Skip to main content

My Two Cents On Feminism

Image Source

Over the past few weeks a lot has been said and done in the name of feminism, that is so not right. I am a proud feminist and will be one until the day I die. But that doesn't mean that I am into male bashing and fight over petty issues. First of all it is sad that we live in a world where feminism is a bad word. The chauvinistic world of ours made it feel so. Had the people of the world not been so chauvinistic, then feminism would have been just another word. Now that feminism is a word that everybody knows about, it is very important to understand the meaning of it. Feminism is about equality. Between men and women. Nothing else. Period.

Speaking of period, when this in-appropriate pic was doing the rounds on Instagram, many women came forward with applause as to what a brave move it was. I honestly was disgusted by that image. Why do you think that I have only provided a link to that image here and not put it up instead? Menstruation is a normal process and everybody who has had a class in biology is aware of it. I do agree that some women are treated worse than shit while they are on their period by being considered impure, given a different plate to eat and so on. And yet this doesn't justify the picture. A period stain is a girl's worst enemy because she doesn't want anyone to know about her period. Why? Not because it is impure or something, because it is something as natural as breathing or having sex. So do we put up pictures of people having sex or masturbating to prove a point now?

Awareness about menstruation is necessary and is very vital. But this is not the approach for it. It is not only the men who need to be educated about it, it is the women too. More often than not it is the women who puts the rules and conditions on the girl. And all in the name of God. It is utter nonsense. Having been a victim of it myself I shall stand up to have this mentality changed. Some people will remain as stubborn and ignorant as ever and we cannot do anything about it. There are a few who will atleast try to listen. They need to be educated about why menstruation happens and why it not a big deal at all. And this will not happen by showing pictures of how periods happen. Everyone is aware of how it happens and where the blood flows from. Why it happens is what people need to understand. Only then will they understand that it is a sign of good health and nothing to do with purity or evil.


And then came this #VogueEmpower video. I am sure everyone has seen it. I had not heard about it until I logged into Facebook last night. My whole timeline was filled with the shares of this video where people were applauding Deepika Padukone like never before. #MyChoice was smeared all over the page and I did not understand what the fuss was all about. And then I saw the video. You know what my takeaway from the video was? That Deepika has lovely hair and looks gorgeous. Nothing more nothing less. Nothing that was spoken in the video made sense to me. We saw a bevy of women appear on the video for brief seconds, but I wonder if they knew what they were doing in the video. The video has nothing to do about women empowerment. All it did for me was to find out which shampoo Deepika uses.

From depression to empowerment, Deepika Padukone is turning out to be the next Aamir Khan when it comes to social issues. As much as I applaud her for her strength and courage to come out and talk about depression, I am left wondering as to why she agreed to be a part of a video like this. Her best friend and director Homi Adajania has directed this video for his wife Anaitha Shroff Adajania's magazine Vogue, which doesn't surprise me as to why she is a part of it. When she agreed to do 'Finding Fanny' just for his sake, then this small video would mean nothing at all. But the message the video is supposed to convey surprises me. When the number of times the words 'My Choice' was repeated, all I wanted to ask was "Who told you it is not your choice in the first place?".

I agree about a few choices that she speaks about in the video. I agree to the choice to have sex before marriage. I agree to the choice to love a man or a woman or both. I agree to the choice to have a baby or not. But what was all about the choice to have sex outside marriage? Of all the women, Deepika should not be the one talking about it. She was the one who chose a public platform to talk about her ex Ranbir Kapoor's infidelity. The whole world sympathised with her for being the victim and soon the man was given the image of a play boy who cannot keep it in his pants. And now we have the same lady talking about her choice to have sex outside marriage, when her relationship with the playboy was not bound by commitment at all. Why taint his name in public, if you were to come up with something like this one day? If you have the choice to love temporarily and lust forever, so does he.

I love Deepika as an actress and as a person for the success that she has achieved based on her hard work. I do not know if she did this video to promote her upcoming movie 'Piku' where she plays a daughter who takes care of her father single handedly. Maybe, this is how she decided to show empowerment.

Image Source - Sadly, this is what we seem to be preaching.

Such videos and images only scream out for attention and does nothing else. #MyChoice applies to a man as much as it applies to a woman. This video just negates the possibility of the existence of a man. "You are my choice. I'm not your privilege"; this applies to the men as well. Why are we letting the man take blame for almost everything that is happening. The society including a certain number of women are to blame here for giving the man his special rights and ignoring the woman. But now, times have changed and the woman has begun fighting for herself. Not by pushing the man underneath, but by trying to reach higher just by herself or with the support of the man. Equality means that. Co-existence. In equality there are no special privileges or reservations for the women. In equality there is no screaming out for choice. Its your choice. Make it. Why do you need a point to prove it?

