Feminism

 

''This is not a men vs women issue. It's about people vs prejudice.''

                                  -Laura Bates

I recently came across an “anti-feminist” page on Instagram and that had me thinking… what kind of education is being imparted these days. This page targets what people, who tag themselves as feminists but are actually pseudo feminists, do. The page fails to recognize the difference between the two. I am writing with the intention of clarifying what both the terms mean. Many people of my age still aren't educated enough about it disheartening. Feminism is a misunderstood concept and many are against it because they don’t understand the actual meaning.

Who is a Feminist?

A feminist is someone who believes that all genders should have equal rights. Someone who doesn’t discriminate between any gender. Feminism includes rights of everyone. If a girl and a guy are assaulted then both should get justice. If the guy doesn’t get the justice he deserves, that’s not feminism. Feminism aims to end patriarchy which negatively affects men and woman.

Who are Pseudo Feminists?

People who support only their own or one specific gender or believe that one particular gender should be superior than others are pseudo feminists. Many people consider themselves feminists when in fact their behaviour says otherwise. They wanna create a world where only they rule which is defying the rules of feminism.

Actions of pseudo feminists lead to people believing that feminism in general is toxic. If a girl hits a guy and then files a complain when he hits her back is not feminism. Putting down men is not feminism. A while ago, Instagram was filled with stories of the ‘Bois Locker Room’. It involved screenshots of random boys passing exploitative comments on girls and giving rape threats to one in particular. Later it was revealed that the girl who was being ‘threatened’ had falsely accused the boy and she just wanted to assess his character. The boy committed suicide due to societal pressure. Many hashtags surfaced such as fake feminism and more. This is an example of pseudo feminism. Cases like this lead people to believe that feminism is toxic when, in fact, this is not feminism. A girl expecting the boy to pay for the bill because she is a feminist is not feminism.

Calling out your friends and close ones when they display such behaviour is a must. The world will truly be a better place when inequality ends. But the road to having such a world is a long and difficult one. Granted that we have accomplished much in the past decades, the fight for equality of all is still a long term dream.

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Until next time,

Cheerio!