Are Women endorsing Feminism in the name of Gender Equality?
We are seeing the world transform, a lot faster than it was happening a decade ago. It’s not just the advancement in the fields of education, technology or architecture but of humanity. Yes, the human race is still evolving. The present evolution is not physical, but it’s the evolution of one’s thinking, of one’s perspective. Many old traditions have been discarded by the modern men and women. Those traditions included the cultural and religious laws as well, and they were really something not worth continuing. But let’s look upon a specific scenario – feminism. Yes, we have narrowed down to this topic, which has been a “sensitive” issue in the media lately.
In the ancient times, for reasons unknown, or rather, for reasons not justified, the women were considered as a relatively weaker section compared to men. To a wise man or woman, this would definitely strike as illogical, because it certainly is. This illogical thought, slowly transformed into a widely accepted fact over the years that passed – from the times of existence of wild tribes, through the times of kings and queens, and now in the time of well defined governments.
But the last two or three decades have been different and difficult. And the present time is the worse, if one can see what people are ready to fight for. Although a large section of the population has accepted the modern lifestyle with all the modern norms, a larger section still lives under the ideology set by our long gone ancestors. This creates a divide among the people – supporters and opponents of every issue, along with those who remain neutral to every cause.
So where does feminism comes into the picture? Some of those standard ancient rules that people have started to think over again includes this as well. Many women stood up in the previous century, and the century previous to that, against the norm that men are more stronger, hence they must be the decision makers. But the numbers of such women were very few. In the last few decades, this number increased drastically! Then the new concept of gender equality came into picture. This concept was not new entirely, but lesser known earlier until the boom took place. Soon some influential men and women started making sense that women deserve the same status as that of the men in the society. Certainly they do, why should they not?
The world began to accept this trend of equality. Some men initially found this uncomfortable, but eventually some of them adjusted to this change. We say “some” because a large part of the world’s population is still obsessed with the base less norms of their ancestors, and they still don’t let their female counterparts to have the same perks that their men have. To support this trend of gender equality, the government of various countries took some steps within their countries. These steps were meant to bring the equality among genders, but they do not make any sense now. Not when the equality has come into the urban areas.
Many women, including famous celebrities around the world have started to openly support feminism. This list also includes the famous British actress Emma Watson and also the American singer Beyonce, to name a few. Such influential females openly say they are feminist, which also urges the not-so-influential female community. Feminism’s actual definition states that it is a range of movements and ideologies meant to provide equal rights for women. These rights include political, personal, economical and social rights. But many see it as an advancement over gender equality. Under the blanked of gender equality, women have started seeking extra perks for no good reason.
Are you not convinced? Well, we will put here some examples so you could look at it more clearly.
Example 1 :
Have you seen reserved seats for women in public transport systems? Yes, you surely have. Should there be such reservation based on gender? We are not considering the old aged or pregnant women here. But some have to say, “Working women get more tired”, “Respect a lady and let her sit”. Wow! One way you are supporting gender equality, but then you yourself are showing the women as weak? Do women have a poor diet as compared to the men? Do women do ten times more work at their workplace? Then how are they weak, and why is there such reservation?
Example 2 :
The dowry system is now officially made a crime. Thanks to the concept of gender equality! It’s very correct that the family of the bride to-be should not pay huge amounts of money to her groom to-be. But what about the alimony after a divorce? Yes, alimony can be in the favor of the men and women both, but often the jury sees the woman as the weaker element. And whoa, in most cases it’s the women receiving the testimony for being a “female”. In most countries, the males are only paid the alimony amount in case they do not earn at all or are handicapped. Many women take a good advantage of their gender here, posing as the “weak” partner in the relation. After all, we all know how judgements are made.
There are many more examples, which clearly depict how women misuse the concept of equality. They want equality in the society, which is their right and we all agree on this. But some women use their feminine gender to get things into their favor at times. The first two waves of feminism were okay and acceptable. But the third wave is more about female supremacy.
Feminism as it should have been
Feminism started as something which demanded equal rights for women in all sectors. But some women have found a better meaning of it, crafted for their own benefits. Their are marches held over wrong reasons. Even in cases of harassment, men are not always on the evil side. At times, it’s the woman framing the man, and the society already has a soft corner for the “delicate” lady, so they tend to overlook the word of the man. Why do people still look at women as a sensitive and more delicate being? Where is the equality in such behavior of the society? We really need to rethink about this entire “equality” issue, and see where we are doing partiality and where we are supporting the very injustice which is not visible yet to us.