There are apparently 99 women in the video. Believe me, I was too bored to count. But I saw the whole video. I did not understand the snowflake bit, nor the bindi being the ornament bit. Being 'Infinite in every direction' made me want to laugh. First of all the meaning of infinite needs to be cleared out. And next, a man is infinite in his own ways too. If feminists like these go on preaching about their choices then soon men will have no meaning in our lives. A woman needs a man as much as a man needs a woman. Be it for companionship, love, sex or anything else. A woman is not expected to be seated at home, pregnant in the kitchen. Nor is a woman expected to be put on a pedestal and worshiped. A woman should live the way she wants to, just like the way a man should. No questions asked.

The world was just getting used to the word feminism when a new word was put across. Feminazis.

And why do I get the feeling that this is not the end?

Comments

  1. Bravo!! This is what I have been trying to say on facebook at random threads and attracting the hatred of many random girls. I loved reading your post and thoroughly agree with your views here. It's sad that most of the women fighting for feminism don't even understand the meaning of the term.
    Coming from a woman, I feel there is still some hope left.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What is more sad is women just want to fight, without knowing what exactly are they fighting for. Its sad.

      I hope the women who are like me come out and voice their opinions too.

      Delete
  2. Brilliant...I checked out the image you linked to and like you was disgusted. UGH...no one wants to see that. It is part of life but doesn't need to broadcast for the world to see. That lady would be mortified to even know a picture of her like that was out there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. It disgusts me to even think of it.

      Delete
  3. Applause applause...it is because of such meaningless videos that the misconception "Feminist=Bitch/Male Bashing specialist" get reinforced. "My choice" applies to men too. And feminism has a lot to do with education of girl child, equal opportunities etc which were completely missing in the video. And regarding the Picture of a woman menstruating, well I don't know what to say..if it is something normal, then why highlight it so much? It is no different from what some cultures do, like making women sit separately, letting the whole world know of something so private.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your opinion Vidya. I'm glad there are women like you :)

      Delete
  4. This is cool...this is kinda my idea about feminism too. I dint even bother to watch Deepika's video ...I just know she has done some hair swaying. Deepika looks and behaves like she is a shallow person with no real opinion of hers. However she is the best when it comes to being a fashionista. :-) Had this been a ramp walk video of hers, I'd be the first one to watch !

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes! Thanks to you, more people will know what exactly feminism is. I felt the same word to word when I saw the video. It was just another advertising campaign. The monologue should have been more generic and pointed towards everyone irrespective of gender. A us vs them portrayal could be seen in many of those words. Feminism is about equality, when infidelity is a choice for women it is as much a choice for men too. But this ad focused on the women part of it alone. That's what made it cross the line.

    I liked the Maduri Dixit Ad better for this purpose. It focused on a specific part of it and address the same - Domestic Violence. If Deepika's ad was about women's choices and the societal blocked mindset, they could have done a better job. Anyway, there's been enough said and done about this ad, it's everyone's choices to voice their opinions or move on as if nothing happened. And yes, this is just the beginning. Brands have identified feminism as a top marketing trick and have just started milking it. If we think back, we can see how many posts we ourselves have written as part of campaigns that go along the lines of feminism. That tells us what's happening!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am yet to see the Madhuri Dixit ad. I'm off to look for it now. Thanks for sharing your opinion Kay!

      Delete
  6. And the instagram photo, my god! It's so disgusting that I can't even get the right words. When did proving a point become this desperate and aren't there better and decent ways to prove a point? If a guy posted a pic of himself masturbating claiming that it's choice, would it get the same approval? Sigh! What's the world turning into?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know. I hope it stops at that. But I have a feeling it won't.

      Delete
  7. All I could think of while watching this video, while reading the rebuttals for this video, reading the rebuttals against the rebuttals against the video was, "Shit!! So much free publicity for Vogue. Increase in sales, increase in revenue and profits. They're gonna make shitloads of money." I know that Vogue doesn't give a rat's ass about women empowerment. Hell, they thrive on making women feel low and insecure about themselves. But they certainly are enjoying this.

    Also there was this another campaign called 'Free the nipple'. I mean, whaaat?!? :D

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Just like me, say what you feel. While constructive criticism is welcome, please keep it subtle and kind. Thank you!