“Tu zyada feminist na ban,” (Don’t try to be a feminist) These words came out of one of my friend’s mouth when I supported a victim of sexual harassment. Well, that’s another tale, we’ll come to that later in this article. First, let’s focus on why feminism and feminists are looked on as something absurd and farcical?
I am not the first one, many women who boldly speak against prejudices and chauvinism have to tolerate such hateful and bitter attitudes. Feminism is used as a cuss word by many people. They consider being a feminist a crime.
Let’s Just Once Recall What Feminism Really Means?
Feminism is an ideology that comprises various social, cultural, and political movements to promote gender equality. The term aims to empower women, as they have been facing atrocities and inequality for ages. In all societies, women were always forced to confine themselves to domestic life. Womanhood was and still is, associated with household chores and the domestic sphere.
Feminism came out as a movement to fight for women’s rights and interests. History has a record of many great women revolutionaries who bravely fought the ill-elements of society. Take the example of Mother Teresa, do you think that she would ever be able to help people had she confined herself within the four walls of her residence? Michelle Obama would simply be known by the name of her husband if she never spoke her mind out.
Fighting for one’s rights and equality is extremely necessary and is a basic human right. The eyes of disgust that feminists have to face are enormous in numbers, you can’t even count them. According to some people, feminism is some sort of ‘mental illness’ that ‘overpowers women’.
History has strong evidence of atrocities that have been inflicted on women for generations. Whether you talk about women being compelled to wear a corset in European countries or the social evil of Sati tradition in India. You can count many such examples on your fingertips.
Instead of disgracing women who support equality, one must question why did the need for ‘fighting for the rights’ arise in the first place?
Had the society treated men and women equally, no issue of equality would have occurred. It is sad to encounter that people do not value the movement and demean its actual existence. “Feminist banne ki zarurat nahi hai”, “Tum feminists itni hyper kyu hojati ho?” “Feminism to bahaana hai awaaragardi karne ka” (There’s no need for you to be a feminist, Why are you feminists always angry?). Feminism is just an excuse to sneak out of your homes and do whatever you want) are some of the disgraceful sentences I have personally experienced in life.
Feminists actively fight for the betterment of both the genders, they do not limit their area of work to women only. If a man or a person of another gender is being harassed in society, feminists will always offer to help. This movement has always been focussing on equal rights and not just empowering one community and forgetting the other.
Victim-Shaming And Feminism
Victim-shaming is one of many reasons why we need feminists. I have my personal reasons for mentioning this particular aspect here out of all the others. Though the MeToo movement garnered success in the Hollywood Industry, it terribly failed in India. Power is one reason, and the next comes victim-shaming.
Victims of sexual assaults and harassment fear to go public and fight for justice because they know they will be blamed for everything that happened to them. Indian society has always blamed rape-case victims for the rapes. We can recall the ugly words used by the lawyer of Nirbhaya case convicts questioning the character of the victim. His derogatory remarks were:
“Raat ke sade barah baje tak kyun nahi pata tha ki tumhari beti kahan hai?” (Why weren’t you aware that your daughter is out till 12am?)
Victim-shaming is a huge example of why this world needs feminists. No matter how much a section of society looks at feminists with disgust, the movement is never going to stop. The milestones achieved so far and the way society has somehow changed a little is because women have become aware of their rights. They have started to follow their passions and are achieving heights in many spheres.
She can be a housewife or an office-going woman. All of it is fine only if she happily chooses the role. You can’t force her to go out and work, and the same way she shouldn’t be forced to stay at home and not follow her dreams. It’s all a matter of choice and happiness. Hope we all understand this soon.