Dear men (and women) here’s why I will never stop talking about feminism and patriarchy

For all my life, I have spoken about feminism- about patriarchy. For all my life, people have told me to stop incessantly talking about it- to shut my damn mouth because doesn’t it get exhausting?

Photo by Roya Ann Miller on Unsplash

Let me give you an answer- NO. No, it doesn’t get exhausting. But yes, it is tiring- heartbreaking to hear people shush you for something you are passionate about- for something of dire need in the contemporary world.
I usually don’t justify why I talk about feminism and the underly ropes of patriarchy that encircles it- but I think it is high time I tell you.

I talk about patriarchy because I have grown up in a patriarchal household. I talk about feminism because I was tired of hearing that women should take arts and not sciences. I am a feminist not because of my personal experiences but because I don’t want to be vulnerable- not at something people would get a chance to taunt me about it.

I am not a feminist because I hate men or because I can’t possibly take a sexist joke because- ‘It’s just a joke, Pranjali, get over it.’ I am a feminist because this sexism, this undeniably- heartbreaking sexism that women have gone through- women I know, women I don’t- boils my blood.

I am a feminist because I believe in gender equality- YES, FEMINISM IS GENDER EQUALITY. I am a feminist because women still get paid less for double the work they do than their male colleagues. I am a feminist because people believe homemakers don’t have a real job or that their only job is to make food which surprisingly men think they’re entitled to comment on.

I am a feminist because we have lost numerous women because of years of suppression. I am a feminist because that’s who I am. I am a feminist, and I don’t have to tell you why.

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

I am against patriarchy because they have set unachievable standards for men. I loathe patriarchy because I don’t want my brother falling into the trap on unnecessary standards- because I want him to be a better person.

I hate patriarchy because of years of oppression, and the generalised view has been fatal to all the genders- both really- because patriarchy doesn’t consider the possibility of other genders.

I hate patriarchy because I have unlearnt things. Don’t worry- I am a by-product of patriarchy. I have lived through it, experienced it and unlearnt it; because IT IS FINE TO UNLEARN SUCH THINGS. What isn’t fine is you adhere to patriarchy.

So, dear men and women, I will never stop talking about feminism and patriarchy because that’s who I am- and that’s who you should be: a feminist and a patriarchy-hater.