauvinism and patriarchy in which they seek pride will be destroyed by the collective forces of humanity.
If a woman goes to work after having children, a girl making choice to choose her husband or boyfriend or even choosing to be in a living in relationship, If a girl enjoys her hard and self owned financial independence throughout her life, if she claims equal share in every investment, if she musters the courage to live differently, she is not shut slammed for speaking her mind out and her decisions are not judged by the prying eyes of the society, how on earth can someone call this normal way of living destructive wave of feminism. There can be a lot of illustrations, bunch of illustrations, sick notions which feminism can easily demystify. Demonstrating the practical significance of feminism is when when we stop calling women bad drivers for nor reason, it is when we celebrating the birth of a girl equally as we celebrate on the birth of a boy and stop treating it as a curse, it is when we start teaching our girls the paramount importance of education, financial independence and having a job more than ‘settling’ and merely pleasing their husbands, it is when we teach our girls what is the power of speaking truth even if it amounts to standing up against their better half which automatically crushes the Patriarchal block conditioned in the minds of girls in the name of matrimonial bliss and dependence in the name of it. Feminism is when we make our society truly tolerant by making it safe for females to roam around safely and not being unscrupulous about it, it is about destroying the insect of judgemental behaviour prevalent among both men and women who associate the honour of a family with that of a girl and not of the boy, it is when we stop asking our girls ‘kitne baje ayegi, kiske saath jayegi, din din ko a jana’ and prepare the endless list of questionnaire for the boys as well, it is when we stop judging someone on the basis of clothes, it is about realising than any relation between a man and a woman is based on equal respect and worth, Feminism is when we stop being casual or indifferent towards rape and considering it wrong on right reasons by becoming a part of the solution. Feminism is not waging a violent and an unprincipled war against patriarchy, neither is it writing a new ‘rule book’ for both the sexes. It is when we stop basking in the glory of patriarchy and laughing at jokes which make fun of women, when we stop dancing to tunes of songs which com modify both men and women in the name of entertainment and gracefully discard the notion ‘who’s the boy here’? It is a giant leap of the humanity which makes one liberal minded and more humanitarian.
Feminism is not about suddenly becoming empowered after silently enduring abuses in life, it is not about asking alimony and then falsely claiming yourself to be independent, it is not about making false accusations and ultimately betraying the trust of the potential of your sex. It is the radical removal of the state of “discriminatory interdependence” of a woman has on a man and fighting for equality. It is not about burning the man’s world but establishing your much needed space in that. It is about being truly independent and making a difference. There are many unclear and unanswered notions related to feminism, it is upon the wise to answer. The crux of the storm named Feminism is all about building capacities and not misusing capacities. It is considering a woman as a human capable of rights, opportunities, mental health and healthy environment as any other individual on the planet is. Feminism is educative in nature. When we stop calling girls ‘paraya dhan’ and recreate every tradition every custom every practice which violated a woman into one based on equality, truth and sense. When we make the conscious effort to either worship a goddess or stop abusing anyone and everyone in the name of her.
All said and done, membership to feminism is free and equal as all it require is brains and sensitivity, it can help you sort out the mess, all ambiguities with massive profit returns for all feminism requires is endless healthy debate, new ideals, just behaviour, honesty, tolerance for a new change. It is not a burden on the society neither is it a terrifying reality which shake someone’s conscience but it seeks to purify one’s conscience and making the world a better place to live in.