SINI FERNANDES
“Aren’t you too young to be a feminist?”
Somebody asked me this once and also stated that they believe in equality but not in feminism. I think, that itself is the root of all the misconceptions. There are people who make remarks and statements without knowing what is feminism and why it is needed.
First of all, let’s have a look at the question. No, I am not too young to be a feminist. You can be a feminist at any age and at any time. Let’s have a look at this 12-year-old Marley Dias. Being a voracious reader, she discovered that most of the books she read only told stories about white boys and their dogs and she wanted to change it. She launched a campaign called #1000Blackgirlbooks. Through this campaign, she wanted to collect and donate 1000 books that would feature black girls as the main characters. She has collected and donated more than that and she has brought a change. A change that will help readers, be it a girl or boy, to look at a story from a black girl’s perspective. It will break the stereotypes that only a boy can be the hero while girls stay in the background. As we know, that what we read shapes our mind.
Now, as we have started to look at mediums of information and entertainment, let’s also look at movies. Especially the animated movies that are loved by young and old. Movies like Cinderella, Sleeping beauty affected many generations, even ours. It made the girls think that their problems would be solved only by a prince that would come and sweep them of their feet. The boys on the other hand thought that girls have always been incapable of solving their problems and that a man was the only answer they looked for. It also built an image in their mind that girls are typically frail and fragile. This boosted their ego. Which resulted in conflicts and power games. Now, the times have changed. There are movies like ‘Brave’ wherein Merida (the protagonist) tries to break free of all the compulsions she has to follow just because she is a girl. She wants equality and that also means choosing when she gets married. Feminism is about empowering and not diminishing man.
I have also been asked that if you want equality, freedom and empowerment then why do you want reserved seats for women in bus? Why do you want the privilege for being a woman? So here’s the answer. Reserved seat is something that a woman needs. Because as we ask for it, you should remember those 4 days when we bleed, or when we a carry a child, inside our womb or into our arms. We know that sometimes even men get sexually harassed but women get harassed 100 times more. Especially when they travel and that’s why seating in a reserved seat is much safer. Now here’s the final reason, even today, in most of the households, it’s a woman who gets up early, prepares breakfast, wakes up her children, dresses them up, even prepares lunch and then rushes out to catch the bus for work. While the husband, has his breakfast and leaves for work. This everyday juggling between housework and work life is tiring. Mentally and physically especially if a woman is anemic (most of them are) then it’s worse and getting a seat in the crowded bus is a big relief.
I would also like to address the term feminazi. Mostly, women who advocate feminism are given this label. They are termed as the men-haters. Here’s the thing, relating feminism with nazi is not only wrong but it shakes the whole foundation. Feminists are not men haters. Feminists are just advocates of equal rights. Even a man can be a feminist. You just have to believe that both the sexes deserve equal rights and work towards it. As I talk about feminist men, I’ll also talk about misogynists, men who hate and have prejudices against women but are all men like that? No. Same way, there are misandrist, female version of misogynist. But feminists aren’t misandrist because when we talk about equal rights, we also talk about equal amount of respect for each other. There are still women fighting to break the glass ceiling, to breath in freedom and put an end to harassment, be it physical, mental or sexual but this fight is not only of women but it’s a fight that needs to fought by everybody because the day women will be fully empowered, the day she will break all the chains, the day she will truly stand shoulder to shoulder alongside men, only that day, there will be a real change in this world.
