If you are a person who can’t stand anything against your gender owing to the false fact that you consider yourself a feminist, you need a reality check. Every self-sufficient person understands the difference between a feminist and a pseudo-feminist. They know that being informed is important than being offended. Such people make the real difference in the world.
As much as we like to believe in gender equality, we all know that even after years of fighting to attain woman rights, we still have a long way to go. Yet, that doesn’t allow us to blame everything on the other gender. People who understand the power of being an individual who stands in the support of whoever is on the right side, irrespective of their gender are the true feminists.
The recent years may have changed the meaning of the word feminism for the world as there are many who take a pleasure in male bashing, allow their mouth to shower the words that make no sense yet they claim to support women with their life. Such people are ruining the meaning of the word for many uninformed women and putting the real feminists into shame.
Yes, we need feminists, we need to change certain sections of society that still need to change for women and yes, we need to achieve equality. But remember we said equality. We here are not looking for an upper hand in the world as some of us really like to consider ourselves a self-sufficient individual. We know it’s a world of both men and women, we know the power of our words and opinion and moreover, we know that blabbering about nonsense things doesn’t make sense.
Such people choose to keep their minds open and consume as much knowledge as they can. So, to all minds who believe that feminism is only about the welfare of women. To all who has the basic concept messed up in their minds, here are some must read books that will clear the air and help you understand what the word “Feminism” truly stands for.
1. Feminism Is For Everybody: Passionate Politics by Bell Hooks
2. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3. Lean In: Women, Work, And The Will To Lead by Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell
4. Seeing Like A Feminist by Nivedita Menon
5. Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit
6. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
7. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
Go on and read them before you start advertising yourself as a feminist. We are sure the concept will have you mind-blown.
8 November 2017
Avni S. Singh