Is a girl wearing dark chic lipstick and
a bold tattoo on her arm the ideal feminist?
Is it that a woman powerfully dressed in
high waist trousers and suits, more confident of her sexuality than a plain
Jane?
In multiplex cities, often we come across
young women in bold outfits and fluorescent make up. These women are fully
aware of their existence, confident of their bodies and its flaws. They carry
themselves with an aura that could leave others spellbound; and yes they also,
always, get few eyebrows raised and few faces frowned!
Yes, no doubt a saucy tattoo and 4 inch
heels is a sign of rebellion against a culture that insists women be demure.
And I dare say so, because more or less, I am a part of those women. And yes I
am a feminist.
Today a large number of women exists which
are vociferously self indulgent and feel liberated by going to parties in sexy
outfits. These women are at ease with their sexuality. And many of them are
looked down by the society and people refuse to acknowledge them as ‘real
feminists.’
Does it really matter what shade of
lipstick a woman is wearing when it comes for her to stand up for gender
equality?
And as far as I know feminism is all about
gender equality; not about men sucking and women being awesome. That is all to
it. And everyone who believes in it is a part of the feminist movement; never
mind some are more upfront about it and some are not! Lipstick feminism is
creating havoc because since ages traditional feminism condemned
the fashion industry for sexualization and exploiting women in order to feed
into society’s patriarchal mindsets.
As it looks to me, a lipstick feminist is
someone who is a feminist and wears a lipstick. A mere
lipstick doesn't and shouldn't have the power to make her
less serious about what she believes in. A lipstick feminist is
totally aware of her sexuality and has no qualms in showing herself off. So
what!
It is only the prejudiced and the narrow
minds that refuse to come out of their shells and accept the change in
traditional feminism just the way they frown when anything new is happening in
the world.
I will tell you how it is.
There is a stigma in the society these
days:
“ The curvy women women are better is the most splendid example of crutch
use.” Now there is a right way to celebrate curves and there is a wrong one.
The wrong one says that skinny women are ugly and repelling and curves are
beautiful. But the right way to put it would be saying that all women are
pretty irrespective of their sizes.
In a parallel
comparison, shouldn't it be that all women that are a part of the
movement, are feminists with or without their lipsticks?
And must you be an extremist to be labeled
a feminist?
Absolutely not!
The core of feminism shouldn't rely
on extroverts to flourish, it is practiced by women everywhere; the
women working in multinational companies, a stay at home mother; girly
girls and the tomboys; women are little bit of everything and women are little
bit of nothing.
So does this mean that a modern educated
feminist wear a lipstick necessarily? She could be a girl wearing bright red
lipstick and a raunchy tattoo on her neck. She might.
But then again she could also be
a bra less, unshaven, angry little hippie!
