Neha Sudhakar

In a black and white world, where everybody frivolously takes sides, the sense of right and wrong somehow stands on slippery grounds.How many times have you heard someone tell you,” It’s all about your perspective”.And I think that s the beauty of our world, nothing is definitive.There is this undeniable sense of fluidity where each person can chisel their own say and pave the road that they want to walk in.

And on that note,I would like to bring up the quite controversial topic of “Feminism” and pour out some of my thoughts.

Though feminism holds the prefix “fem”,it only advocates equal rights for men and women.The first wave of feminism movements(late nineteenth and early twentieth century) was for women to gain political rights, more specifically voting rights.The second wave focused on gaining social equality.The third wave of feminism was rebellious where women protested against victimization and sexist patriarchy.

Unlike the history, current feminism movement is not a protest against laws or institutions but against the biases that people hold.Modern feminists are dealing with the way people perceive the world and challenging irrational assumptions that have been chiseled through decades.For an instance let’s say,A man fires three employees and two of them are women, is that equality? Or is that sexism? You can’t say unless you know why he fired them. And you can’t know why he fired them unless you can get inside his brain and understand his beliefs and motivations.

Again I’m not of the opinion that modern feminism is wrong, but that maybe we are diverting from the true essence of feminism.

Researches say that we humans are tribal by nature and by default tend to see ourselves as a part of a group with a distinct belief system.And as the quote goes,” Once a philosophy goes tribal, its beliefs no longer exist to serve some moral principle, but rather they exist to serve the promotion of the group.” And feminism is no exception.

So out of curiosity, I typed “can I make a career out of feminism” in my google search. And some of the amusing search results went

– It’s possible to make feminism not only a part of your everyday life but also your professional life.

-Feminist and gender studies professor

-Writing and editing for feminist publications

-Feminist therapist

This is just a simple example of how feminism has turned from a cause to a career.As in their paychecks depend on there being patriarchy and oppression everywhere they look. Maybe we are so cocooned by the swell of opinions that sometimes we tend to overlook the progress we have made.

On the contrary,author and political commentator Mona Charen believes the feminist movement has taken several wrong turns that have ultimately made women less happy in their professional and personal lives.Some others even accuse that present-day feminism has raised the bar for women so high that mere mortals are condemned to fall below it.

As men and women we have undeniable differences and preferences and that only makes us more beautiful.Our generation is so obsessed with starting revolutions, but what we truly need is to revolutionize.Previous generations of feminists were the change they desired. They got out and protested and voted. They went to the schools and got the degrees and took the jobs.Yet, today, some feminists are more interested in enforcing thoughts and perceptions about women, rather than actually becoming the women they wish others to see.

The real heroes of this movement are the silent fighters, the unsung heroes who are breaking barriers in their respective fields. As Mark Manson puts it,” Yes, women still face stereotypes and harassment in these industries. But this is the trench today’s feminists should be fighting in. This is where they should be making their push — and not by talking about it online, but by actually being there.” So instead of trying to police people’s thoughts, let’s focus on what truly matters and be the change that we wish to see in the world around us.