Lets talk about being a feminist

1st March 2022

First of all, just to clarify, no it is not hating all men. While some may feel drawn to that option, equality by the very definition “is a state of affairs in which all individuals within a specific society have equal rights, liberties, and status..”. Hating all men is hypocritical. By saying that you want women to have a better position in society but then simultaneously pushing the other gender down is still inequality.

We all know inequality is where one group of people–in this case, males–are given better opportunities and females– deprived of the same.

We can see such cases from some everyday examples:

• Due to the lack of opportunities, women lag behind in the field of STEM and politics, and are less in number when it comes to jobs such as pilots, lawyers and more.

• They are often not given enough opportunities for education and encouraged to simply stick to house work.

We all know about cases like this.

However, the question is: Is knowing enough?

Say you are treading past a lake on a sunny day. Everything is seemingly normal. But then all of a sudden– you notice a person drowning in the lake and struggling for his breath. You are aware of his condition, and you know he needs help– yet you do nothing. You believe someone else will come and help him, and that “someone” else thinks the same.

If you guessed it, you’re right–the drowning man is the depiction of inequality and oppression.

To further explain what we mean: take action! Lily Chen, our first speaker at Share Your Story beautifully explains this analogy. She describes how there is so much to feminism than simply labelling yourself as one. The real essence of feminism comes from standing up, instead of being a silent spectator.

While you know that inequality exists, are you aware of how it has actually impacted your society, and have you taken any action to combat it?

As Lily says, “What you call yourself is a lot less important than what you do”. This completely changes the first question I’ve asked. People will hardly care about the “feminist” label you give yourself, but they surely will notice your presence in the community and whether or not you live up to your own beliefs.

We at Share Your Story, are not telling you to go lead a massive protest against all the oppression in the world (that’s hardly possible!) but we do suggest that if you believe you are a feminist– you should live up to it! By a simple “share” button on social media you could be an advocate for the causes you believe in. You could volunteer, do fundraising, or even educate your peers about the essence of feminism. And all in all, be an active member of society instead of a passive spectator watching the people around you drown.

So, ask yourself, what does being a feminist mean to you?

Edited by Srina Bose

Writers: Vishwa Jayswal, Srina Bose

Bibliography

https://www.oed.com/oed2/00083535#:~:text=f%C3%A9minisme.%5D,womanism.)