What Feminism means to me
For women so that they know they are not alone and for men because they should know
Let me tell you by beginning with what makes my mother the most happy, it is the picture of me getting married to a suitable boy. An educated, cultured, non-drinking, non- smoking, rich guy who will take care of me nicely (her words, not mine). Yes, you heard me right and I see your cocked eyebrow. But unfortunately, that is how it is done in the southernmost state of India (I may even go ahead and say the majority of India), also nick named as the God’s own country, Kerala.
While Kerala boasts of its famous regent queens who managed to make their mark even in twentieth century English Literature, the daily life of the common crowd in the twenty first century is quite contradictory.
While the rich and wealthy can afford to spend their money on education and marriage, the majority of the middle class ends up prioritizing their daughter’s marriage over her education. When I look around, I see women living under the shadow of patriarchy under the false pretense of words like protection and security. I see the women of my former generation who must have undergone severe trauma and repression that they end up repeating the cycle with their daughters. Though technology has advanced, freedom of expression more alive than ever, actual freedom to do what you want without being frowned upon or judged is rare to achieve.
I am talking about a system which breeds and nurtures male privilege while women are made to go great lengths to get the simplest of things. A system where a girl child is made to do house chores, only because she is a female, an environment where she is not allowed to get out of the house after seven because it is not safe. All the excuses made under the name of a pseudo good cause, that is, to be a good loving wife or to not get raped.
While freedom and equality are the fundamentals of any revolution there is another side to this, the toxic presence of pseudo feminism which threatens to destroy whatever progress the real struggle has made. Feminism to me is an ever-present struggle where I constantly fight patriarchy. While Patriarchy favors all things men, feminism broadens the spectrum to all. It is genderless.
