#Blog | The Failing Feminist: Fight From Equal Opportunities Is Now Centred Around Male Bashing

A woman feels empowered when she claims to be a feminist but the moment she goes about aspersing men on social media for a phenomenon as natural as manspreading or using gender-based crimes as a means to an end, she does not only jeopardise her standpoint but also puts a question mark on the very sanctity of an entire movement.

When Hitesha Chandranee, a makeup-artist posts a video on Instagram falsely claiming that a Zomato delivery guy assaulted her over a heated argument regarding the delayed delivery time of the food, the latter gets arrested. Priyadarshini, a girl from Lucknow brutally assaults a cab driver named Shahdat Ali as she presumed that the man was trying to scare her off by driving the cab at a high speed while she was crossing the road. Manav Singh, a 12th standard boy from Gurugram commits suicide after being falsely inculpated with sexual molestation by a girl thereby getting unnecessarily dragged in #MeToo during the Bois Locker Room Scandal. A 24-year old boy from Bombay spends two years in jail when his sister presses fraudulent rape charges against him.

If we look for a point of commonality amongst all these cases, the men seem to have been wronged by their female counterparts. However, one of the most peculiar aspects that gets ignored in hindsight is how all these cases were perceived when they were first put through social media trials and brought to the attention of the general public. Once Hitesha uploaded the post on Instagram, many people joined in her support, Zomato apologized on behalf of Kamraj, and subsequently, he was arrested. When Priyadarshini’s video of slapping the cab driver got viral, people simply reckoned that the man must have done something wrong to have deserved that kind of treatment. Right after the girl posted the concocted details of her sexual molestation through a story on Instagram, it was heavily reshared by various accounts so much so that Manav’s socials were leaked and he started receiving death threats. In the Bombay case, the brother was sentenced to jail and as a matter of fact, subjected to public humiliation simply on the basis of her sister’s allegations.

In all these situations, the public sympathised with the women first as an instinctive reaction and the supposed other side of the story was not even addressed. It was only after an official investigation that the people were able to see through the reality and joined forces with the actual victims. This shows how in our society, ’Innocent Until Proven Guilty’ as a maxim has failed to move beyond the boundaries of the judiciary because when it comes to the social framework, a man is always guilty until proven innocent, especially when he seems to have committed a crime against the opposite gender. Therefore, as a common thought process, men are looked down upon as the perpetrators when it comes to gender-based crimes like rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence, etc. This collective cerebration on a social level lets women take undue advantage of their disposition for various reasons ranging from extortion, defamation to vengeance.

Likewise, a spike in the number of false rape cases has been witnessed particularly against men over the last few years. As per National Crime Records Bureau, 12 percent of the reported cases were dismissed by the police on the pretext of being false, and about 55.6 percent of cases were acquitted out of the total that went for trial in court in 2020 which is 32.8 percent higher than 2019. In matters as sensitive as rape, the female side of the story is given more importance, but there are women who think of it as a privilege or an added advantage. They try to threaten men using the very rights and laws that are meant for their protection, least realizing the fact that these false allegations are not just capable of destroying lives but also families.

Today, Feminism seems to have lost its very essence and is being misused. While the movement started out in the 19th century to empower the female population and help them get equal opportunities as men in society, now it has turned into this corruptive force that is more or less centered around male-bashing. Women are willing to repudiate a biological condition only to heap scorn at men for sitting with their legs spread apart in public transportations. It is undeniable that many women are subjected to mansplaining in their everyday lives but twisting every single word that comes out of a man’s mouth and traducing him publicly for personal gain is not something that feminism proselytises.

Yes, women have come a really long way and their struggle for equality has indisputably not been an easy one. Being able to transcend pre-determined gendered social norms and regaining control over their sexuality has been a result of the collective effort of all those women who were courageous enough to stand against the hegemony. Whether it be Elizabeth Cady Stanton leading the women suffrage movement or Savitri Bai Phule’s efforts to become India’s first female teacher despite being a Dalit woman, their endeavours and accomplishments not only paved a way for the betterment of their society but also the future generations. They fought the patriarchy but by fair means.

The success of Feminism as a movement for gender equality does not rest upon slandering or condemning men. Looking at the social reality, it is important that we revisit its ideological framework and understand what it actually stands for. Feminism is not solely for women since men also form an essential part of the same. As a movement, it believes in inclusivity and does not advocate that “All men are the same”. Adopting unscrupulous ways to fight the system is not just a blow below the belt but also nullifies the efforts of our ancestors because of whom we have managed to come this far. No wonder there still exist a large number of people who do not do wish to associate themselves with the movement but the ones who proudly pronounce themselves as part of it, it’s about time that we not just go back to asking ourselves- “Am I a Feminist?” but also analyse if it is really for the right reasons.

Author: Ishanshi Wadhwa is pursuing M.A. in English with Communication Studies at Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru. 

ALSO READ –

Bengaluru Woman Alleged Assault | Zomato Delivery Man Shares His Side Of Story

Lucknow Traffic Signal Case | Cab Driver Slapped 22-Times By Priyadarshini Yadav Joins Politics To Help Men Harassed By Women

UP Police Books Violent Woman, Cab Driver & Other Man In Lucknow Traffic Signal Case | Woman Alleged Molestation

Manav Singh Update | National Human Rights Commission Transfers Case to Crime Branch CID For Reinvestigation

Happy 18th Birthday Beta, You Will Forever Be 17, My Son | Manav Singh’s Father Pens Emotional Note

ALSO WATCH –

Manav Singh Suicide Case Update

Join our Facebook Group or follow us on social media by clicking on the icons below 

Join our Facebook Group or follow us on social media by clicking on the icons below