The feminist movement in popular culture has often been synonymous with seizing the male narrative. The core of the movement has always been to ensure that women reclaim the reigns of a society that was dominated by men.
However, many roadblocks have come up in the way of achieving gender equality in the backdrop of societal misgivings and rigid traditions. The most difficult one is breaking free of these social fetters as a woman without having to question your entire existence.
Misogyny and patriarchy form a complex web of archaic traditions and discriminatory patterns, at the bottom of which lies the perpetrated ideologies that have been infused into the minds of people for generations. Considering that women have been historically placed as the upholders of family values, it shouldn’t be a surprise that it is most often women themselves who knowingly, or unknowingly, enforce such ideas onto others. The idea of subtle misogyny has been so cleverly perpetuated that even though the narrative is held primarily by men, it is the women who are made to enforce the ideals.
Years of being conditioned into an atmosphere where false pictures of self-worth dictated by patriarchal ideas ruled women’s lives have had a devastating effect; it has become a most dismal yet natural outcome that our perceptions are still plagued by the very elements that feminism seeks to dispel.
These principles and beliefs, however minimal in nature, often manifest into forms of violence. While instances of men indulging in hatred-induced behaviour against women are much more common, it cannot be denied that instances of women perpetuating the same passive-aggressive prejudice are still prevalent. This exists in such niche instances that it can be easily overlooked but is equally, if not more, harmful for a community like ours, which hinges on collective transformation.
This idea seems to stem from two major factors. The first one is a place of coercion wherein women feel like a far worse consequence would befall them if they do not nod their heads to the decisions and choices of the men around them. The second one, or the more common one, is that they’ve been fed this idea of disguised misogyny throughout their life, so much so that it’s unknowingly become intrinsic to their life now.
Women are often conditioned into believing that they have to follow certain norms in order to be perceived as the perfect woman and that failing to do so might revoke their position as the symbol of femininity in society. The worst outcome of these manifests in ways wherein women engage in casual patriarchal commentary and criticism to make sure this synthesised ideal holds out. Comments on dressing sense, asking their peers to hold themselves in a certain way, and assuming the goal of perfection to appease the men around them are all principles that are inherently imbibed into women through a series of conditioning practices happening right since childhood.
Now that more women are coming to terms with this realisation, it has resulted in a tumultuous upheaval of our lifelong principles. But it is also at this point that the entire movement of collectivism stands at its weakest. Women’s negative perceptions of themselves and their role in society fueled the skeptic patriarchs’ attempt to pit women against one another. Men preying on the inhibitions of women has been the sole reason that narratives of internalised misogyny have flourished for this long in society, and is still a reason this realisation and upheaval is a dire need right now.
The feminist movement still has a long way to go. Even as the historical aspiration of the deconstruction of a male-dominated society remains, the undeterred support of women towards each other still serves as the essence that binds together and keeps the movement alive even today.