AURAT RAJ; Level the playing field first.
Why not masculism though?
A few months back we were discussing ‘feminism’ in class when a student raised a question, “Why is it always about women? Why does nobody talk about masculism?”. Well, clearly because it is women, not men, who aren’t treated as equals but as sub-humans. It is women who are raped and experience more intense sexual harassment, who are body shamed not matter what size or condition, who aren’t free to wear whatever they like because of the risk of being molested or catcalled, who aren’t allowed to have a voice and in case they have one, it is often ignored, who are expected to quietly take in any emotional or physical abuse by their husbands, who are blamed for bringing shame to their families if they refuse to marry their rapist, work in the entertainment industry(the way Qandeel Baloch was honor killed by her brother for doing so), want to marry a man who she loves or decides not to marry at all. If you are to question feminism, you might as well ask why in backward societies women still aren’t allowed to drive, run for office, leave the house without a man, sign contracts and more, why the first response when a woman achieves something is that she might have achieved it because she’s a woman, has slept with her boss and everything in between, not because of her hard work and intelligence, why the house makers aren’t valued enough for the daily work they do in the house but instead considered as failure as they appear to do “nothing” at home, why a woman is labelled as cold if she decides not to have kids or unlucky if it is biological or why working women are slammed with remarks such as, “Doesn’t she care about her family?”, “ Her in laws are so nice. They allow her to work”.
Why empower women:
“A women’s ability to be heard is not an extraneous right, but an essential solution to many of the world’s problems.”
Moral, educational, intellectual and cultural development of women is crucial for the overall development of a society. As Napoleon said; “Give me an educated mother, I shall promise you the birth of a civilized, educated nation”. Empowered women contribute to ethical development by adhering to moral values and inspiring their kids, economic development when they as entrepreneurs contribute in business and commerce sectors, educational development when they excel intellectually and academically, political development when women leaders take charge and much more.
Hence, women should have an increased voice and a meaningful participation in decision-making at all levels from the household to international institutions. There are no disadvantages to women being self-empowered. In fact, there are many women out there making big waves and working towards women empowerment. One example is Saba Khalid, the women behind ‘Aurat Raj’. Aurat raj is a social enterprise that educates women about health, hygiene, safety and taboos such as menstruation, sexual harassment, child abuse, etc. through blogs articles and animated videos like this one:
But HOW?
If you’re a man, the role is clear; “STOP PUTTING WOMEN DOWN”; respect them, value their opinions, stand up for them and support their efforts to stand up for themselves. Question misogyny, gender-based stereotypes, and aggressive or demeaning words and behaviors. Realize that women too have their own private ambitions.
But if you’re a woman, the most important thing that you need to do is to stop crying over the fact that you’re a woman and know that women empowerment can be achieved only by bringing change at individual level. There’s no other means of doing that. And yes! RESPECT MEN TOO! Feminism speaks of equality between men and women; not superiority of women over men.
No gender has to win:
We live in a world where half of the population isn’t allowed to have a life. Discriminated. Their dreams suppressed. Now think of an alternate scenario. Everybody regardless of their gender is given full permission to study, work, start businesses etc. No man wants to rape. No woman wants to extort alimony. This kind of attitude in every human being alive can solve so many problems of the world. Men and women were made to compliment each other. To work together. To raise kids together. No one gender has to win. It’s not about winning.
