The recent ‘female blackout’ on social media was supposed to be ‘a movement to show what the world might be like without women’. Makes sense?
A post was doing the rounds on Social Media (SM) a couple of days back. It called for a ‘female blackout’. It was supposed to be ‘a movement to show what the world might be like without women’.
This entailed changing your SM profile photo to ‘a black square’. Apparently, this would make ‘men wonder where the women are’. It called itself ‘a project against women abuse’.
Ho hum! After that context setting, here begins my rant. ‘Female blackout’ you say? The women’s rights movement began in 1848. For the last 170 years, women across the world have been trying to get themselves to be seen and heard. Women before us have fought hard to move closer to something like an equal world. And, in one fell swoop, this ‘female blackout’ movement intends to undo what has been achieved. By participating in this movement (which, I have a nagging feeling, must have been designed by a man), you have done a disservice to the decades of struggle. No, my dear girls, making ourselves disappear is not going to solve our problems. Instead, it gives misogynists more to gloat about – that they managed to put us in our place – not to be seen or heard.
You say you will show what the world can be without women. I am sorry but when did SM become an accurate representation of the real world? Just by changing a profile photo, you claim to disappear from the world. If you really want to, leave your homes, offices and mobile phones behind for a day and go incommunicado. That is true disappearance. But, then too, apart from your family, a few friends, and maybe your boss, no one else will miss you. I am sorry to burst your bubble.
If you had said, “Let’s change our profile photo to a black square to show our support for abuse victims”, I may still have understood. Symbolic like the black armband; sure, I get that. But this whole logic of making ‘men wonder where the women are’ escapes me. So, did you, on the blackout day, not show your face to any man, or not even speak to even one of them? I can bet you happily interacted with the men who matter to you. So, then, who are these men who you wanted to wonder at your disappearance? Do I sound confused? You bet, for I am!
I wish ridding the world of abuse (of any kind) was this simple. Speaking about gender-based abuse specifically, what you needed to do, instead of this pointless blackout, was to make the men and women in your lives more aware of what abuse can be. It need not be physical/sexual always. Mental, spiritual, emotional, financial – you name it. You needed to step up at your workplace and call out those sexist remarks. You needed to stop your elders from making patriarchal comments. You needed to help your household help file a police complaint against her wife-bashing husband. You needed to tell the young ones around you that there is nothing called ‘like a girl’.
My heart goes out to all the victims of abuse but it also makes me more determined to not accept tokenisms of feminism or protests. I would, rather, create, in my own small way, a world where women do not have to hold onto their horses.
Image via Unsplash
There is so much about me. Foodie. Introvert. Opinionated. Photogenic. Pragmatic. Receptive. Walker. Worrier. Blogger. Mother’s confidante. Voracious reader. Winter lover. Travel blogger. Father’s best friend. Husband’s soul mate. Daughter, wife, sister, read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, indivisual posts do not necessarily represent the platofrom's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Falling in love, marriage, a hidden secret, divorce. Despite all this, Vinita noticed her life was full of love that came in various unexpected shades!
“Aap jinke kareeb hotey hain, woh badey kush naseeb hotey hain…”
Just as Vinita was settling down into the cab seat, the driver put on music and the song started to play. It took her back immediately to that evening ten years ago, when Gautam had sung that very same song to her on the first evening they had met. She could remember every single detail of that evening so very clearly.
Neena Gupta shares her terrifying childhood experiences of being molested - like most assault survivors who often go to great measures to minimise these incidents by remaining silent, she was scared to tell her parents.
Neena Gupta shares her terrifying childhood experiences of being molested – like most assault survivors who often go to great measures to minimise these incidents by remaining silent, she was scared to tell her parents.
Trigger warning: This deals with child sexual abuse and may be triggering for survivors.
Thanks to a friend, I landed up at Conversations with History where distinguished men and women from all over the world talked about their life and work. When I searched for women in this group, I came across Ruth Rosen, a historian who has written this book, The World Split Open; How the Modern Women s Movement Changed America which explores how American political culture shaped contemporary feminism, and how the women s movement in turn altered American political culture, public policy and society.
I have not read her book, but found her interview interesting. She takes us through the history of the women’s movement in America. From this one hour interview, I found two points, particularly interesting. She speaks about how, before the sixties, even words like “domestic violence” and “sexual harassment” did not exist and therefore how these things were often considered as normal. In my work, I have the opportunity of working with an NGO working in the area of women’s empowerment, especially in rural areas. One of the first things to do was to help women “identify violence” in their lives. Ruth Rosen’s interview just validates it further for me.
From making ourselves small to finally taking charge of our lives, women have come a long way. Here's to women finally claiming it's their world too!
From making ourselves small to finally taking charge of our lives, women have come a long way. Here’s to women finally claiming it’s their world too!
I have been reading a lot about how women have been making mark in the ‘man’s world.’ And I do understand the feeling behind that thought. As women, we constantly need to prove ourselves in any situation or field we step in- especially if it is dominated by men.