This is something I submitted to Thought Catalog a month back but since they haven't used it, Its still good enough for my blog. I studied English Literature & the course contained a lot of feminist content, which actually made me question modern feminism, rather than convert me. So here goes:
Needless to say, the second sex may have fought a long, hard battle to gain the same rights as men, but every scream of feminism in today's time is just a misunderstood version of the movement. Today, most women's understanding of feminism is only good enough to become the lyrics of a Beyonce song. Actually, I do think that if you haven't suffered the strife of people who kicked off these movements and lived through that struggle, then you can never be a follower. What most people are roaring about can best be categorized as Girl Power rants. We've never had to fight for a right to vote or even drive. Its simple, we just don't live in those times anymore. If you're going to college for education, have openings in a career, then you're there. Everything else that you may face is just a bias. This partiality is often personal and there are possibly many such other biases within a person who discriminates based on gender. Its definitely not a fight.
I'd say women are far more comfortably placed now than men. For women, the careers & the success is as much a convenient decision, as it is a compulsion for our better halves. Women will still be accepted as homemakers, worldwide, but we forget how men are conditioned & expected to be the breadwinners, no matter what. Similarly, whenever a woman exceeds herself in her field, she's lauded as an icon, like its an exceptional success, whereas so many men go unnoticed for their triumphs.
I don't even think that men have come to the realization of how they're conditioned to be the meal-tickets. I can't even imagine how immensely stressful it must be to strive to outdo an entire gender, right? Whether its parents, wives, kids or friends, everyone expects their man to be the Alpha Male. Its also a matter of acceptance. Women are now accepted in every role, unlike men, who still have no choice but to be the heroes.
In times of casualty, all signs read: "Women & Children" first, like a man is legally & socially expected to demonstrate bravery. Sure, its probably chivalrous, but I think that its a bit biased & taken for granted. Maybe a man would put his own woman & children before him, but I'm not even convinced he should throw himself under a bus for hordes of random women. At the end of a hard day's work, if I board the metro & a man gets there before me, why should he vacate the seat just because I'm a woman? We did the same sort of work. If there's an elderly woman or man, or someone who needs a place, then get up, by all means. I'm not delicate enough to not be able to stand in a train for twenty minutes. Its not like we suffocate in 18th century corsets all day. I'll live.
I'm not saying men need to rise up in arms & revolt. They do fine. I just think that women should shut up about women empowerment. I think women in most countries have a fairly good deal & unless you're being beaten or raped or forced to do wage labour, you shouldn't really use the "feminism" anymore, because that's precisely what our ancestors went through before they made their suffrage committees. No girl, don't be strutting in a mall in six-inch heels, talking about equality. Women's lib shouldn't be adopted from Destiny's Child lyrics.
