Focus: Feminism

Focus: Feminism

11:02 Gulf News: Employers worry when they hire young or middle-aged women that they’ll get pregnant, go on leave and cost the company. So grant paternity leave equal to maternity leave to neutralise this issue.

11:05 Arushi Madan: Yes, I fully agree that granting paternity leave should be considered to neutralise this issue and concerns in employers’ minds at the time of hiring female employees. I wish I could agree that the feminist movement has done its job and the 21st century is fully post-patriarchal. But women still face significant obstacles that men do not. Overcoming those obstacles requires a feminist perspective. So, Feminism is still relevant and important because the sad fact is that we are not an equal society and as long as these inadequacies continue there will be a continued demand for feminism.

11:06 Sheher Munawar: I agree. The importance of paternity leave is as important as maternity leave, may be even more. A child needs to be taken care of and if the mother is working it gets difficult. It is not possible to leave your jobs to become a full-time mother, but it is possible to find that middle ground.

11:10 Gulf News: Feminist movement has achieved its objectives – women have equal opportunity in the workplace.

11:11 Sheher Munawar: I disagree. The feminist movement has not achieved its objectives. The world is vast and the population of women in this world is immense. To say that all women now enjoy equal rights would be wrong.

11:12 Arushi Madan: I disagree. It is undeniable that the great feminist movements of the 20th century have come and gone and have left in their wake an impressive shift towards gender equality. But that has not been enough. We are not really there yet. The 21st century needs to see more feminist movements in order to see gender equality become a real facet of our societies.

11:20 Tanisha Gupta: I don’t entirely agree. While women have made strides beyond belief in different arenas, the discrimination still exists, be it in the West or other parts of the world. Right from pay scales to career advancement, the first thing that comes to everyone’s mind when taking a woman into consideration for a prestigious position is how she looks, whether she’ll be able to handle the pressure, will she be able to stay in this position long enough or will marriage and babies take up all her time. Women in the West might be treated far more equally than women elsewhere, but I believe they are subject to the same sort of discrimination, perhaps on a smaller scale, than women elsewhere.

11:22 Gulf News: Modern women resent the suggestion of feminism that they need special treatment.

11:24 Sheher Munawar: That I believe, surprisingly, is true. Living in this part of the world, where women are not treated badly, bringing up the issues of feminism suggests that women are weak and need protection.

11:26 Arushi Madan: Yes, many modern women are perfectly capable of competing with men on equal terms, and they resent suggestions that they need special treatment. For the average modern woman, feminism is dead. They at times tend to feel that it is too aggressive towards men.

11:27 Sheher Munawar: The idea of feminism is to provide women with equal rights. It is needed. There are still women who greatly need this support. Just because some have received their rights, doesn’t mean we stop fighting for the others.

11:28 Tanisha Gupta: Modern women don’t resent feminism but resent the fact that such a movement is required. I think it should be a given that men and women are equal or that women should be treated with respect and as equals, let alone have an entire movement fighting for such rights. Unfortunately, because of the gender discrimination — female infanticide in India being one such example — that exists in so many parts of the world, feminism and people fighting for women’s rights are still needed, especially in patriarchal societies, even though I don’t know how much of a difference these things are making. Modern women resent the fact that because women are still not treated as equals, such a movement is required even in this day and age. A movement for something that should be a given. What a shame!

11:33 Sheher Munawar: I think it is alright for modern women to resent discrimination, that’s an opinion. But the movement of feminism is crucial to society even today and a few opinions should not affect that reality.

11:35 Gulf News: Feminism has damaged traditional gender roles making feelings such as being motherly to be weak.

11:36 Sheher Munawar: I agree. My opinion is that feminism is needed but i will agree it has gone to far. Some women are so driven that their traditional gender roles such as taking care of their kids, cooking a good meal for your partner or even something as simple as getting the groceries has become a topic of discussion. Again the idea of feminism is to provide equal rights not for women to be treated better than men, but equal to them. I think some women have forgotten that. I know we all want to be treated equally and we want voting rights, we want to be able to work. But sometimes, there are things only a woman can do best and just because a man doesn’t do it doesn’t mean he thinks its not his job. Just that women are better at some things than men.

11:42 Tanisha Gupta: I’m on the fence with this one. The feminist movement has helped women attain numerous milestones in different walks of life, pushed us to fight for our rights, consider ourselves as equal. However, I doubt we can pin the entire blame on the movement for destroying traditional gender roles even though Sheher has made some valid points. Too many people misunderstand and misinterpret feminism. Feminism is not a movement against men, it’s a movement for equality! And there are women who do a stellar job of balancing both work and family.

— Compiled by Huda Tabrez/Community Web Editor