Random Rant: Dissecting feminism

NB: I apologize for the non-functional hyperlinks of articles over the weekend.I was tinkering with the code of some widget and foolishly tested just its functionality and not its impact on other previously working features. I believe the term for it is regression testing. Sorry about that:P

This is the century of the internet, and the decade of social media. Sadly however, most people are still unable to function as sentient logical beings. They follow someone else's ideas; merely because the said someone already has a lot of "followers". Comfort in numbers as opposed to convictions. Whoever screams the loudest gets heard. Even if they don't make sense at all.

In this day and age, one of the movements that is gaining increasing popularity and misguided momentum is that of feminism.I once used to call myself a feminist. But now, I shudder at all that the word has come to represent. Let's take a closer look.

Every movement can be simplified into a policy and a mechanism. An ideal and how to implement that ideal.

What is the one ideal that is the very foundation of feminism,in your opinion? Something that all of us can amicably agree upon?
Equality of the sexes. That women are neither inferior nor superior to men,but their perfectly equal counterparts in every aspect. Agree?


Now, having established this, how do we get to this utopian state? Ah,this is the most challenging part. For everyone has their own notions of what is to be done. Before I tell you what I have in mind, I'd like to ask you to think about certain ideologies that are currently being propagated.

Misogynistic. For decades now, we as women have hurled this adjective at men who are prejudiced. Men who wrong us. Who generalize,stereotype and ridicule us for no fathomable reason. Some of whom know what they're doing and still go ahead because they believe they're right and that women deserve no better. Others who aren't even aware that they're discriminating because their biases are ingrained so deeply inside themselves. I don't know which category is to be despised more, and there's a whole lot that I could talk about this distinction itself.However, I postpone that to an uncertain morrow because it is irrelevant to the point that I am presently trying to make.

Having despised the word so much and knowing what it feels like to face such blatant discrimination,is it fair that we practise it? Misandry is what I'm referring to. (Before I delve in deeper and before my fellow women pelt stones at me, let me clarify my stance. I do not hate women. I strongly believe in equality.I have,previously criticized stereotyping and gender bias,which you can read about here)We are supposed to be fighting discrimination. How,then, does it make sense to ourselves discriminate? How is that supposed to give us a shot at the equality that we desire and deserve?

The point is that the feminist movement has gained enough momentum to make the world stop in its tracks and look. To listen to what we are actually saying. The stage is set, and we have a chance to make a case for ourselves. But it is our foremost duty to make that case a fair and just one. To not accuse one half of the world's population of everything we've gone through, because let's face it, it's not all the men in the world that are at fault. Just a certain section of them. While it's very easy to generalize and say "All men are like that. They should be killed and wiped off the face of the earth.That would solve all our problems"  it is by no means true.

The danger in making such a statement is that it would cause a lot of rational people,both men and women, to question other relevant parts of what we're trying to say. It would discredit a lot of things that are based on actual facts, simply by association with this overstatement. In short, we gain nothing and lose everything. We've come a long way from having no rights to vote to where we are today and we undoubtedly have a long way to go. But we will never get there unless we stop generalizing.

I repeat the following,because I would rather say these things out loud than risk having you meander along the lanes of maybe she means this..or that. I am not justifying the acts of men against women(or for that matter,women against men). I am not even saying we need to be lenient in case of aforementioned atrocities. All I am saying is that we shouldn't enter the playing field with a priori biases and assumptions. For a moment, remove gender out of the picture. Imagine you're on the jury of a case wherein you didn't know the sexual identity of the aggressor and the victim. Would your decision be different if you knew? More importantly, should it? If you think something is wrong, then it is, irrespective of whether the perpetrator is a man or a woman. Gender gets no say in it. The same holds for every aspect in life. Gender should not decide things. In my opinion, this is the essence of what we're striving for.

Also, I'm not sure if you see it or it's just me, but I see men living in fear these days. Fear of saying the wrong thing, or fear of having a harassment case slapped on them. And here I refer to good people, commoners like you and me, wondering what they did wrong and why the whole world is looking at them suspiciously. It seems that the tables have been turned in a way, and men now think of themselves as being oppressed by feminists, or as some guys refer to them, feminazis. The irony here is that this fear I mentioned, I seldom see that in the people who really ought to be affected by it. Instead, it's the ones who never meant any harm in the first place, and now they begin harboring feelings of bitterness towards the very word called feminism and all that it stands for,because they think it is to undermine them. I could distinctly sense this feeling of mutiny on Women's day this year,when a lot of guys thought it was something overrated,but dared not say it out loud because they would end up being bashed by women.

Also, I have a problem with feminists portraying men as suppressors and women as the oppressed. Where on earth did that come from? You pitch a campaign saying that we're equal to men, and then, your first war cry is we are your victims and have been your victims since times immemorial!?? Do you expect anyone to buy that? Do you even hear how contradictory that sounds? Granted, you might have been a victim in your life. So has everyone,at some point,in some situation. Does that mean you wear the garb of a victim and sit moping around for ever? Never. You emerge stronger from the experience and wear your scars with pride. The word woman is not a synonym for weakness(and the word man is not a synonym for strength). It never has, and it never will. You're a fool if you believe that, and much more of a moron if you expect all the women of the world to agree with you on that.

I recently came across the word agency used in a very beautiful context. I had definitely encountered the word before,in a million mundane sentences,but it never had much of an impact until I saw this.The word agency refers to free-will in its purest form. Of being empowered enough to act for yourself. To know that your action will have a reaction. It carries with it the subtle implications of individuality, presence of mind, initiative and strength. And this is what I truly believe in. We never were damsels in distress, and it is absolutely ridiculous and mortifying to see someone calling themselves a feminist and then portraying women so.

So what do I propose as the solution, you ask? I'm not sure if I'm right(Can anyone really be?), but at this point,standing where I am, I believe in what I'm saying. Gender inequality is another species of the larger class of discrimination. Just as are race,religion,caste etcetera. So how do you avoid any kind of discrimination? By first changing how your mind works. You might have been inculcated with biases that come from a thousand environmental factors. It does not matter. What matters is that you try to rise above them. That you re-wire your neural paths to treat people equally. It might not be easy at first. In fact, it will not. You have centuries of evolutionary machinery that could be working against you. But what's also to note is that you hold the keys to the same mechanism of evolution. You are capable of changing it. And when the time comes,you should attempt to do this twofold for the next generation--both by nature and by nurture. Teach them equality, not because the society asks that of you, but because you want to. If we all try and do that, then one day, the sun will dawn bright on a utopian world. Maybe not that perfect, but not this disfigured either.

"Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake"

I think I have a dozen other things to say, but it's quite late for a Sunday night and I risk being groggy at work on a Monday morning if I stay up any longer writing this.I shall no doubt pick up from here someday soon, but in the meantime I hope that some part of my original goal is accomplished. That you,as my reader, will think before you jump in and blindly accept the views of the most popular feminist. That you, will think long and hard, before you form an opinion of what feminism is and what exactly it means to you. If you are a guy and reading this,rest assured that feminists are not man haters(at least the ones that make sense aren't), and your support and contribution would only help women. We're not the enemy, we never meant to be. We're only seeking equality,which assuming you're fair, you should be seeking too. In case you feel otherwise, it's high time you introspect and figure out why you feel so. To equality!