I am a proud feminist

There are very few labels that I like to associate myself with, being a feminist is one of them. I think the feminist movement is one of the few moments that has transformed societies across the world. Feminism has revolutionized every society, every country, region, religion, and even many families including mine. This is a movement that does not have a single face, single leader, any book, or a set ideology. Feminism is about gender equality. Every feminist revolution is led by individual brave women and men of this world. Yes, you read that right, by women and men, both. The biggest misconception about feminism is that it's all about women. Mostly it is about women as they are at the forefront of this movement, but men are also an integral part of it. We men are part of the problem, so, we need to be part of the solution also. 

I agree that the label of feminism is a recent phenomenon, the fight for gender equality has been going on for decades. Many brave women tried to break barriers that tried to cage them, mostly without much success, but they all were as feminist as any of us can claim to be. No matter how recent is the label, feminism is now synonymous with gender quality, and the fight still continues as a lot still remains to achieve gender equality. Another important point is that a to of well-intentioned people who support gender equality hesitate to associate themselves with the word "feminist." This may be due to some hyperactive or radical feminists acting as if men are the origin of all the problems, the perception created in some sections of media is that feminism is about hating men. Both these things are not true. Like every movement when it spreads widely, feminism also has attracted a variety of people from different social, economic, political, and cultural backgrounds. Based on their personal experiences they shape their own feminist ideology and some of them behave like radical activists who want to bring overnight change by demolishing everything that exists today. This is neither a practical nor sensible approach, and this does not represent the entire feminist movement. For comparison, we can take the example of another widespread ideology, capitalism. Capitalism has transformed the economies of many countries, it has helped to generate and distribute wealth. However, at the same time, it has created a class of radical capitalists who believe that anything coming from socialism is evil, the market should have absolute power, the government should be only a spectator, and many more things. This does not make capitalism an evil movement per se, one can be a capitalist and still support equitable distribution of wealth, and one can be a pro-market and still support required regulations and oversight. Many times, we want things either to be good or bad, positive or negative, no matter how easy the binary view is, most things don't fit into the binary world, we now live in the world of the spectrum. Everything is like a spectrum and we need to find our match within that spectrum. 

I have witnessed gender discrimination since my young days, I know what it can do to children and how it can shape their thinking and behavior. Gender discrimination is devastating, not only for people who suffer because of it, it degrades the entire society. There are many examples around the world to demonstrate this. I have committed myself to doing my bit toward gender equality. This is how we can bring change, from one person to another, from one family to another. I invite everyone who is now aware of feminism or is skeptical about it to read more and talk with people like me to know about feminism and what can you do to bring change. What type of society will take pride in saying that they don't want gender equality. I hope no society wants to suppress almost half of its population so that it only benefits the other half. I define feminism as a fight for gender equality. If you support gender equality, you are a feminist. I am a proud feminist. I hope that you will join me in being a proud feminist and walk the path toward gender equality.

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com

Body shaming and unrealistic beauty standards

Criticizing someone's appearance is not something that any of us should be doing, but we do it and it is more common than we would like to accept. In many societies, it is acceptable behavior even today. It is especially common when someone is overweight or underweight. We tend to comment about their physique casually in a joking manner, or sometimes out of concern with the intention that it will motivate them to work to improve their physique. No matter how good our intentions are, the approach is extremely negative and most of the time damaging to the psyche of the person who is at the receiving end of our comments. We don't even imagine what that person might go through because of our comments.

Body shaming is not motivating. Especially our assumption that any overweight or underweight person is not concerned about their health is ignorant and self-serving. It shows that we think we are better than them and are in a position to offer unsolicited advice about how they should deal with their body. Public shaming anyone because of their body is disgusting, but somehow we tolerate and even encourage body-shaming. If you don't believe me, watch many popular comedy shows and see how they target overweight or underweight people. This all appears harmless on its surface, but it does impact people who are at the receiving end of these comments. There are many ways to make a person aware of their personal health and well-being, but public shaming them is not one of them. Jokes and comments about the physical appearance of people are demeaning, I stopped watching some comedy shows because of their consistent body-shaming jokes. I am guilty of such behavior, I used to comment about the weight of someone thinking that it would motivate that person to work towards improving their health as weight was creating some issues. But I was wrong, no matter what was my intention, my behavior was not proper and I apologized for that. We all should learn this lesson and correct our mistakes. Just because something was or still is tolerated in our society or family for years doesn't make it right. Correcting our behavior whenever we realize our mistake is a proper thing to do. Please stop body shaming others, and if someone is doing this to you ask them to stop, no matter who they are. 

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic.