Feminism, But Not Really

At the heart of most brands of feminism reflected in the media today is an adverse reaction to what men represent and hardly charged towards the fight for women’s equality. There is a paradigm shift from feminism existing as a result of advocacy for women’s equal rights to becoming something done to look down on the entire being of men as people who have made women suffer for a long time and need to be punished. This feminism gives little or no room for critical thinking. It is characterized by a headless mob that leaves the main struggles of women to haggle about how men deserve less because women have been on the unappreciated side of the spectrum. The problem with this is that the struggles of women have not been appropriately highlighted and may cause a significant distraction in what feminism stands for and towards achieving its complete aim. Are the agitations understandable? Yes. Because the problem of unequal opportunities is deeply rooted in our society, favoring men. However, it needs to move from attacking men to focusing on those matters and how they can be tackled. This is why there is a thin line between advocating for women’s rights and getting to the point of victimizing all men in society.

Faux Feminism

There are situations where women’s woes are highlighted. Still, the conversation shifts from the women’s improvement and figuring out a solution to how men are worse off, completely diverting the attention from the main thing that needs to be done. The above is majorly a characteristic of FAUX FEMINISM. In faux feminism, there are a lot of opportunities to prey on women’s emotions/fight to push an agenda of hating men in the guise of supporting women and advocating for their rights, playing on the feelings of those who want equal opportunity for women to see men as not good enough or undeserving. This promotes a monolithic view of women being oppressed and men as the core perpetrators, even though society comprises both genders.

What Is the Feminism We Need?

Feminism came about from the need for equal opportunity for men and women in society. It is common knowledge that for a long time there were traditional roles for both men and women. For example, women were expected to stay home, cook and care for the children, while men went out to work and fend for the family, causing them to dominate the economic and leadership space. These traditional roles that put men at the helm of political and economic affairs gave them an advantage over women. This is not to diminish the importance of women’s role in the home. In fact, the women holding the home fort were a source of strength and support for the men to function. However, inevitable cracks started to occur, and women were on the receiving end. This made some lose their sense of freedom and voice. Hence, the need for feminism.   NB: There are records of women in the olden days who held powerful positions and worked on farms. The domestic factor of birthing children is one of the reasons why the spectrum changed. This prompted the need for a balanced system, hence feminism. Let’s move on with our discussion.  

What Should Feminism Achieve?

Feminism was not created to take power and rule from men but to be able to equally wield that power so that one gender is not at a disadvantage. Some of the things that feminism was aimed at include:

• Equal pay for men and women.
• Equal access to opportunities.
• Bridge the gap of discrimination against women being involved in specific industries.
• Laws and rules that favor women: this is a concern because when societal structures were being formed, men were the majority of the decision-making, so a lot of limitations may not have favored women. For example, the punishment for rape and sexual harassment, the process of believing a woman who has been harassed, and removing the stigma surrounding reporting this kind of mistreatment for women.

It’s not an either/or situation. We should all be feminists because the demands of feminism are straightforward and human, and should be treated with utmost seriousness. This is why the distractions of trying to make it about men are unnecessary. Trying to effect this change includes:

• Getting into positions of decision-making to influence policies for change.
• Speaking out when there is a concern and directing agitation towards perpetrators, not men.
• Focusing on bringing perpetrators to book rather than vilifying all men.

Conclusion

Different extreme ideologies have sprouted around feminism today, causing women to see the male gender as the enemy. This has led to a common idea that if you are a feminist, you hate men. Feminism is about getting women to a level of equal opportunities in society. Nowadays, people can make their feminism all about sheer hatred for the male gender, causing misunderstanding of the primary purpose of feminism. It is crucial to focus on the issues and get into policy-changing positions to make a difference.

**

Rodiat Ajuwon