What is Feminism in 2020?
Hey there lads, welcome back to another blogpost of mine! In today’s post, I am going to discuss about what feminism is considered to be in 2020! Personally, I view the term feminism as an essential progress for women all around the world, but bite me, because there are fools out there that take it to the extreme where it simply feels like all they are trying to do is to seek vengeance on men. But the irony is, they go about it by doing the same atrocities they are criticizing men for.
Okay, it is going to be diabolical of me to be discussing what feminism is, but I guess since everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I would stick my neck out and explain what I think feminism represents – in a positive way.
Firstly, feminism is to be an innate character as fundamentally it symbolises women’s power and importance. It highlights the strength and beauty of women and encourages women to have self-respect, and to fight for their freedom from the shackles of oppression they have been facing due to society (sadly mostly by men).
Recently, my groupmates and I discussed on what we think feminism is in 2020 and we decided that it is mandatory that we highlight the movement for positive body image. Since the time I can remember I have been seeing girls being obsessed with barbie and this obsession only reforms into serious body image issues when they grow up as they struggle to meet the ‘ideal’ body standards.
These ‘ideal’ body standards are set by industries whom hire models – who undergo plastic surgery, splash tons of make up and get their pictures edited- to advertise their products. It is saddening to see women starving themselves and developing anorexia while trying to attain the ‘slim’ figure.
Feminism in recent years have made movements to advocate the idea of finding beauty in every body shape and boy you better believe that my group mates did the best we could in order to show our support to the natural beauty movement.
As the great Kendrick Lamar once said; “ Show me somethin’ natural like afro on Richard Pryor
Show me somethin’ natural like ass with some stretchmarks”
Moving on to the next discussion at hand; Domestic Violence as discussed in a mediated public sphere
Domestic violence has been a major problem that has been plaguing families for a prolonged period of time, in fact I think it is safe to assume that even during the stone age there were unrecorded cases of domestic abuse. However, I would like to discuss an issue that has come to my attention recently, amidst the Johnny Depp & Amber Heard saga. For those who have not been following up with this incident because you could not be bothered about celebrities’ lifestyle, I urge you to take a little time out of your busy schedule to briefly go through the events. This is because I feel that there is an underlying problem within the system in how biased we tend to be when we look at parties involved in a domestic violent case.
In March 2016, Amber Heard had filed for a divorce from her then-husband Johnny Depp. She had claimed that Johnny had verbally and physically abused her during the entirety of their 15 months of marriage. Whomever question the legitimacy of the abuse was labelled a misogynist.
In 2016, Vox suggested that any doubts about Heard’s story could only be the result of misogyny (“it doesn’t really matter how women act when they accuse men of hurting them. … We’ll find a way to call them liars no matter what they do”). (https://www.vox.com/2016/8/19/12555646/amber-heard-johnny-depp-domestic-abuse-divorce)
After the divorce settlement, Amber had become a sensation or rather a hero to the point where she was even elected as the ambassador on women’s rights at the American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU).
Whereas as for Johnny Depp, his career took a plunge and he was under huge criticisms. His public image was tarnished and there were movements which urged Hollywood to stop casting him in future movies. Here are some headlines and links that were around during that period of time:
- “Everyone But Hollywood Agrees Johnny Depp Shouldn’t Be In ‘Fantastic Beasts’” (HuffPost),
- “The ‘Fantastic Beasts 2’ Problem: Why Is Hollywood Giving Johnny Depp a Pass?” (The Daily Beast)
- “Why Is Johnny Depp Still Employed, You Ask?” (The Mary Sue).
In 2019 Johnny filed for a defamation lawsuit against Amber claiming that he had evidences; witness testimonies and more than 80 surveillance videos. Johnny so much so, went to release call recordings of the conversation he had with Amber before bringing her to court for trial.
The part that concerns me the most in this saga is how public viewed each parties at a certain period of time. When Amber had claimed that she as abused there were numerous problems stacked against Johnny, however when Johnny had released evidences supporting the fact that he was indeed the victim in the abuse, there were cases that did not take him seriously for the sole reason that he was a MALE. Hell, Amber herself had told Johnny, “ Tell em, ‘I Johnny Depp…a man… I’m a victim too of domestic violence!’ and I, you know, it is a fair fight. And see how many people believe OR side with you!”.
This very sentence showcases the chilling truth or rather a loophole where many female abusers hide comfortably. Now, I am not saying that everyone sees men as an impossible target in a domestic violence but perhaps it is time to acknowledge and be aware that there are cases where men do become the victim of an abuse even if the abuser is a female. Johnny Depp in my opinion was very lucky and smart to have recorded evidences, but what about cases involving average men who are not popular or rich enough to fight a case even if they are innocent? For now, the lesson from this story is not just about the obvious limitations of the #BelieveWomen mentality; it’s also the politics, and stereotypes, of domestic violence.
#JusticeForJohnnyDepp
Gender equality is an impossible feat, if we still resort to ancient stereotypes. With consideration to the biological differences – something that we can’t naturally alter- I firmly believe that there indeed is a mutual ground where men, women and transgender can share freedom, respect and love for one another without spreading hate. Sadly, we are miles away from that paradise.
That is what I am going to leave all my readers with! Have a splendid time ahead! Till the next time we meet, stay safe and stay hygienic! Adios fam!
Siva's Thoughts 