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We have a certain perception of what it means to be a feminist, and we think that anyone who falls outside that is a 'bad feminist'. Here's busting a few myths about this.
We have a certain perception of what it means to be a feminist, and we think that anyone who falls outside that is a ‘bad feminist’. Here’s busting a few myths about this.
“Feminism is not a dirty word. It does not mean you hate men. It does not mean you hate girls that have nice legs and a tan, and it does not mean you are a bitch or a dyke, it means you believe in equality.” – Kate Nash
So a fellow feminist is trying to teach you all about feminism correctly. Let me clarify it right now: feminism believes in gender equality. That’s it. There is no such thing like a good feminist or bad feminist.
There are some things, however, that people consider as ‘not being a feminist’, or being a ‘bad feminist’, if these are a part of your life, your self. I fail to understand how. Let me elaborate.
Listen, I am a feminist, and I lead my life the way I want. That includes this. Each weekend I make a trip to the salon for grooming, and I enjoy the sessions.
Being a feminist doesn’t mean you stop wearing make-up. Again there is no compulsion that one must have short, funky hair, colored eyelashes, and must wear a makeup to be a feminist. Feminists, like other people, are free to do what their heart says.
Hello, do you have a problem if I shave off my body hair? How come society combines shaving/not shaving body hair with being/ not being a feminist?
My body my choice. I am free to do what I like, and yes I believe in equality. You heard me loud and clear. What angers a feminist? It’s gender bias, it and certainly has nothing to do with my choice of what I do with my body hair.
Women can also enjoy their single status but single life can be lonely. So it’s more than acceptable to go ahead and look for a partner.
Feminism is not about hating a man, but about being against gender inequality. So you are not a bad feminist if you date or want to be in a relationship. You are free to get married and start your own family. It doesn’t make you a bad feminist.
So you think it infuriates a feminist when we get down to cooking, cleaning, washing, or in better words domestic chores? Who has ever told you that? Ill treatment, discrimination, and tyranny are the problem, and doing your own domestic chores definitely doesn’t fall in the list, unless the expectation is that you do everything in the house and no one else shares in it.
If you cannot stand dirt go ahead and clean your room. That will not make you less of a feminist but it is your choice of how you want to lead a life. Domestic chores are often seen as a women’s job, and that is again the society’s misconception and underrating certain categories of work. Don’t ever take that statement as truth.
As I said it’s your life and your choice. Deal with it. I am a career woman and I also call myself a feminist but I also love to roast a chicken and enjoy a hearty meal with my daughter.
Our society has a problem with everything. Now if a woman doesn’t want to work and wants to be a stay at home mom, then we label them as lazy, un ambitious and bad feminists.
Feminism has nothing to do with working or not working. Staying at home and taking care of everything and everyone can really be taxing, so don’t discount their work at home.
Over the years we have set certain standards as a ‘measuring parameter’ to what we call feminism. But as I said feminism only believes in gender equality and freedom to make choices for oneself. Feminism strives to make the world a better place to live in irrespective of all genders so don’t ever fall prey to the above misconceptions.
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Rimli Bhattacharya is a First class gold medalist in Mechanical Engineering from National Institute of Technology, an MBA in supply chain management and is engaged with a corporate sector. Her essay in the anthology “Book read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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