Feminism! An eight lettered word originally from the Latin word fēminīnus, from fēmina.
It has successfully found its way as one of the most controversial topics and movements on the planet: the fact that it comes with so much opinions, emotions, thoughts and chaos makes it almost impossible to tell what is and isn’t true about this topic.
Some people think feminism to be tyranny, some say it’s cluelessness, few others think of it as rebellion, extremity, an excuse for disrespect and an abuse of rights and freedom et cetera.
Maybe they are right, maybe they are not, they probably have justifications to their claims and opinions but what exactly is feminism and why does it have so much drama attached to it?
So, Feminism is basically a movement that advocates for gender equality and the rights of females.
It’s main objectives are to create awareness on the rights of women, their abilities and capabilities, to serve as voices to speak up for oppressed, abused and voiceless women.
Feminism also empower women to be financially stable enough to keep their homes running irrespective of the presence or capability of the male figure.
Female education and involvement in certain activities, handling certain responsibilities and playing vital roles both in the family and society became a norm with feminism, amazing!
A Male or Female that advocates for gender equality and defends the right of females is called a feminist. That’s it, that is feminism.
So why on earth do people have offensive opinions about feminism? I mean, there’s actually nothing offensive about anything above and apparently not all offended or irritated persons are guilty of either abusing or oppressing the female gender.
So is feminism really extremity? Bullying And all? What exactly is wrong with feminism? Why does it seem threatening? Let’s see…
Beyond being a feminist with a fine skin tone, head turning curves, awesome facial looks, nice clothes and accessories, flawless academic achievements, Good job or source of income lies feminism’s greatest strength “Femininity”.
Femininity is possessing the sum of all attributes that are feminine or convey womanhood.
Being Feminine, implies having the qualities stereotypically associated with women: nurturing, not aggressive: To nurture is to bring up, to educate, to nourish, to nurse, to cherish, to support, to foster, to comfort, to encourage et cetera.
In my opinion, the core of feminism is: to nurture. bring up the young generation to understand core values and morals, educate the young and old on how things ought to be, nourish the mentally, morally and academically malnourished.
Feminism is beyond an accent and legal knowledge, it is beyond sympathy , desire for vengeance and display of rights and power. It is love, empathy, desire to make the world a place good enough for the young generation.
The lesser the femininity, the lesser our victories. The difficulty to maintain a ladylike carriage in the midst of so much brutality cannot be over emphasised and I can tell how hard it is to nurture the same species that hurt you, but lying in wait for them to fall and be devoured isn’t the best.
We spend time and resources building up the female gender only to let her out to be destroyed by the ones you built her against.
She can never avoid him, he shows up somehow, somewhere and sometime in her life and it’s not justifiable but how will he not get irritated enough to hit her when all he has is a First Class degree which has not been able to get him a job nor opportunities to be a man?
Yet she nags him every single night or disrespect him (because she’s been built and it’s too good for him) till he gets too fed up and… It’s domestic violence alert.
He was told to always be in control, be a man and the only examples he saw was a dad who did the same but negatively; no one was there to show him how to do it right, now he’s a dad.
Feminism gives all the time and attention on her but he is ignored even from childhood and he finds solace with the drug addict and all his inspirational and profitless motivational talks.
Few years down the line, he’s a drug addict himself, probably a cultist and rapist too and definitely a nuisance to the society. Feminism can do better than send shivers down the spine of everyone who hears of her.
Feminism can help curb social vices even before a female gets affected and not necessarily through brutality.
Feminism and feminists can prevent him from being sent to jail, teach him never to lay a finger on her even before he’s old enough to have to, teach him how to be responsible for his actions and family, teach him how to respect her and love her, prevent her from being misunderstood, teach him to be a king and teach her to be a queen that seats on her own throne and feels worthy and blessed with or without a king.
All these and more can be done with out any need for aggression and brutality.
In my childhood days, I read the story of a woman who showered a lion with so much love just to get an opportunity to pluck his whiskers which would be used to cure her loved one.
Anyone would first think on how to kill the lion and get those whiskers but violence is not always an option. Feminism is Womanhood: the state of being a woman.
Woman: adult female, an “adult” is a fully grown human, feminism requires a degree of maturity. Say no to unnecessary social media posts and conversations, say no to bullying, say no to annihilation, say no to disrespecting others all under the cover of being a feminist.
Real Feminism and feminists always teach: Maintain a ladylike carriage, never take off your crown and never tip down your king, teach them to treat you how you want to be treated by treating them and yourself the same way (indulging their consciousness).
Call them to order respectfully, do not be abusive and aggressive, respect them and their pride, let them go when they become a threat, surround yourself with people like yourself, focus more on being co-dependent than independent, develop yourself and become useful, you do not have to throw the first punch, nobody has to.
Love and value yourself above anything and anyone else and the feminist community is always here for you.
If we get the minor things right, we would actually be able to make the world a better place.
Read also: Volunteering: The Best Answer To “What Working Experiences Do You Have?”
