Truly and Fabulously Feminist

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing. ~ Arundhati Roy

What is Feminism?

Feminism is the movement which fights for equal rights of a woman as a man. Since we live in a patriarchal society, fight for equal rights for women in every aspect has been gaining momentum. From surviving the female infanticide to living a life of choice the female population in this world faces discrimination and oppression at every stage. Feminism fights against each of this discrimination and strives to get women equal rights.

Feminism is for all

When we fight for feminism we always talk about women empowerment. We talk about educating girls there by making them socially, economically and emotionally independent. But we forget the fact that men also need feminism. As Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stressed in her speech at the TED Talk, even men need feminism. How many of you have heard someone telling a boy "Be brave, don't cry like a girl"/"Only girls cry, boys don't cry" ? Most of us would have heard someone using such statements to a boy. By saying so we are bringing up the boy with a mentality that it is a shame to cry and such shameful activities are done only by a girl. The boy feels ashamed if he cries, whereas in reality crying is as natural an expression of feelings like laughing or getting angry.

My own definition of a feminist is a man or a woman who says, yes there is a problem with gender as it is today and we must fix it, we must do better. All of us, women and men, must do better. ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Hence a boy has to be a feminist as equally as a girl is. He needs to understand that it is not a shame to cry. He needs to understand a woman is not born to cry and that she need not be protected always. She needs support like he needs at any point in his life. She needs respect the same way he needs. She deserves to stand up same as his entitlement. By not doing this we are putting pressure on men to behave in a certain way like we do to women. When making women strong and self-sufficient we also need to teach our men to respect such or any kind of women and not feel threatened by a woman. We need to teach both men and women to be a good human being. A person should be able to be true to his/her self-innate nature and not bound by the difference of gender that a society advocates. A weak man is as much a man as a strong man is. This way we liberate him of his insecurities and make him more sensitive to issues around him rather than concentrating on his ego.

A Feminist is anyone who recognises the equality and full humanity of women and men. ~ Gloria Steinem

Feminism Vs Egalitarianism

Many people feel ashamed to call themselves a feminist even if they believe in equality. They are afraid of being looked at as a man-hater, a problem creator, a rude and harsh woman which is completely against the common traits expected out of a woman. They are afraid of offending men and all those people who impose the belief that women are supposed to be submissive and the epitome of sacrifice. Hence they take refuge in a much neutral and pleasant term "Egalitarianism".

Every kind of discrimination is wrong. Feminism is different from egalitarianism by the way that egalitarianism treats every person the same no matter what their social, economic and cultural background is. This is theoretically good but practically not workable. Every person/group needs different level and type of empowerment to reach the equal level. In that perspective, feminism looks at the gender- related issues which affect women and works on those issues to resolve them. Similarly, there are activists who work against various kinds of discrimination which is much more specific and fruitful than the general egalitarianism.

Be a Proud Feminist

There is nothing wrong in being a feminist. There is nothing hateful about being a feminist. A true feminist is not a man-hater in general. But a feminist reacts when a woman is treated lower than a man. A feminist questions and fights any system that advocates gender discrimination in any form. Feminism is nothing but realising that women are human beings too and that they are entitled to every natural and man-made resource on this planet as much as a man. In fact, every woman should be proud to call herself a feminist.