Sunday, August 12, 2007

Feminists –Anti –women really!



A line in one of my favourite woman’s magazine saddened me. Woman’s mags, as u know, are mostly run by women editors, caters to the modern woman and contains explicit feminist content. I loved them, though not always agreed with them.


This particular write up that caught my attention was on women giving birth out of wedlock. Now conceiving illegitimate children are looked down with disgrace in most parts of the world. So I would have been glad had the magazine voiced against singling out the female parent and crucifying her when the male parent goes scot-free. But the magazine’s concerns are that though the child can claim maintenance from the father, the mother has no such provision. Excuse me, why would the mother claim such a provision? ( I know there are similar provisions pertaining to marriage laws, but when you are not bound by marriage, you can claim none).


You can only say one of the two – either that women are on par with men and should be meted out with equal treatment OR that women are indeed the weaker sex and hence need special treatment. You really can’t have the best of both worlds. Though the father is also responsible for the upbringing of the child, why would he provide for the mother who is an adult herself and ‘equal’ to the father? Doesn’t such a demand clearly state that women are weaker? Now do I sound anti-women ? Well.. I can be a feminist of the fiercest kind. I think all women should be. But double standards of pseudo –feminists don’t work with me


Pseudo -feminists are best seen during beauty pageants, when they are at the forefront shouting slogans, protesting against the exploitation of women. Hello feminists! Who is exploiting women here? Have you ever heard of beauty queens who had to bare it all at gun point? When a bunch of women strip to their inner garments to parade on stage for instant recognition, fame, money and glamour, it really isn’t exploitation, it’s celebration time for them! . Probably a celebration you cant be part of. But you won’t let it go so easily, would you? You attach yourself to it in every possible way so that u get a small share of the fame and media space. Now, why do you protest only against the the Ms World’s and Miss India’s and not Mr. World’s and Mr India’s? Ah! Sorry. I forgot that you don’t care about men’s rights or the exploitation of men. But what u do at the end of the day is let men do what they want to do, and protest when women do the same thing, just because they are women. Isn’t this the biggest discrimination against women?


Sometimes I wonder whether I have a distorted feministic view. I see buses with seats reserved exclusively for women (at least in that part of the country where I live). And though I’m glad that I have to fight it out with fewer people for the reserved seats, something inside me detests it.. (But I don’t listen to my inner voice always; I can do it at more convenient occasions. Gee!). Come on! Its not that women don’t have the strength to endure a half an hour’s journey. Why are efforts always being made to convey that we are weaker and hence should be pitied upon ?


Similarly, whenever Iam at the receiving end of a sometimes-genuine-but mostly- pretentious chivalrous act , I am more embarrassed than impressed. (well.. I’m generally touched, yet resist it) I can open doors, carry bags , pull chairs, travel alone and spend money too! Don’t give me special attention. Because I’m neither special nor weak. I just believe I’m equal, though in a rather different way. So doesn’t this make me a feminist - as I said before - of the fiercest and maybe the wierdest kind?. But we cant really have it that easy, fellow beings. Don’t we always say we are tough too? So prove it!

12 comments:

accidental diva said...

well this is on unresolved issue...n I think we women are partially responsible for it.
we call men MCP's if they dont act chivilrous n in the same breath fight for equality!!:):)oh well...

Loved the way u write..n thanx for dropping by my blog.
Oh ya I am a libran..are u one too?

Pointblank said...

@ accidental
YUP.. me a Libran too.. Ur about me a description of atypical libran... so i guessed..

Anonymous said...

An anti-feminist! Go girl, change the world around :D

Pointblank said...

@ pravin
Thanks for stopping by. But looks like uve got it all wrong. I'm afeminist alrite. But i just got my perspectives right.

diyadear said...

hey gal,
those were some real strong points put up with zeal and zest. ur true.. its such a confused subject. i wonder y there shud be sumthing called feminism at all??

Pointblank said...

@diyadear

We need smthg called feminism cuz women in most sections of the society r discriminated against. We vouch by equal treatment of the sexes. But we cant demand equal treatment n special treatment at the same breath, however appealing the specila treatment sounds like.

Ajai said...

Bravo! It's for the first time i've read what i really wanted to read from a feminist. as a society we put the burden of morals on women and thus we are never equal partners in life. i think it is important that a man recognizes where he stands in society, what his responsibilities are and that he respects the rights of women. but increasingly we are seeing that women themselves are caught in a moral quandrum that is so male dominated. the more women realize this the better.

mimo said...

HI,
Good attempt

Macabreday said...

hhmm....i liked your blog..and im going to go ahead and blogroll you.. hope you dont mind :)

Pointblank said...

@ ajai
very well said.

@ mimo
Thanks

@ mac

Pls go ahead. I'm glad u liked my blog

Little Miss Muffet said...

pretty good points u put up there...but u know what, i like it when men open doors for me..not coz i can't do it myself, but coz it shows me that they have been brought up well and know how to respect a woman...i'm not saying we need things done for us...we women are more than capable of doing everything we want...but sometimes if men want to do things for us, it's not just pretence, it's coz they appreciate us :)

Pointblank said...

@ little

Lol! Then y dont men expect well-brought up women to open doors for them. Dont u think its a lil unfair? Then, this post is not bout men. Its bout women who say they r equally strong, but act otherwise.. anyways, thanks for commenting.