The recent viral video of a woman in Lucknow who was crossing the road and slapped a male cab driver, has once again triggered feminist bashing on social media. Several users, especially men, have blamed feminists for the incident although the ideology has nothing to do with it.
And this isn't the first time. Whenever a woman behaves badly or commits a crime, feminists are blamed for it — as if the misbehaviour of one woman invalidates the feminist struggle in a patriarchal society. The case of the Bengaluru woman who slapped a Zomato delivery person or the alleged serial murders of Kerala's Jolly Joseph are other examples when social media was full of feminist baiting. 'Where are the feminists?' goes the cry whenever such incidents come to light. Misogynists are quick to use such acts to claim that there is no truth to the feminist cause since men and women are not only equal, women are oppressing men (!).
Feminism, as an ideology, does not claim that women are angels or 'always victims'. To the contrary, feminism argues against placing women on a higher moral pedestal than men, and recognises women's agency to think and act for themselves. Feminism's fight is against patriarchy, and there's a lot more to it than the simplistic and wrong assumptions floating around on social media. Watch this video to know more:
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