The F-word paradox: Why it's easier to be a feminist when you don't have breasts

By Sandip Roy and Lakshmi Chaudhry

Making her first speech as the newly anointed UN Goodwill Ambassador, actor Emma Watson noted that at the age of 18 , “I decided that I was a feminist. This seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word.”

She was immediately targeted by what appeared to be 4Chan trolls but now it seems to be social media company called Rantic which made the site as a way to shut down 4Chan. Others posted false reports of her death.

At around the same time, in a galaxy far, far away, actor Joseph Gordon Levitt decided to release a cool little video about feminism, sparked by his recent admission on the Ellen DeGeneres show that he is, gasp, a feminist. No threats, serious or otherwise, were made.

Apparently, the sexist double standard applies in all matters, including feminism. As Watson mildly noted, the f-word is indeed “unpopular” these days, but it entails a number of hazards for woman. Here then are five other reasons why it is always easier for a man to come out of as a feminist.

You are not constantly threatened or vilified

When activist Kavita Krishnan went on a Rediff.com live chat to discuss anti-rape protests, she was threatened by someone who wanted to come rape her using a condom. No one is threatening any such dire consequences for Joseph Gordon-Leavitt. Neither did anyone threaten to leak Farhan Akhtar’s nude pictures to the world for his MARD campaign. Or call him a feminazi.

“Be a catalyst for change, empowering women, empowering humanity,” says Farhan Akhtar with blithe abandon in his He For She video But when Emma Watson had the temerity to ask men to join the HeForShe campaign, a group called Women Against Feminism tweeted ‘BURN THE WITCH’.

When a woman is feminist she’s regarded not as someone who wants equal pay for equal work but as one of “a load of strident bitches” says Susan Sarandon. That’s why Sarandon would rather think of herself as a “humanist” not an “old-fashioned” feminist. Humanist is the kinder, gentler version who a man is allowed to flirt with. All that ‘feminist’ earns a woman is instant and constant abuse.

It doesn’t make you instantly ugly.

When Huma Qureshi showed up on the cover of Femina behind the message I Don’t Owe You Perfection! My Body, My Rules it became the toast of social media for breaking the patriarchal tyranny of the mannequin body. But asked on NDTV if she was one of “those feminists” who don’t believe in chivalry she was quick to say “I am not a feminist. I am an equalist for sure.”

It’s one thing to be full-figured and have a Bollywood career, and quite another for a feminist to aspire to stardom. So it is that Madhuri Dixit can wax eloquent on women’s empowerment and why she does a film like Gulaab Gang but she’s quick to clarify she’s not a feminist, just “independent and strong”.

The F-word apparently is the equivalent of having garlic breath. No one will think Gordon-Leavitt will skip on the cologne after coming out as a feminist but any woman who calls herself one conjures up images of hairy armpits, unthreaded upper lips, and no vanity bag within thirty yards. The ‘feminist’ label is the quickest route to female celibacy, but for men it just adds a little dimple to that sensitivity factor.

No one assumes you hate men

“Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and, unattractive,” says Emma Watson . She could have added lesbian to the stereotype soup. For as we all well know, lesbians haaaate men. (sarcasm alert)

Hence, endorsing anything that even vaguely endorses ‘girl power’ requires a hasty qualification. So it Katy Perry insisted , “I am not feminist but I do believe in the power of women.” To her credit, she later acknowledged that she is a feminist but made sure we all know that “it just means that I love myself as a female and I also love men.”

Gordon-Levitt will not have to love himself into a pretzel and coin words like “equalist” to be a feminist. When he says he’s a feminist, he is being inclusive. He loves everybody. Both Watson and he have made clear that they define feminism as equality, but only one is assumed to be a man-hating cow.

Mamata Banerjee, for all her fire-breathing antics, wanted her audience at a NewsLaundry event to know “But I am not a feminist,” and for good reason. No politician can afford to be suspected of disliking one half of her potential voters. Even Brinda Karat says she is an “activist” not a feminist and the days of putting up “women’s only signs” are over.

You don’t have to risk losing your feminist card for the slightest slip

Shabana Azmi might have no problems calling herself a “feminist” but many of her peers felt she let them all down by marrying the already-married Javed Akhtar. Smita Patil faced similar ire for falling in love with a married man as well and was labeled a “home-breaker” by some of the organisations she had worked assiduously for.

A woman’s feminist credentials are always at risk and the slightest slip means your feminist card will be revoked by other self-proclaimed card-carrying feminists. What? You think drag is funny? You danced to choli ke peechhey? Off with your head. Don’t even hum a Honey Singh song in the shower. While Indian Twitter may not have experienced American-style feminist wars , misogyny has become the favourite charge leveled at women writers the moment they criticise a female personality. So knocking Smriti Irani can earn a woman the self-righteous wrath of BJP supporters, while a negative assessment of Sonia Gandhi can transform her into a strong woman-hating right-winger.

You are not accountable for what every other feminist says or does

If a woman dares to call herself a feminist she must be prepared to defend Arundhati Roy’s stance of Maoists, Naomi Wolf on motherhood, and Teesta Setalvad on Gujarat. If Germaine Greer or Gloria Steinem changes her mind about the virtues of the traditional family, the feminist woman must respond whether or not she agrees with Gloria Steinem or Greer.

A woman who identifies with the F-word is immediately regarded as part of an inflexible iron-clad contract-bound sisterhood which has to march in lock step on every issue from a woman’s right to choose to the invasion of Iraq. Worse, she is now accountable for the words and actions of every feminist group or leader. Gordon-Leavitt will not be regarded as hypocritical for having no opinion on the burqa but an Emma Watson had better have her answer prepped.

Look at those Indian feminists up in arms about gang-rapes in Bharat and so quiet about what the Islamic State fighters are doing to women in Iraq. Arundhati Roy thinks ’terrorists’ represent the “biggest feminist movement in India”. What do ‘you feminists’ – ladies only, please! – have to say about that, huh?