So recently I was asked if I had feminist views. That got me thinking...do I? Honestly I never thought in those terms. The fact that whether I am a feminist or not. I do believe in equality, gender equality. I do think we all whether male of female have the right to scio-economic, political equality. But does that make me a feminist?
A famous person (Emma Watson) recently said this quite well and I paraphrase that feminism by definition means gender equality but lately it has become synonymous with man-hating. That just won't do. I definitely know I do not believe in that.
I do think sometimes all the power and attention that has been endorsed to this issue has tipped the balance in a way. Women are striving to attain equality and yet are misguided in thinking it will only be possible by demeaning or degrading the masculine gender. Is that fair? To paint the whole gender in the same color?
I don't think so.
If equality is to be attained then a balance needs to be struck. The women have to rise and the men have to let go of their egos. It is like in any aspect of nature. Yin and Yang. Until there is a balance of genders, harmony does not seem likely.
I do not say this lightly. All my life I have met resistance and have been judged and ridiculed and under estimated just because of my gender. I have struggled with those odds but at the same time kept in sight that it was a male member of the world that actually gave me my wings to fly.
We just have to break the cycle of entitlement is what it is. Men are not born privileged or with the knowledge that they are (mistakenly) the superior gender. It is the parents or society as far as early education goes, who give them the values and thoughts that they are special or different and that blue is for boys and only cars and trucks are to be played with.The retailers propagate this as well.
This gender defining activities are what sets the two genders apart since childhood and as they grow older the abyss grows and so does the gender definitions. Same goes with the girls of the world. They do not have to wear pink all the time, learn ballet and cook and play with dolls. If there is a conscious dilution of the rigid roles and definitions, it will by itself dissolve a huge part of the stark differences.
So the question still remains....am I a feminist?
A famous person (Emma Watson) recently said this quite well and I paraphrase that feminism by definition means gender equality but lately it has become synonymous with man-hating. That just won't do. I definitely know I do not believe in that.
I do think sometimes all the power and attention that has been endorsed to this issue has tipped the balance in a way. Women are striving to attain equality and yet are misguided in thinking it will only be possible by demeaning or degrading the masculine gender. Is that fair? To paint the whole gender in the same color?
I don't think so.
If equality is to be attained then a balance needs to be struck. The women have to rise and the men have to let go of their egos. It is like in any aspect of nature. Yin and Yang. Until there is a balance of genders, harmony does not seem likely.
I do not say this lightly. All my life I have met resistance and have been judged and ridiculed and under estimated just because of my gender. I have struggled with those odds but at the same time kept in sight that it was a male member of the world that actually gave me my wings to fly.
We just have to break the cycle of entitlement is what it is. Men are not born privileged or with the knowledge that they are (mistakenly) the superior gender. It is the parents or society as far as early education goes, who give them the values and thoughts that they are special or different and that blue is for boys and only cars and trucks are to be played with.The retailers propagate this as well.
This gender defining activities are what sets the two genders apart since childhood and as they grow older the abyss grows and so does the gender definitions. Same goes with the girls of the world. They do not have to wear pink all the time, learn ballet and cook and play with dolls. If there is a conscious dilution of the rigid roles and definitions, it will by itself dissolve a huge part of the stark differences.
So the question still remains....am I a feminist?
