Feminism is just common sense. A sense of equality and justice, and the belief that what holds good for one, holds good for the other.
Thankfully, the impression that feminists are rabid, crazy creatures, is fading now, with more and more people, both men and women, proudly calling themselves feminists.
But, being brought up in a conservative and patriarchal society like India, feminist ideas don't come naturally to most of us. Some beliefs are so steeped in our psyche that to step aside and look at those ideas anew, you need a trigger, or else, you need someone to plant the seed of a new outlook in your head. Sometimes, it is just some random thing that encourages you to question what you've always believed to be right. But once you start thinking and questioning, your world will expand by leaps and bounds. It can be painful at times, to realize that what you have been taking for granted is fundamentally flawed. But it can also make you happy, and free.
If you wish to look, there are hundreds of people writing beautifully about such topics all over the internet. But if you are lost, let me show you a good place to begin - IHM's blog. It is a great go-to spot for issues relating to the Indian context. I urge you to explore the archives too. You'll also find resources, and links, and you'll be taken to the blogs of other people writing about women and patriarchy and misogyny and feminism..... and once you are attuned to this way of thinking, you'll start questioning things yourself.
Let me know how it goes.
6 comments:
Ah! Your first line is so true, really.
And you know I share your sentiment about IHM's blog. It has "deconditioned" me in so many ways...I wish I had read these things about 20 years ago!
BTW, Day 16? Already? Way to go!
The society hasn't changed much. But I'm hopeful that our children can make 'more equal' society than we could :-)
Common sense. I think you can write a sensible book about that.
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We are a new organization that is committed to stopping the oppression of women in the third world countries.
Women in the Third World suffer considerably from the following problems:
-daily domestic violence
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-abusive men
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We are committed to trying to END this oppression. One of our goals is to create a political lobby or organization that lobbies for visas for single or divorced women from third world countries, so that we can bring them to the West and help them escape the abuse, rape, poverty, and violence of the patriarchal system in most third world countries.
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Thanks for the post! I will surely have a look.
Clenia Gigi
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