The term feminism is not entirely new to India, but it still feels unfamiliar to many. A large number of people, especially men and even women are not fully aware of what feminism truly represents.
According to Wikipedia, feminism is an ideology that aims to define and establish political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. However, there’s a common misconception that feminism is solely about women demanding equality from men in society. Some even believe that feminism encourages hatred towards men. These misunderstandings about feminism and feminists (those who engages with feminism) persist globally.
When I look around, I notice that many people think feminism is merely a tool that “woke” women use to justify anything they do. But this could not be further from the truth. To fully understand feminism, we must also understand patriarchy, because only then can we recognize which ideology we are subscribing to.
To put it simply, feminism is a movement striving for equality among all genders while respecting the differences that exist between us. It’s crucial to differentiate between being equal and being the same. Equality is about fair treatment regardless of differences in strengths or weaknesses, while being “the same” implies complete similarity in behavior, appearance, emotions or situations.
I feel the need to break down these concepts in the simplest terms because I often see absurd arguments online. For instance, some people argue that if women want equality, they should be working at construction sites or doing physically demanding jobs. This argument is both laughable and biased.
Equality in feminism doesn’t mean men and women must do the same tasks. It means acknowledging and valuing the roles each plays. Whether it’s a man performing physical labor or a woman managing a household. Both deserve equal respect and recognition as human beings. Similarly, a man and a woman earning different incomes are still equal in terms of their worth and rights.
Men and women are inherently different. Our strengths, ways of expressing emotions, approaches to situations vary because we are designed to be different. Feminism doesn’t demand that women become men or vice versa. It simply calls for us to see each other as humans with unique qualities, deserving of equal treatment.
At its core, feminism is about equality not superiority, between men and women. It advocates for men to be treated equally, just as it does for women. To achieve this, we need to address the root cause of inequality: Patriarchy.
Patriarchy is the system that has perpetuated unequal treatment for centuries, and dismantling it is essential for creating a fairer society where every individual is valued equally in emotional, social, political and even judicial aspects. But this post was for Feminism’s meaning I define. I’ll talk about Patriarchy someday later.
Here I share my thoughts and feelings along with learnings about being a Woman in a society while continuously expanding my knowledge on similar topics.
Thank you for Reading.