Given how divisive the subject is, it’s critical to know the difference between a feminist and a pseudo feminist. There have been numerous instances where people have taken unfair advantage of the term ‘feminist’ in order to avoid being held accountable for their actions. It’s high time for us to educate ourselves on what equality is and how to follow its principles fairly. When I came across multiple situations on the internet where individuals were misusing the term feminism and blaming it on people who exploited it for their own gain without earning any credit, I knew this was the issue I wanted to create awareness about.

Let’s start with how the term ‘feminist’ is defined vs. how it is viewed in today’s world.

According to E. Burkett (2021), “Feminism is the conviction that everyone should have full social, economic, and political equality.”

On the other hand, Pseudo-feminism incorrectly posits that women deserve more respect or that people of other sexes are inferior to them (Ayush Verma, 2020). Pseudo feminists are people who don’t understand the idea of feminism and look for signs of injustice and violence even when there aren’t any. Pseudo-feminists have managed to mutilate the definition of feminism into a brand of man-hatred, looking for any opportunity to seek vengeance rather than equality.

After speaking with a number of people, it became clear that there is still a lot of misunderstanding about feminism. In fact, while we were thinking of this topic I (Urveez) recalled a conversation I was having with some family members many years ago. I remember “opposing” the feminist movement in my naivety because I wanted to stand for equality. I was quickly informed that that is exactly what the feminist movement stood for. I had since then taken it upon myself to truly understand what it meant. Over the years, interactions with several people revealed a lot of misunderstanding about feminism. Most of them (like my less informed younger self) misunderstood feminism to mean that women were superior to males, but after being informed, they realised that their ignorance may have had a wide range of negative consequences. It is critical in a patriarchal society like India that people are not just aware of the term feminism but also understand what it means.
Fake feminism tries to exploit the social benefits of moderate self-proclaimed feminism while still adhering to patriarchal rules that create gender inequality. Feminism, in any of its numerous schools of thought, is about building a better society that is free of gender bias or any other kind of bias. True feminism seeks to defy the rules of a patriarchal society. As a result, it can’t become friends with a culture that still values patriarchy. Pseudo feminism seeks to exonerate rather than destroy a flawed system.

Fake feminism overlooks the fact that, in order to establish a world that is gender-inclusive, we must first eliminate practises and persons that perpetuate injustice. Because it’s easier to invite everyone in and pretend everything is well, they don’t publicly oppose discriminating behaviours or individuals. But feminism isn’t simple, and it’s only survived because of persistent disparities.

The recent case of a woman in Lucknow who smacked a cab driver after he reportedly touched the car to her body while the traffic light was green could be considered as an example of how women can benefit from fake feminism. She continued to violently abuse the cab driver in the hopes that everyone would automatically assume it was his fault. She even claimed that she only hit him to defend herself, despite the fact that the tapes showed that he did not harm her.

Understanding the distinction between speaking up for themselves and being truthful to oneself is critical for women. Instead of abusing feminism, they should fight for their rights in areas where they believe they are discriminated against. Many pseudo-feminists claim that men cannot be feminists, but you know who a feminist is, whether he is a man, a woman, a trans person (in fact we shouldn’t have to define ourselves) who believes in equality. Feminism is a broad phrase that refers to anyone who believes that everyone should be treated equally and should not be denied basic rights and opportunities in life.

Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.
– Maya Angelou.

– Urveez Kakalia & Aakriti Mathur.