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I believe in equal rights, regardless of gender or any social class. If I am asked, "Do you believe in the equity of rights between male, female, and any other genders?" My answer will always be yes. But if I am questioned for a feminist identity, I won't answer it. I acknowledge that feminism is supposedly about equal rights for each gender, but I also acknowledge that's not how my answer will be interpreted.
I have heard of girls younger than me (I am 18) getting married in my family, and I have seen how females are extensively suppressed, even in my own household. When it comes to associating with genders, I have been extensively helped by both males and females. I can guarantee that whatever I am today is based on the contributions of both. I believe this trendy ideological term of feminism is baseless, harmful, and not even natural.
An idea or philosophy is seeded and grown by minds that believe in kindness and equity, but I believe present feminism was born not from the minds of great, kind thinkers, but rather from minds that believe in consumerism and the exploitation of Earth's resources—minds that turned an important issue of rights into a pathetic joke. That’s what I believe feminism is now: a consumerism-based, superficial, and impractical method to sabotage human rights and happy co-existence.
My First Argument: The Existence of Feminism Is Becoming Baseless, or Even a Joke
The concept of equal rights has existed in our world since the French Revolution. The world has changed a lot since then. Nowadays, a state protects even criminals in jail with their basic rights. While it's true that gender discrimination was once widespread, it was being solved in a very practical and cooperative effort between governments, activists, and the public. I remember studying, writing, and having my teachers discuss gender discrimination as far back as when I was in fourth grade. It was about respect and co-education.
Nowadays, the whole idea based on values has been turned into product-based selling, where feminism means looking a certain way rather than thinking and working a certain way. A girl showing her body for views or money is not feminism; it's her personal right. She isn't fighting for equal rights between genders; she is just making a living, which, in its way, is morally bad whether it's done by a male or any other gender.
Feminism should actually mean a girl serving in society as a concerned member. It’s not even about being equal to males. This harsh debates, flood of opinions and extremism in concept of feminism was never even supposed to exist because it never had enough proper substance to require it to be so noisy. Yes, everyone should have rights regardless of gender or any other background. This notion on its own is effective for equality. Every actual improvement that has occurred is based on this idea of humanity.
I believe the existence of this whole confusing notion of wrong feminism isn’t ideal or justifiable without including cheap business. Things were improving, but if problems are solved and love is about self-acceptance, you can't make people spend mindlessly. Out of nowhere, a big boom! Business notions made feminism exclusive to their products. It was a movement born from the incapacity in implementing human rights to fix inter-gender conflicts and discrimination. This huge attention and conflict over a solving issue has made serious impact, making rights of females (as feminism is now seen as) a joke.
My Second Argument: The New Portrayal of Feminism Was Never Supposed to Solve Anything
As I see it, the actions that made openness, independence, or beauty exclusive to creams, clothes, or scents were simply a profit-based business expansion. The reality was that along with the improving status of females, they were also provided with spending capacity. And that's where brands expanded their business. They gave females a pseudo-hope that buying creams and clothes was the way to fight a war against gender oppression, or even a reason to do what they love. So-called "feminist" brands contributed almost nothing to the improvement and instead ruined them. Our society never needed such harsh attention and sensitivity to discrimination based on gender, as it fueled emotions rather than intellect. This created a crowd, and a crowd has no mind and no sense.
Also, this feminism acted only as a one-sided sword toward males rather than going against both patriarchy and the exploitations that occur to men. I once listened to activist Kamla Bhasin, and she beautifully stated how we are going against patriarchy, not men, and how it is harmful to men themselves too. It’s crystal clear how this wave of feminism wasn't supposed to solve anything but rather to boost sales and increase consumption, which is just exploiting everything.
Final Thoughts
As I said in the beginning, feminism nowadays never seems like an idea from a noble mind to me. I believe in advocating for the rights of every gender. And for me feminism isn't new but a lost value. My culture and my part of civilization has always believed in women as a god which is a less narcissistic version of saying god is a woman. Where It was to provide respect and love for their contribution females have been for centuries as mother, sister, partner and million other things. And that’s what I want for all the females to love, care and support society rather than being an eye candy or self exploiting. I just think this fight between male and female is childish behavior that hugely exploits our meaningful existence. And that’s where this feminism has stigmatized gender equality
