Back in 2013, I was accused of being fame-hungry for I talked about my opinions on social issues on my blog. Oh yes, there was also this really concerned figure who gave me the sound advice to stay away from political issues for we all know how ‘safe’ real journalists are. (hint: read about journalist silenced by powerful people)
And yet here I am…
You think women are silenced and oppressed about one thing? You’ll believe that, for sure, only until you see the real horrors of what women have to go through – from being judged for what they wear to not being allowed their chance to be independent, from being considered the weaker sex to not being paid equally as men for the same job, from being disrespected & trolled just because they’re women to being harassed just because they’re women… it’s just the beginning of a modern day woman’s horror story!
You hear men getting into a brawl over nothing but you would see women stay silenced for years even after witnessing gruesome crimes, afraid to speak up for what would follow would be even worse. You hear men accusing women but you would see women afraid to accuse them even when they have solid proof, for they know many won’t believe them just because they’re women.
And it goes on… you start talking about it and you’ll find endless horror stories, unimaginable… painful and outright unfair to women. The ray of hope in the end of this dark tunnel, plaguing and terrorising women since the time existed, are the people speaking up… are the women speaking up… are the actions being taken against the guilty.
But amidst all this, a new tribe of oppressors is rising – the pseudo-feminists. You won’t believe they exist; until you find teenagers wishing death to all men for they like to think themselves as feminists and they stand for feminism in India. Of course, their wishing death won’t actually make God to cause men-genocide but it’s the thought process… it’s what this teenager would grow to be. It’s what this teenager would leave as her legacy… it’s who she’ll influence… in the world we all live in.
From the minor things like women expecting men to give up their seats and rightful chance in a competitive exam to women expecting special treatment for their gender for men has had it for too long… I don’t understand what part of their brain makes them feel it’s right?
You set out to right the wrong only to flip the tables and do the opposite in the end… just that it’s your way this time! It reminds me of The hunger games – a dystopian fiction leading to people fighting for justice and equality and in the end, the very woman who leads it wants to establish the same system… just that it won’t be her people this time, it would be them. Good that Katniss Everdeen killed her before she could materialise her plans… I wish we had more Katniss Everdeens in real life.
Everything has a trigger and for me to pen this today… the trigger is the #MeToo campaign in India. Tanushree Datta, an actress who had to leave her career & country fearing the aftermath of her trying to speak up, goes viral this time and is accused… of being fame-hungry, of attempting a publicity stunt to save/revive her career, of lying when no one has another explanation for why a mob of people attacked her… with she and her parents in the car… with a man smashing a huge camera on the windshield, deflating the tyres of her car and jumping on the car’s roof!
Is she saying the truth? It’s not for the public to decide. But does she deserve an audience? Who are you to even question that? Every human being in the world deserves an audience if they want to speak out. Yes, there are too many false cases of harassment filed by women (source) these days, but every woman deserves the benefit of doubt. Every human being deserves that. Or not?
Feminism in India is supposed to be the voice of women but the problem with this pseudo-feminism is that the whole belief structure is laid on the foundation ‘women are always right and men are always wrong.’ They don’t think men deserve the benefit of doubt too. They don’t believe in innocent until proven guilty. They don’t believe in equality…
Now, don’t you dare to tell them otherwise, or make them see sense. For if you do, you will be attacked, accused of lacking empathy, indicted of betraying your own kind, if you happen to be a woman. If you’re a man, well, may God save you!
So, I’m sick of it. I’m sick of pseudo-feminism. They not only betray the cause of feminism in India but also are another reason why women find it so hard to seek and get justice. They stand for the very opposite of feminism in India, hide behind the mask of feminism and wouldn’t spare you if you even dare to seem like you’re not saying exactly what they think you should be saying. They are the new kind of oppressors… rising, feeding on the very thing you stand for (every human should stand for – equality as a birth-right irrespective of gender, caste, religion, origin…)
Beware! For they would stick to you like leeches and would twist your words. For they would accuse you of everything opposite of what you’re doing. For they would call you out and won’t rest until you engage. Remember they’re leeches and if you get unlucky to come across one… it’s going to be hard for you to maintain your cool and vision of a world of equality!
