In defence of Feminism.

Over the years I've seen various opinions on what people think of Feminism. I want to share my thoughts on the feminist movement and why I believe it's absolutely required even today. 

Let's start with the definition. Feminism at its core is the belief that men and women should be given equal rights and opportunities. Most of the time Feminism revolves around empowering women because throughout history, it was women who didn't have the freedom to do what they wanted. Hardly controversial statements. Why is there so much hate towards it though? Why do people feel embarrassed to even associate themselves with this let alone call themselves a Feminist? 

I think there is a loud minority whose views on this issue are extremely radicalized and that doesn't sit right with a lot of people. Calling all men trash or pigs isn't going to help the cause. The false accusations are a problem as well. Even a single false accusation is enough for someone to lose his entire career. This is genuinely scary.  There is a false perception that this is the norm of Feminism and that women are taking advantage of the system. 

There's only one question which truly matters according to me. Do you honestly believe that men and women across the world and especially across India are treated equally and given equal opportunity? I personally don't think so. Acknowledging that there is a problem and that women have to deal with a lot more obstacles than men is important. We live in a mostly patriarchal society and although things are better than what it used to be, it's still not good enough. Society plays an important role in making up the "rules". What will people think if you get divorced? What will people say if they found out you were abused? What will people think if you go out late at night? All of us eventually worry about what society thinks even though we shouldn't. It's one thing for the law to say you can do something but a whole other thing to be able to do it practically. Women can legally go out at night but it's practically not safe to do so. Men can go to most places without the fear of getting harassed or catcalled or abused. Women don't have that luxury. I don't get hundreds of creepy messages on Instagram every day. I don't have to worry about some guy groping me while I'm in a crowded bus. These are things I wouldn't even think of, but most women do. It makes my blood boil every time I hear a friend share incident such as these. A politician comes out and says boys will be boys and that they make mistakes when talking about rapists. The lawyer defending the rapists in the Nirbhaya documentary said that in our culture women are like flowers and need to be protected. That they shouldn't be going out at night. I can list hundreds of such outrageous statements. If we are to change the mentality of people like this, we need to continue advocating for women's rights. For a long period of time women weren't allowed to vote. They weren't allowed to inherit their parents' property. They weren't even allowed to study. They never reported rape or abuse because they were discouraged from doing so. The dowry system existed, and it still exists in a lot of places. Sex-selective abortion was common. It's the courage and bravery of those who were willing to stand up against all these things which has made us live in a much better world albeit not perfect. It's cowardice to let one or two people aggressively pushing for radical changes to make us completely stop fighting for what is right. They're all exceptions and not the rule. 

For centuries women had to deal with these issues as if it were normal and all it takes is one or two false claims for people to be outraged thinking women are taking advantage of the system. I absolutely believe in due process and having proofs for any accusation. Consider domestic violence for instance. There is certainly a possibility that a claim is false but there's a higher probability that it's true. Moreover, think about how difficult it is to have proofs of these things. If you are physically abused by your partner, will your first instinct be to gather evidence? What proof can you possibly show to prove that you got slapped or beaten? If you are mentally or verbally abused, it is nearly impossible to gather evidence. You are extremely traumatized as it is. It takes a lot of courage to even speak up about what you experienced let alone fight a legal battle.

Feminism has actually paved way for victims to receive the help they need and raise awareness to these issues. It has given millions of people courage to speak up about their experiences and genuinely helped them out. Ridiculing it and outright rejecting it completely because of a few bad apples isn't the way to go.