FEMINISM, At the beginning of civilizations around the world, human beings deserved respect solely due to their existence. With the passage of time and the division of labour, respect and rights started becoming gender-specific and the majority of the cultures and societies around the globe accepted patriarchy (with a few exceptions). Thus men, mostly due to their physical FEMINISM strength and control over finances, became the controller of women, their life, and destiny. Thus in the majority of the societies, the social rules are created to suit men, glorify masculinity and degrade femininity.
These were the circumstances that paved the way to feminism- a range of socio-political movements that upheld the equality of genders and demanded natural respect and rights for women.
COMMON ATTITUDE TOWARDS FEMINISM
“Why are all the ugly girls feminists…”
Not at all a hypothetical idea; this is a statement given on social media as sarcasm of feminism by an Indian male. This is also a statement that points out the need for feminism.
The idea of feminism was never accepted well in any part of the world, the sole reason being toxic masculinity and the idea of male superiority that has been enforced since ages. After all, who wants to give up on privileges?
Thus feminism is current an ideology aimed at removing the well-accepted idea of masculine domination over the society. This has spread around the globe and with the advancement of education, more and more people from all three genders are supporting and strengthening feminism, but feminists have a long way to go.
FOURTH-WAVE FEMINISM
This is a phase of feminism that focused on the empowerment of women by the use of internet tools. This started at around 2012 with a major concentration on justice against harassment and assault, equal pay and bodily autonomy. The fourth wave feminists took up social media as a means of protests and as a convenient way to ignore the socio-cultural barriers faced by the early feminists.
The task of establishing that being a feminist is just being logical and not ‘anti-men’ is a mammoth one and that’s the reason there have been several movements upholding the cause of women that have crossed international borders.
#MeToo- This was an international movement against sexual harassment of women. This movement encouraged the victims to open up and post about the oppressor or the assault on social media with #MeToo. This was done to establish the magnitude of the problem and bring out the fact that irrespective of colour, educational or economic status, dress and culture, women all around the world have faced sexual oppression in some form.
SOCIO-POLITICAL STRUCTURES AND FEMINISM
It’s not difficult to conclude that feminism can only be successful with educational advancement. Progressive cultures are more open to the cause of women because educated people cannot be easily misguided in the name of religion, culture and rituals. Thus truly democratic and socialist nations are the countries that support and uphold feminism.
RELIGION AND FEMINISM
Misinterpretation of religion and rituals are the prime enemies of feminism. The general public are misguided by religious leaders preaching religion according to their own understanding and wishes, mostly against the liberty of women. Thus the twisted form of religion is a primary cause of concern.
No matter how strong the public dissent, feminism is always supported by right education, practicality and logic- the strongest weapons of mankind.
