This male dominated market sponsored feminism has failed to address the key issues and are only busy in mobilizing women for ends that are determined not by the genuine concerns of  women but by the needs of the market, which are not only owned by the men but also have men as the chief spenders of money.

DR JAVED JAMIL

NEW DELHI: The gang-rapes including the Nirbhaya case that holted the national conscience, the legal sanction to Live-in relationships, attempt to decriminalise gay and lesbianism, snooping case involving a prime ministerial candidate, the murder of a girl by parents and the alleged “rape” of a journalist by one of the most notable figures in investigative journalism in India – all these have dominated the period between the closing stages of 2012 and 2013. In the mist of the public outrage, the forces of economics have been busy safeguarding their interests. The feminist movements, which are in most cases male-market sponsored, have been trying to dominate the responses in the media, courts and establishments. This male dominated market sponsored feminism has failed to address the key issues and are only busy in mobilising women for ends that are determined not by the genuine concerns of  women but by the needs of the market, which are not only owned by the men but also have men as the chief spenders of money. The result is that the exploitation of women and crimes against them are not decreasing by any stretch of imagination; they are rocketing to new heights everyday. But with the control of the markets, even their exploitation is being often presented as “freedom”. The examples are for everyone to see. The commercial exploitation of women is ever on the rise. The world has as high a number of female “sex workers”,

the euphemism for prostitutes, as it had never had in the past. The number is in hundreds of millions. The female pornographic actresses are in high demand.

The actresses are becoming increasingly confident about performing the “bold” scenes, another euphemism for “shameless”. Thanks to the freedom of choice in sex, more and more teenage girls are becoming pregnant and “helped” in aborting their own children. More than 50 million humans-in-making are killed in the name of this great achievement of feminism movement. And ironically this massive carnage is being enacted also in the name of “Human Rights”, which is another euphemism for “human surrender” to market. Another great achievement of this male sponsored feminism is that the glorification of lesbianism as a feminine right has been astutely used by the market forces to institutionalize and legalise male homosexuality. This again is ironical because there is huge difference between male and female homosexuality in terms of sexuality and impact.

Male homosexuality involves penetration, and has no direct effect on the reproductive system. The male role in reproduction is limited to discharge of semen and sperms, which is not affected by the nature of sex. In contrast, the female role involves penetration by a male organ followed by pregnancy and birth. Female homosexuality does not achieve any. Lesbianism is being promoted only to make sure that women do not rise against gays on the ground of “discrimination” against them and denial of their genuine biological rights. Finally, the feministic support to the market sponsored sexual revolution has made them vulnerable to all types of violence against them. The incidences of sexual assaults are increasing and will continue to increase till the system remains provocative.

The padishahs of economic fundamentalism had reckoned quite early in their march towards glory that the sales of consumer items would receive a shot in the arm if the natural attraction between men and women were exploited up to the hilt. The early realisation of this fact signalled the dawn of a new era where everything that was formerly considered private would turn public and everything that formerly had public importance would be enchained forever. Throughout the ages, almost all over the globe, there had been curbs on free meeting of adult men and women because of the attendant risks in such unions.

The activities of young men and women were always under close scrutiny; and the elders would take serious notice of even minute violations of the code of conduct, written or unwritten, that was in force in society. The restrictions on women were somewhat more strictly enforced, as it was they who would face the biological consequences of any breach of sexual barriers. The man would go scot-free unless of course the evidence of his involvement was proved beyond doubt. The woman, whose involvement did not require any proof, had to face the brunt of the law. If she had no evidence to prove which the child’s father was and the father did not come forward to hold her, she could face death, lashes or banishment from society. The greater restraints on women were therefore understandable. Parents wanted to avoid at all costs such a sorry situation to develop. They would therefore marry their children, especially daughters as soon as, sometimes even before, the first signs of their puberty surfaced.

Early marriages were the rule rather than an exception throughout the world. This guaranteed chastity in social life as well as a strong and smooth family system.  But such a system was inimical to the interests of manufacturers and merchants. For a steady boom in the consumer market, these restraints had to be mitigated. However, to strike at the established norms would be an enormous task. Whatever the occult motive, the declared intention must look humanistic. This led to the beginning of the great ideological war for the “emancipation” of women. The age-old “atrocities” being perpetrated on women were reproduced in grotesque details. The fact that woman too, in her own indomitable style, using her own strengths, often exploited man’s weaknesses, dominated and harassed him was entirely ignored.

The relationship between the two sexes was converted into a lifelong tussle and was reduced to a husband-wife battle for dominance. The whole society was declared ‘male chauvinist’. The truth that women’s rights were trampled upon in many parts of the world and that the clergy often misinterpreted scriptures to deny them their rightful share facilitated the matters for the economic fundamentalists. They found their game-plan proceed­ing with rapid velocity towards its ultimate victory. They did not mind if it proved a Pyrrhic victory for the world. Feminism assumed enormous significance. It became the most discussed, the most debated and the most widespread movement of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The movement, fed by the big business, engendered a new socio-cultural milieu, which produced two distinct kinds of feminists: genuine and sham. The genuine feminists had real concern for the upheaval of the fair sex. But they could not properly comprehend the machinations of the market forces in their overwhelming support for their feminist struggle. Unfor­tunately, their thoughts were constructed or reconstructed on the basis of influences by
the market-sponsored magazines, books and journals. This resulted in an error of judgment on their part and they often failed to recognise the real issues.

Much greater in number was the sham or pseudo-feminists who earned huge wealth and fame for their pro-market views on men-women relationship. Little they did feel for uplifting women. Their aim, on the contrary, was to redefine their status that will make it easy for the economic fundamentalists to use them for their gargantuan appetite for money. They contrived to make women the wheels of the train of business. With women continuing to be safely entrenched for most of the time within the environs of their houses, the mutual charm between the two sexes that had great commercial potential would not blossom. Once women started coming out of their houses and the prospects of mixing of men and women brightened, they in order to attract one another with their physical treasures would be more than willing to spend their hard-earned money for purchasing a variety of decorative items. Many a new market would also open with the flow of time.

Feminists had their eyes fixed only on the atrocities committed on women by men. They miserably failed, or to be honest, deliberately refused to look on the other side. They viewed history through lenses that would focus for them only what they desired to view. If they had done the earnestness of purpose, the consequences could not have been as horrendously damaging to mankind as they have been. They could then have closely watched the developments and could perhaps have forestalled the march of time from going in the wrong direction.

They might then have saved womankind from becoming the most obedient slaves of man’s desires that it has lately become. They could still have campaigned for the promotion of women’s role in specific fields. Woman’s lib might then not have shrunk to form a mere tool of exploitation in the hands of foxy and covetous merchants. She might then have cruised ahead triumphantly, albeit with grace, and without annoying the tranquillity of family and society, to her desired goal in the world. Alas! This was not to be. The so-called feminism, in perspective, proved to be either of the two:
sham and contrived, or ill informed and ill conceived. It did not deliver any real good, and in addition encumbered woman’s shoulders much beyond her physical and mental capacity.

It is high time women realised the dangers of this male-market-sponsored feminism. They must understand that the true freedom lies in realising the natural rights, duties and prohibitions and planning their strategies within the parameters of this trio. If they don’t realise it now, they will not only spell doom for womankind but the whole mankind.

* Dr Javed Jamil is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough” and “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map”. Other works include “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”. He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com