As feminists try to gain higher ground, a tiny movement attempts to find its way
So for starters, let's have women ask us out; make the first move, so to speak. Women should learn to woo and persuade a man and it should just not be a man's responsibility. Irfan Ahmed, model
Hyderabad: Emma Watson might be the face of feminist movement that has been fighting misogyny. But in Twitterverse, it’s a new movement has surfaced a counterattack comes from men who call themselves “meninists”.
When the first meninist comments originated on social media, the BBC had reported, “#MeninistTwitter was initially started by men sharing jokes some of which were criticised as offensive by feminists. But supporters of the hashtag say it’s become a channel for men to express the difficulties of being a man in the 21st century.”
The hashtag has picked up more momentum recently, with the Twitter handle The Meninist currently counting upwards of 95.8 thousand followers. While many like the sexist humour the handle peddles, others feel some of the posts veer towards the offensive.
Feminists think meninists are cut off from the situation on the ground, and, therefore, do not really have cause for a movement. “It is women who are always at the receiving end there are lakhs of women who suffer (from gender-related harassment) compared to perhaps the two men in lakhs who might have to put up with similar treatment,” says sociologist Nandini Sardesai.
Nandini also points out that in most Asian countries with the exception of a few communities patriarchy persists. “So-called civilised man has always put the woman in a subordinate position. Be it in her private or public life, she has very little say. So, I do feel it’s the women who need to stand up and assert their authority (rather than men).”
And the city too seems to have a few meninists, as model Irfan Ahmed says, “To be honest, women are stronger now and men weaker thanks to all the laws on their side.”
“Men also want to be treated special you know,” he says, adding, “Although I am a model, I am shy when it comes to women and I have had fear of rejection hold me back. So for starters, let’s have women ask us out, make the first move, so to speak. Women should learn to woo and persuade a man and it should just not be a man’s work. Sometimes it would be nice to have a woman hold the door for us too.”
Being in the fashion industry, Irfan also has every right when he says, “Stop objectifying us, just like how women protest to being objectified.” Magandeep Singh, sommelier and TV show host, feels the entire movement can be thought of in terms of the philosophical terms of “thesis, antithesis and synthesis”. He explains how when one gender (women) felt suppressed, they created the feminist movement or the “initial thesis”.
“The antithesis the meninist movement is when men feel that women are given more leeway. The synthesis would be where the next generation finds some balance for a while,” Magan says.
Experts also point out that feminism and meninism, as movements, come from different spaces. Social scientist Shiv Vishwanathan says, “Feminism was a movement, centred around body and imagination, centred around struggle it has a sense of the erotic as well as the sense of political. We cannot confuse the movement with a network. They are very different in the political space.”
He concludes that the meninism trend “will eventually get ironic, paradoxical or pornographic”.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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