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Medical Video: Has Swedish feminism gone too far?
If you are active enough in cyberspace, you must be familiar with the term 'feminism' which has recently become the topic of heated debate. In fact, feminism has been the background to the women's March movement in various parts of the world on World Women's Day last March - including in Jakarta. Not only women, men also took to the streets loudly voicing equality of rights for women and minorities.
Why, why do men also take part in women's affairs? Why, Adam, interfere if it has nothing to do with our lives?
If this comes to your mind about feminism, it's a good idea to refresh your mind for a moment. Feminism is an important and urgent issue, which requires support from various parties. Although the issues raised are indeed closely related to all the obstacles faced in women's lives, but feminism is not only fighting for the feasibility of women's lives - also for you, the children of Adam.
What is feminism?
Best compared to what you might see on the Internet, modern feminism is not just a matter of talking about the freedom of the way women dress. Feminism is a principle of life that promotes political, economic and social equality for all people across gender, age, status, race, and generations - women, men, transgender, agender, queer, and those of them.
Humans are created as social beings who are equal and need each other, regardless of their gender. Ironic. Because in reality, men occupy the highest caste and are superior, while women (and other minority groups) are still labeled as second class citizens - individuals whose rights and existence are underestimated.
It cannot be denied that principle majority wins still very thick in the middle of the community. Women, as a minority, always become a tail of harm from the arbitrary treatment of men; ranging from catcalling problems (seduced or whistled on the road), violence and sexual abuse, rape, to murder because of "love", "hate", or "lust". From here comes the assumption that women hate men. In fact, this is not entirely true.
Feminism does not hate men. Not also as an agenda to castrate the role of men in order to achieve gender equality. Feminism actually comes as a helping hand to help men. Because believe me, even though you never realized it, the patriarchal culture which had been a nightmare for women also poisoned the lives of many men in the world.
Why do men need feminism?
There are many reasons why men need feminism, but if all these are elaborated one by one this article might not be endless. Here are three important reasons for the many complicated social problems, why feminism is important for men's lives.
1. Feminism humanizes men
Men are always educated to become "real men" who are big and muscular, and tough and aggressive steel mentality. Indeed the doctrine of brainwashing offered by the public about male virility can have a negative impact, not only for women but for men themselves.
Understanding masculinity can further fuel the culture of harassment and oppression carried out by "masculine" men in "feminine" men, solely to show who is more "male". Understanding like this can make someone's psychology disturbed. Many men who become insecure and afraid to socialize only because they do not meet the criteria of "real men".
A man may cry, because he is a human who has feelings - not because he is "sappy", "soft", or weak. A man may choose to stay at home and take care of his child while his wife works to make a living if that is agreed upon, because household affairs are not just an obligation of one party. Boys may like pink, purple, red, or play dolls and cooks, without having to be scolded by mom and dad because color and toys do not distinguish gender.
It is legitimate for men to become a hospital nurse, dancer, or clothing designer without having to be labeled, sorry, "sissy" or "homo" because the profession does not curb gender. It's natural for men not to watch football and choose to write poetry. Hobbies regardless of gender. Men may complain of pain when they are injured without having to hear hot ears. Lo, what kind of guy is a girl? ", Because pain is a natural body response felt by all humans. Etc. Humans are living things that are dynamic, constantly changing, and unique to each other. Feminism encourages you to be yourself and appreciate every difference that humans have.
2. Men can also be victims of domestic violence
People believe that "real men" are immune from rape and violence. Even though what happens in the real world is far from that assumption. Quoting Kompas, taking data from 2012 from Ahmad Dahlan University in Yogyakarta, thirty percent of men in Indonesia have experienced sexual abuse in their lives.
In comparison, quoting Republika, three percent of the total American men (or a total of 2.78 million people) have experienced at least one rape or attempted rape in their lives. And according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 1 in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives. Although the rate of violence and sexual harassment in women remains much higher regardless of their country (on average 1 to 5), this does not mean that sexual abuse of men is something that should be ignored.
You may not hear much about cases of sexual violence and domestic violence against men reported in the mass media. This is because many victims do not report, fearing that they are considered weak. And that further complicates matters, although many of the cases of violence against men are committed by fellow men, but there are not a few cases carried out by women.
But unfortunately, the scope of understanding about the "terms and conditions" of a case of sexual violence in the realm of Indonesian law has not been fully elaborated in the new Criminal Code Bill. The understanding that women can also rape men or same-sex people (fellow men and women) can rape, it seems that it is still a concept that is completely alien in the eyes of the Indonesian people. In fact, acts of violence, whether physical, verbal, mental or sexual, are criminal offenses across gender and age. That is, women, men, adults and children alike can be victims and perpetrators.
Feminism encourages the government and other related legal institutions to reformulate the rape offense and the Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence. This is important to do for justice for the victims and provide legal certainty in handling rape cases, regardless of gender. No matter your gender or physical appearance, there must be the fairest punishment for the perpetrator of the crime.
3. Feminism fights for the right of men to become fathers
Family courts that mediate in cases of child custody are often more siding with mothers than their fathers. This is more or less reinforced by the assumption of old-fashioned gender roles in the family - the housewife is cleaning up and cooking, while the father is all day outside the house to make a living. This assumption gives a sign to men that you are inappropriate and not qualified to raise a child well. Of course this is not fair. Not all mothers are eligible to raise children (whether it is due to illness, economic factors, or tendencies / history of violence), and vice versa: not all fathers are losers in managing the household.
And not only that. Many countries in Europe have now guaranteed maternity leave paid for new fathers. But let alone to begin the formulation of the draft law for new paternity leave, in Indonesia there are still many complaints to the National Commission on Violence Against Women about the right to leave women for childbirth and breastfeeding that are not fulfilled. Countless companies prefer to directly fire or terminate female workers contracts rather than giving maternity leave.
Maternity leave for father is as important as maternity leave. It is important for fathers to develop relationships with their children from the beginning of their growth. Feminists recognize these two problems and fight for men's rights to get them.
That's why feminism needs men, and men need feminism. Underlying the feminism movement is actually gender inequality in society, and the main mastermind is the privilege that is owned by men. So the involvement of men is an important point in the principle of modern feminism, because the message and awareness of those who want to be appointed will be more effective if voiced by members of the group concerned.
