Feminism: What it is and What it should be!

Feminism is the new cool of today’s generation. Have you ever participated in any feminism campaign? I can blindly say that a vast majority of you are nodding your heads right now! I guess it’s about time that we debunk the meaning of this overhyped word. The first issue addressed by most of the feminists is inequality in terms of placements, finance or in short all matters dealing with economical and political injustice. But why go so high up the ladder when the problem lies at the grass root level?

Most of the Indian families place cooking, laundry, and all other quotidian household chores in the bucket list of the wife - home based or working! The bourgeoisie class may keep maids and attendants but their responsibility too is placed on the lady of the house. So indirectly, it’s the fairer sex who is pushed to handle all the so called ‘homely’ duties. And howsoever much our society may have progressed, this practice is still prevalent in as high as  95% of Indian households. And why shouldn’t it be? Children are taught about these stereotypical roles even before they develop independent thinking. And more so in the Indian family setting. As a result of this, these conventional images are so deeply entrenched in their mind that even the thought of the father/husband cooking and doing laundry seems imponderable to them.

A good bulk of today’s feminists constitute the unmarried class. That results in a cavalier attitude towards these 'micro issues'. The media also targets the juicy, more controversial and debatable concerns to solicit more TRP. So holistically speaking, this whole women empowerment drive has become an ostentatious affair which is being endorsed by the juveniles for economical and personal gain while the core problem silently prevails. What is needed at this point is a educational reform, targeting the young minds and increased participation from the older generation.

The most important concern should be to break the orthodox views about gender stereotypes held by the Indian couples. A good fraction of the older women, let alone men, are still in favour of the patriarchal society and they believe that such a setting is “necessary” for the smooth functioning of the family. Even worse, they attribute it to the Indian culture and then teach the children to uphold their culture. It is these ridiculous, age old concepts that should be attacked.  

If these basic aspects of gender inequality are not resolved, then higher concerns like freedom on attires, marriage and jobs become moot points. Literature books for school level children should replace all gender biased prose and poetry with the ones empowering women and biographies of influential women. We shall, for once and for all, stop these gender stereotypes from being imprinted on their mind. The root of all this discrimination traces back to the pride and arrogance of men. Even though more and more members of the opposite sex are coming up to support the cause, a good fraction of them are still far far away from letting go of their dogma. The most prevalent mentality conjectures men doing household chores as a sign of weakness and self-abasement. Such sinister mentalities are bound to be eradicated for gender equality to take a firm stand amidst the society.

But before addressing the problem with men, the women must be made to realize their self worth and the fact that they did not get married to wash clothes and cook food. That cooking and washing is not an absolute must to get validated as the lady of the house in the eyes of the society. The few iconoclasts who have managed to thrive under all the criticisms and societal condemnation must be empowered and provided with resources to emancipate the others who are still tied by the clutches of tradition (?). They must then encourage and urge their husbands to do their fair share of household chores. And we must, for once and for all, stop referring to women as the weaker sex.

Let’s take a pledge to free the next generation from the curse of gender inequality and start taking steps to eradicate this disease ourselves rather than waiting for a visionary to start a revolution. After all, this is not something that can happen overnight. 

I am taking part in the #ShareTheLoad Challenge with Ariel and Aksharaat BlogAdda.