In a world of hashtags and -isms, is it impossible to fight for equal rights without becoming a ‘feminist’?
Hindustan Times | ByShweta Taneja
Jul 01, 2017 10:46 PM IST
More time is wasted on demeaning the term than on understanding and accepting it
The first time I came across the word ‘feminism’ was in the first week of being at Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi. I’d just joined the Bachelors in English and a teacher introduced the class to the feminist ideology, talking about how the social constructs of patriarchy were a way to silence the female gender. As an impressionable student, I imagined her with a flamed sword, chopping down the shackles of patriarchy our lives were contained in. Outside the class, I asked this teacher if she was married. She said yes. “Ma’am, if you’re a feminist, how can you live with a man?”
According to the dictionary, the word ‘feminist’ refers to ‘an advocate of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes’(iStock)