e_Paper, Wednesday, September 6, 2017

14
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
DT
Opinion
Is there a right kind of feminism?
One type of feminist isn’t necessarily better than another
• Syeda Samara Mortada
Recently, I had a
conversation with a
friend who saw a standup
performance of a
woman on Youtube, talking about
her will to dress as she pleases
(and not being able to) and how
Bollywood feeds on to the image
of woman being either a vamp
or a Goddess, never anything in
between.
According to my friend,
compared to other more important
issues like rape and child abuse,
this was no significant matter, and
thus, not worthy of a discussion,
or her time.
I tried to explain to her that
perhaps the invisible link, the
thread between a woman’s choice
(or lack thereof), and a society that
reeks of male-domination, a nd its
stale effects was lost on her. Her
version of feminism, or so she
thought, was a more justified one
than my credulous stance.
Flash-forward this particular
talk, I have spoken to many other
people (mostly women) who are
of the opinion that a woman’s
right to wear what she wishes
to, or go where she pleases, or
express herself sexually, are not
as important predicaments in
women’s rights discourse, as are
violence against women on one
hand, and the rights to education,
forward certain ideologies over
others certainly defies the purpose
of feminism itself.
Undoubtedly, feminism has
space for different fights, different
rights, and for multiple dialogues
to co-exist without one faltering
in criticism? Incidentally, I was
part of a show even more recently
that staged a production on gender
stereotypes, challenges, and
prejudices that a woman faces on a
day-to-day basis.
A writer/blogger who belongs
to the latter group (the pragmatic
ones) wrote an opinion piece
about the production, on a very
urban-elitist platform I should
add, stressing that the stage
show captured issues primarily
faced by “urban middle class and
upper middle class women only,”
drawing on concerns that are not
akin to patriarchy and subjugation,
as faced by the major chunk of
women in Bangladesh.
She went on to criticise the way
the organisers mixed up Bangla
and English while speaking, how
younger people at the venue were
smoking and drinking coffee,
how the performers were in
Western-wear; she even went on
to question how the organisation
could afford such an expensive
venue in Gulshan. Blasphemy!
I find it absurd when I am
questioned about telling my own
story, or of those like mine. Isn’t
Let’s create a more diverse tribe where all
kinds of women and men raise each other up,
instead of pulling them down
Feminism is a lot of things
BIGSTOCK
health care, financial decisionmaking,
on the other.
Again, the feeling seems to
be rooted to the fact that those
speaking about the former list
of issues are not the right kind
of feminists, as opposed to the
latter group, who sometimes
term themselves as “pragmatic
feminists,” denoting feminists
who are sensible beyond measure,
and those who call out what only
needs to be “called out,” and can
be fixed.
This makes me wonder: Is there
then a hegemony existing amongst
the feminists themselves? Of
course, one is aware of the
different ideologies when it comes
to feminism -- Marxist, liberal,
radical, etc, but trying to push
it obvious to know yourself best,
to talk about your own personal
misgivings, or accomplishments?
How can I speak of experiences I
have never had?
I also take this personally,
because I am often called names,
and I face biases particularly
because of the way I talk, my social
circle, my home, my “foreign
degree,” as if that’s something to
feel guilty about, something I have
not earned.
I feel like I am constantly
having to explain myself -- explain
why I or my parents could afford
to go to/send me to grad school
abroad, why I eat at expensive
eateries, the likes; and because
I do all that, and then speak
about women’s rights (that too
in English), like my version
of feminism is susceptible to
perpetual suspicion.
As if, the battle against Third
World and First World feminists
was not enough (in which case
to the issue aroused because the
struggles and accomplishments
of both groups were dissimilar in
nature, and hence a different set
of voices needed to be heard, as
opposed to white feminists telling
the stories of feminists of colour),
as if taking away a woman’s voice,
her agency, her power to speak
and breathe for herself was not
enough, now we speak of different
versions of feminism, amidst
our own clad, our own class, and
region and women.
Perhaps there would be some
fragment of method in this
madness, had there been a level of
equality that had been achieved in
society, except there is none even
amongst the “privileged” classes,
and there is still a long way to go.
Who, then, is to say that one
struggle defeats the other, or that
the tussles of urban women are
less than those of rural women,
simply because the former has a
roof over her head, food to fill her
tummy with, and technology in
her hand?
Call me a dreamer, but I dream
of a society where women (and
some day men too), irrespective
of their class, socio-economic
background, religious belief,
and education can support one
another and each other’s causes.
I hope all feminists, pragmatic
or otherwise, can simply refer to
themselves as feminists, who truly
believe in equality, irrespective of
our personal differences.
Let’s be less rigid when defining
feminists -- let’s create a more
diverse tribe where all kinds of
women and men raise each other
up, instead of pulling them down,
be it a Beyonce or a Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie, a woman who likes
pink, one that listens to rap songs,
a woman who adorns the hijab, or
a man who is the ruler of a nation.
Let’s be our own kinds of
feminists. •
Syeda Samara Mortada is the
Coordinator of Bonhishikha, and an
advocate of equal rights.