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“ONE IS NOT BORN, BUT RATHER BECOMES, A WOMAN”

The very first book about feminism was probably written by Mary Wollstonecraft. Her book’s name was Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Published in 1792, her views were widely regarded as absurd. At that time, it was hard for society to acknowledge women’s rights. In fact, satirizing her book, a new book was published by an anonymous writer, A Vindication of the Rights of Brutes. This was the position of women at that time. They were compared by the animals!

Days passed. Things started to change. Many people, understanding the importance of feminism came forward to establish women’s rights in the society. But the most impactful work among those was of a woman. Her name was Simone de Beauvoir. Beauvoir was a French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist, and social theorist. Her 1949 book The Second Sex was the starting point of second-wave feminism and it’s often regarded as the most major work done on feminist philosophy.

This book is of two volumes: Facts and Myths and Lived Experience. In the first volume Beauvoir mainly spoke of the facts and myths regarding women and men were considered as the “default” and women were considered as the “other”. Also, she spoke about how people fixed the roles of women in society. In the second volume, the author mainly talked about the upbringing of a girl, and that how she gradually became a woman.

The most celebrated and influential quote from this book, which also lines the summary of the book, is: One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. This book bears the testimony that a woman is not a mere a gender or sex, it’s a word to describe weakness, a word that describes subordination. As we all have heard in Hindi movies fighting sequences, Are you a lady? Fight back!

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WOMEN SUBORDINATION: THEN VS NOW

Are women truly free now? Or is the situation almost the same? If we look back at the past misogynistic societies, we would find women as an object. They were not even considered a human being, thus they were restrained to enjoy many basic human rights. Let’s get into the time machine and see how their previous condition was.

Women were subordinated in the past by men. Men used to fix the life goals of women. Even if they would have any goals and other hobbies, there was almost no way to get those fulfilled. Education was a luxury to them. Why would women need education? Their main job was to take care of their husbands or fathers who came home after work; their job was to take care of the household chores alone like a slave, to give birth, to bring up the child etc. It was unimaginable to think that women could work like men. A woman would become Magistrate! A woman would become a Pilot! A woman would become an officer! At that time, even dreaming of those things were considered to be a crime. In fact, a woman would always stay under a man, men were superior to women; such thinking was very common those days. But yes, women had respect back at that time. They were loved and respected as a mother, a loving wife or a caring sister. Their roles in society were much limited back then.

Now, let’s get back in the present time. The situation is way better compared to the past. We now acknowledge women’s rights. They can now work with men in almost every sector. They can now become a Magistrate, a Pilot or an Officer. In addition, the radius of their work has increased quite a lot. But sadly, men and women are still now considered unequal and thus we see a new type of subordination. Although women are getting enough freedom to work, they are not getting the proper working space. They are constantly going through sexual and physical harassment. As a result, due to this lack of security, women are keeping themselves subordinated. Moreover, many people ridicule feminism. They think that feminism means free sex, wearing short clothes.

Therefore, we see the situation has changed with time but women are still being subordinated amidst the feminist movement. To really change the situation, we need proper education. Educating people about this will help the situation to improve. Other than that, the whole feminist movement would become a joke.

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FEMINISM 101

It's quite saddening to see that most of the people around us are not aware of the true meaning of feminism. All they know in the name of feminism is "Pseudo-feminism". The term "pseudo" means not genuine. It feels dreadful when the people around you don't get feminism right where men and women work together in almost everywhere In this modern age.

Being a human being of the 21st century, we need to understand the differences between feminism and not-genuine-feminism.

Let's dive into the real meaning and idea behind feminism. The main idea of feminism is that men and women will get equal rights. Not much or not less than each other. Absolute equity should be ensured. Yes, men and women are biologically different from each other and they have their own unique traits but that doesn't make a man superior to women or vice-versa. At least, not at this age.

If we get this thing clear then we can understand that feminism never tells any woman that she should stay naked and at the same time never tells to get imprisoned into a Burqa. Feminism doesn't care what a woman should wear. It's completely her choice. If someone wears a bikini then one cannot say she is a "slut", "whore" etc. Or if someone wears a Burqa then one cannot also say anything bad to her. If any societal and cultural barrier bans wearing bikinis, feminism condemns such barriers. On the other hand, if the societal and cultural barrier bans wearing Burqa in the same manner then feminism also condemns such barrier.

According to feminism, if anyone thinks that a woman is born to rear the family only and to do the household chores, such thinking is quite obnoxious. She has to cook as she's a woman, she has to manage the kids as she's a woman, she has to take care of the household as she's a woman, and such thinking is hated by the true feminist. Of course, a woman needs to know cooking, managing kids and household the very same way a man needs to know cooking, managing kids and household as these are basic survival skills.

Like this, many things could be written. But I won't write anymore. Use your brain and find the rest of the things. People don't understand the true feminism because they don't use their brain properly.

The doctrine, the laws that don't support the equality of men and women, the laws which confine the perambulation of women in all walks of life, feminism hates those doctrines, those laws and so do I.

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BEGUM ROKEYA: THE INCEPTION OF FEMINIST MOVEMENT IN THIS SUB-CONTINENT

Two decades before the 20th Century, a woman was born in this Indian sub-continent who alone brought the whole backdated women of the region from darkness to light. If it sounds an exaggeration to you, then at least you have to agree that she showed the path to those backdated women to light who were suffering from the rampages of illiteracy, being closeted in the house and the overall misogyny. She was the first person to start the feminist movement in Bangladesh. She's none other than our Rokeya Sakhwat Hossain.

She was born in Payrabondo village of Rangpur, British India in 1880 into a backdated conservative Muslim family. Begum Rokeya was born in such a family where she had to stay under veil from even outsider women from the age of five. It's quite astonishing for such a woman to become a feminist in her later days and more astonishing to write books such as Sultana's Dream, Oborodhbashini, Motichur, Poddorag etc.

Begum Rokeya had a very clear vision. She knew that women's condition won't be better if they don't get educated. The sad fact is, almost every women, especially Muslim women were totally uneducated. One of the main hindrances behind that was the strict veiling system. So after opening a school for women, Rokeya went door to door to make the parents understand that proper veil would be maintained if they allow the women of their house to go to school. The task was not easy. But she did her job quite well.

Besides educating women, Rokeya Sakhwat Hossian depicted the miserable situation of women at that time using her writing skills. She has written several essays both in English and Bangla to ensure the rights of women at that time.

Begum Rokeya gives us hope that change can be made how hard the situation is. Now, it is our responsibility to take the feminist movement she started to its actual goal.