-Sudha Vasan
Feminism
is a belief in the right of all human beings to have political, social, and
economic equality.
Who is a feminist? This is a
question that seems to provoke a peculiar set of images in people’s minds; an
image that is certainly unflattering and decidedly unfashionable. Over the last
few months I asked various groups of young university students in Delhi University
and JNU this question, and perhaps unsurprisingly, very few among these
educated intelligent youth would admit to being feminist. Why? Are so many of our youth really against the
very idea equality stated above? The
answer seems to lie not in the death of feminism, but in the success of a
hegemonic image of feminism that is antithetical to the very foundations of
feminism.
I confirmed through a quick Google
search that my experience among youth in the elite universities of Delhi was not unique or
isolated. Other feminists across the
world have also commented on this trend.
The sixties were a time when feminism was a badge progressives wore with
pride while struggling for a humane society.
Feminism set the terms of debate for society. The seventies and eighties were times of
recognition of the historic changes wrought through struggle. The nineties brought the beginning of times
that attempt to erase history. A young
woman from Yale writes, “I’m a feminist, and yet sometimes even I resent the
word.” What is it that makes feminism such a bad word? What do people imagine when you say you are a
feminist?
Curiously, when people think of
feminists, they think of fashion.
Feminists are prone to stereotyping at either extreme of the fashion
spectrum In India, some imagine
feminists as “modern” and “western,” using both terms pejoratively; i.e. women
who cut their hair short, and wear lipstick and western clothes. Others think
of them as decidedly unfashionable – dowdy, no make-up or anti-fashion
types. A middle ground image clothes
them in Fab-India fashions and ethnic jewelry. Fortunately, the reality is more diverse and we find feminists
in all three fashion categories and many more.
The other image feminism brings
to mind is men and sex! In defining
oneself as feminist, one’s gender identification, sexual choices, and sexuality
seem to matter significantly. Starting from the most banal, the predominant
view of feminists is as women. Is it
really so impossible to imagine human beings – men, women, both, neither or
irrelevant – as believing in the concept of equality. Can fighting against discrimination and
oppression be an essential characteristic of one gender?
Some imagine feminists as
over-sexed (given their support for free sex), and others imagine them as
frustrated (since they are man-haters) or as homosexual. It defies logic as to how any of these
choices in themselves can make one feminist or un-feminist. Can one not have
any or all of these characteristics and still be against gender-based
oppression? But
the image that emerges most of all is one of a person who is opinionated, difficult
and has no fun. This of course implies that we define fun as inherently vacuous
and always sexist. While what gets labeled as humor in our popular culture
often is sexist, is enjoyment really that limited?
Women
who receive the best of educational and career opportunities, the section that
has perhaps benefited the most from the history of feminist struggles that have
made space for women in these spheres, are often the most reluctant to define
themselves as feminist.
For
successful women in this competitive world, accepting feminism seems to suggest
that you are a loser – that you see yourself as weak, that you are asking for
special privileges because you are less capable. A good example of how powerful hegemony is -
intelligent and perceptive people still miss the point that being less powerful
is a factor of structural, institutional and cultural impediments, not a
comment on capabilities. This is precisely what feminism and the many other
“isms” that people love to hate have shown us.
Feminism seems to have fallen
into the same post-modern trap of rejecting all “isms,” and living in a vacuum
where nothing exists. So I think the simple question to ask oneself is this: Do I believe in the right of all human
beings to have political, social, and economic equality? I am an optimist. I am certain that we will find many more feminists in these
post-feminist times.
0 comments:
Post a Comment