There is a constant storm brewing all over the world over an issue like Feminism. One has to accept that whether one supports it or not, Feminism does elicit a strong reaction from everyone. But like any other ism, there is a cloud of misconception surrounding this concept which needs to be clarified.
Here is Uncommon writer Avisruti Sarkar, a student of journalism and mass communications, who, along with a group of like-minded young friends, explains through her words and photographs, the exact difference between Feminism and Pseudo-Feminism.
We, at The Uncommon Box think it will do a world of good to us all to take this message everywhere so that Feminism gets a fair chance to be understood and not misinterpreted.
Team TUB asked Avisruti what inspired her to pen this article and this is what she had to say:
One fine day, I was waiting at a bus stand and then I saw a boy standing beside me when a girl came and stood beside him for a bus to come. The guy just turned his head towards her and looked at her twice. Suddenly, the girl started shouting and when people gathered, she slapped him. I was a witness to the entire incident and was very sure the guy didn’t do anything wrong as in molested her or passed any lewd comments – no, nothing at all!
I also see few girls in my friends’ list writing long ‘feminist’ statuses, and when I asked few of them that what is feminism for them, most of them replied, “We want equality.
But we must get rid of the men through feminism.” I mean, they don’t even know that feminism is actual equality. And the hatred that has developed in them is pseudo-feminism. And it’s almost impossible to make them understand this simple difference.
There are few more incidents and instances like these where I have seen people living on too many misconceptions regarding both feminism and pseudo-feminism and I have not seen too many people being familiar with the word pseudo-feminism and maybe, that’s the reason they live on misconceptions and are confused between the two terms.
So Avisruti launched her unique initiative to highlight the true meanings of Feminism and Pseudo-Feminism.
Feminism Vs Pseudo Feminism
Regarding the terms, many ‘intellectuals’ or citizens of our ‘social media countries’ and heroes of our ‘virtual social media dramas’ have too many misconceptions. More than half of them who write or talk about these terms – feminism and pseudo-feminism don’t know properly about them.
Feminism and pseudo-feminism are two very different and broad concepts and is a debatable topic, but this is a humble effort from my end to simplify the terms and clear the misconceptions through my work.
And thanks to Rohan Mondal, Soumyadip Saha and the entire team who worked as a support system helping me to give my thoughts a shape.
In Frame : Rajashree Biswas
People have some basic conceptions regarding both the mentioned terms. Most of them think ‘feminism’ doesn’t signify equality, and confuse it with ‘pseudo feminism’.
Actually, it is ‘pseudo feminism’ that doesn’t signify equality, and indicates females are misusing their powers of women empowerment, simply to dominate men. But ‘feminism’ signifies equality, where the women only demand and fight for their equal rights as those of the men, and a respectable position in the society as that of men. They don’t have any intention of dominating the males in any instance of feminism.
In Frame : Nandan Ghosh
In Frame : Pushpendu Roy
“It is a crime to beat a woman” – We can surely agree with this statement. But, is it not a crime too, to beat a man?
Is it always the men who are at fault? Why do we always develop a stereotypical thought whenever it comes to discussions regarding feminism? Why can’t we think the other way round?
We can protest when a man beats a woman, but we can’t protest when a woman beats a man – then in the latter case, we call the woman as a ‘brave woman’. Though in many cases, the men are surely the offenders, but why can’t we get out of this thought that
– ‘ALL MEN ARE RAPISTS, MOLESTERS OR OFFENDERS!’ –
No, all men are not like that. In many instances, the men are not at fault, but they do get punished socially and by law even, and nobody, in that case, demands a proof. Nowadays, the rule has become – “A guy unless proved is always an offender, but a girl needs nothing to be proved because she is always right.”
Why can’t we simply believe in equality? We cannot and shouldn’t blame or accuse anyone of anything because that person belongs to a particular gender. One should not be gender-biased.
In frame : Shweta Singh, Sneha Saha, Rajashree Biswas, Riya Maity, Chandrima Mazumder, Nandan Ghosh, Pushpendu Roy
You cannot praise a woman for slapping a man, just because he is a man. And you even shouldn’t always praise a man for slapping a woman, just because he is a man. But, if you want to protest, you should protest against both. Beating a woman is surely a crime, but beating a man is also no less than a crime.
In Frame : Shweta Singh
WHAT INDIA NEEDS IS “FEMINISM” – equality, equal rights as those of men.
We need to encourage women to fight for a change in India so that they can change the statistics of the count of rapes and violent attacks on women, but this can also be done by not hating men. What we need for a change is to believe that – One woman needs to believe that she is equal to Man.
In Frame : Sneha Saha
In Frame : Shweta Singh
These are actually what the pseudo feminists i.e., the true supporters of pseudo feminism actually think. Neither they can tolerate males, nor male opinions, as what they want is only to hate and dominate the males, to prove they are superior to the men. They cannot even stand any suggestion or opinion from the men.
In Frame : Nandan Ghosh
Pseudo-feminism does not support equality. It supports superiority, violence, injustice, and hatred towards men, as well as bias. But the question for these people, that is –
“Your father and your brother or all other family members or your male friends who are close to you, do you even hate them?”
In Frame : Pushpendu Roy
According to pseudo-feminists, a man is not allowed to utter a single word in his favor, because he is a man. They say “We are fighting for basic women rights” – but how? – by curbing men’s rights and freedom.
In frame: Chandrima Mazumder
Most of the feminists nowadays sadly exist only in the virtual world – internet and social media platforms, but probably in the real world, there are only a very few of them in number. If they could have done half of what they actually express on the web, maybe the country, the society and the world would have been different and a better one.
Though the entire concept was of mine I can’t thank enough few People in my team for making this project possible.
- Pushpendu Roy
- Rajashree Biswas
- Nandan Ghosh
- Sneha Saha
- Riya Maity
- Soumyadip Saha
- RohanMondal
- Shweta Singh
Team, The Uncommon Box would like to extend its heartiest thanks to Avisruti and her team of friends who have done us a great service by amplifying and explaining the essence of the concepts of Feminism and Pseudo-Feminism.
About the writer:
Avisruti is a journalism and mass communication student. Right now she is in the final year of her graduation. And presently she writes but only for her own WordPress account. She writes only on current issues and the issues which can disturb the balance of the society, the country, and the world. Avisruti is also a photographer who is planning an exhibition in Kolkata.
You may follow her on:
Facebook | Instagram | WordPress
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