Till a few minutes back I was chatting with an old friend about issues in and around India. We talked about religion, castism, beef, south vs north vs north-east tension, feminism, etc. He did not have a good opinion about feminism. His dislike of feminism revolved around a few key points. Since most of the points he mentioned are commonly used as a reason to hate feminism, I thought it might be a good idea to write about it.
Following are his points and my rebuttal
- Feminists hate men
I see a few problems here. To start with, not all feminists hate men. Secondly, feminism is an idea that is bigger than individuals. So, even if ALL feminists hated men, it wouldn’t still change the fact that feminism is about equality.
- We already have equal rights in India
This is the easiest point to tackle. Women face discrimination on a daily basis. My sister, who is well educated, much smarter than me, confident, face it. Who cooks in your house? Who eats last? Who is considered the ‘head’ of the house? The fact that I can guess the answers to these questions with very good precision is an indication that there is something wrong. If we see discrimination so frequently, imagine the life of a woman in a remote village in India. In a big city like Pune, I have seen an autorickshaw driver beating their wife on the road while no one bothered to help her. I had to call the police to stop the violence only to almost be beaten up by a mob.
- Feminism creates an environment where women can always play the victim card and trap men
I think there are bad apples in all genders. So, we cannot say, just because there are a few bad women we shouldn’t support feminism altogether. Most terrorists are men, but that doesn’t mean that we should take away their right to roam around freely.
- Men can’t be feminist
I was part of a not-for-profit where I used to fight for the right to education for kids in India. If I can do this, I believe I can also fight for women’s right and you can too.
