Yes some of you just scrolled right through the article. Very well, go ahead; it has the f word in the title, after all! Good Lord! How could you have ever read it?
As soon as I dropped the f word, some of you have already formed an assumption about what you are going to be reading about for the next five minutes of your life. Well, let me surprise you by giving another perspective to the overly used term, feminism.

People in general have a limited vocabulary when it comes to talking about feminism. When I asked my friends and colleagues, these are a few things I got among many other false assumptions: radicals fighting for equality, man haters, and bra burning-hairy legged girls. And to say the least, I’m not surprised, given that the term is plastered on almost everything, from t-shirts to mugs; it is basically used to sell anything under the sun, and consequently, it has lost the meaning, the idea behind this very movement.

Feminism is not just about getting equal pay or women becoming the CEOs. While I completely support that, we must be careful to not confuse feminism with legislation pertaining to sex discrimination. Women achieving the position of CEO is surely a big win for petitioners against sex discrimination, it doesn’t however put an end mark for feminism, because feminism is about change. It is one of the oldest and the most powerful social justice movement the world has ever known, and hence it is revolutionary. It pains me to say that very few of us know what the term actually means. So, to those who don’t, it is a term for women’s liberation movement; it is to liberate women and all of the society from the patriarchy that the world has known quite well.

When one hears the word ‘Feminism’, one either takes a run for the hills or delves right into trying to explain and achieve their plight to the other fellow humans who are as much affected by the issues of the world when seen through the gender lens. Gender inequality is as much as a problem for men as it is for women. I have seen men being told to not cry, to not vent out their emotions; I have seen my father’s role as a parent being valued much less by the society; I have seen young men suffering from mental illness, afraid to ask for help in fear it would make them less of a ‘man’.

When I cite all these examples, it is to make a point that Feminism isn’t a movement just for females as the word itself might wrongly suggest, just as mankind doesn’t only refer to the men.

Through this article I won’t go on explaining what feminism is and isn’t any more than I already have, rather I would choose for you to analyze and understand what feminism is, and how it has evolved from being a woman’s suffrage movement to being what it is and what it means in today’s society.

Often, it gets difficult for us Indians to be at peace with Feminism due to some deep rooted ideologies within our culture, which is understandable as long as we evolve with time and are ready to accept the new and fairer terms to live by in this new age. With reference to Indian context, Ramayana, our very own epic from ancient India is partially responsible for the concept of female ‘chastity.’ When I say this, it doesn’t, in any manner, say I’m an atheist for not blindly following what our Holy Scriptures say. Time and time again there are instances in the scripture which in today’s time would be crudely termed as woman-bashing. For example, Sita’s kidnapping being described in a misogynist manner which subtly suggested that she brought it upon herself for her obstinate demand for a shining dear or when her ‘character’ was brutally questioned by the very man whose dubious actions I question when he deceitfully kills Vali. In sum, I would like to quote Kiran Kumbhar. as she accurately puts my belief into words, “India’s phenomenal epic has epically failed its women and rational minds.”

In the end, I’d like to thank Rajesh Khanna for when he beautifully sang, “Sita bhi yaha badnaam huii,” in Amar Prem which succinctly describes our standpoint in the past and forces us be a new wave of change where our gender doesn’t confine us anymore.