Category: Pakistani Newspapers

What is Feminism?

Feminism is a literary movement of struggle, which endorses the set of ideologies and conviction systems. Feminists assert the equality between both sexes and the emancipation of oppressed women as an equal to men. The word ‘feminism’ can be a daunting and confusing word to some. Many people believe that feminism means hating men or wanting women to rule over everything– this could not be supplementary from the accuracy comas! Feminism simply means believing that men and women are equal, neither is better than the other and neither should be treated with more respect than the other – everyone should be equal on all levels, simple as that.

Why is Feminism important?

Feminism allows equal opportunities for both sexes. Gender roles (a set of conforming rules that say how a person should behave based on their gender) can be destructive to both men and women. The trendy belief is that women and girls are supposed to take care of the home while boys and men are meant to go out and supply for the family. Can you imagine not being allowed to go to school just because you’re a girl? Or being forced to stay at home and look after the house just because you’re a woman? This is the reality that many girls around the world face, even in this modern and urbanized era. Girls are not sent to school just because they are females and are not allowed to sustain the same rights and conveniences that boys hold. This implies the ideology of Patriarchy, means that women are innately inferior to men.

Even today when a woman gets pregnant, people anticipate and hope that it’s a baby boy. No one feels cheerfulness and joy on the birth of a baby girl. These are not biological but rather societal constructs. Feminists don’t deny the biological differences between men and women; but they don’t agree that how such differences as physical size, shape and body chemistry make men naturally superior to women.

What factors makes women inferior and submissive to men.

There are abundant factors which chip in to the inferiority and sedition of women in our society, but the foremost grounds are their women themselves have constructed their personalities as acquiescent and dependant on men. They have come to accept that they are good for nothing and therefore men have to look after them, be it their fathers, brothers or husbands. Submissive women their whole lives at first make themselves dependant on their fathers and then later in life on their husbands. They don’t even know the meaning of free sense of self, or how will it like to be free woman. Their personalities from the very start are skilfully constructed and they have been taught to internalize the societal norms. They have to deliver what society expects from them.

• Effect of media:

Our media sadly is also showing the societal expectations from women, and under many circumstances they are oppressed to keep their mouths shut, no matter of how much pain she must be going through. Failures are expected from women, they’ll say: She couldn’t do it because she is a woman.

“Because I am a woman, I must make unusual effort to succeed. If I fail no one will say, “She doesn’t have what it take” in fact they’ll say, “A woman doesn’t have what it takes”.

Clare Bothe Luce.

On the other hand, Men are not permitted to fail at anything, because failure in any domain implies failure in one’s manhood.

To make this observable fact more lifelike, take the example of Disney’s renowned story Cinderella. It has been scrutinized that childhood stories like these make the young girls to live in the world of imagination and dystopia, because it equates femininity with submission, encouraging women to stomach abuse. Like Cinderella waits uncomplainingly for a man to come and rescue her, and view marriage as the only reward for “right” deportment. The character of Prince Charming which requires men to be wealthy rescuers of the poor beautiful girls is responsible to make their women happy.

          “Women’s chains are forged my men, not by anatomy”

Jane Fonda.

The singular rationale of women now is to get married; they don’t try to build their career because at the end they thought it is of no use since they’ll get married someday. After marriage the purpose of women shifted to their husbands. They try so hard to please their husbands and other people sometimes out of inevitability, that they forget their own self-esteem and reverence, whereas men never make women their sole spotlight, he has millions of other things to worry about. He always spends most of his time working and earning money, because it is his responsibility alone. Women’s soaring education (if she gets any) becomes useless after marriage if she doesn’t put it out practically.

It is only women who are told to make sacrifices and compromises, and in doing so they often settle for less then they warrant. Women have to be of specific age, colour and background to get a perfect match, while no such margins apply to men.

“Man endures pain as an underserved punishment, while women accepts it as a natural heritage”

Anonymous

Solution to the problems:

Well, I am not saying that all women in our society are oppressed and not enjoying equal right as men does, but rather some are. Some husbands are that much supportive that they not only let their wives to do jobs, but they also fight for their feminist rights, and very evidence itself proves that Feminism is not gender biased. It is an ideology. It is a belief system which works for some people and not others. If a man is doing a job, then a woman also could. If a man is an educated doctor than a woman can also achieve that. If a man rides a motorcycle than a woman can also do so. Nothing in this world is gender biased, it is us, this society and our slender minded thinking that has made the matters that much complicated.

A woman should work, not because out of the need for money, but rather to keep herself busy and to focus her mind other than domestic issues. But nothing should be imposed on anyone, if she wants to, than she should do whatever she wants because no society and nation as a whole can progress without their women participating in every field of life.

Gender should not be the hindrance in success.