Female Chauvinism

FEMALE CHAUVINISM
For all those who strongly believe that women are the weaker sex, here’s an eye opener. The female species has proved its calibre by daring to enter those kingdoms where men have hitherto reigned, unchallenged. Like a popular advertisement on TV says ‘why should boys have all the fun?’   The woman of today is not just on par with her male counterpart, she has also managed to outshine him. In fact, she has invaded the ultimate area of male dominion. Chauvinism, which has forever been perceived as a masculine attribute is now manifesting itself in females too.
For centuries, women were confined to their homes while men explored the world. They were thought to be biologically and intellectually weak as compared to men and hence were forbidden to cross the threshold. However, as Estelle R. Ramey said, “Women’s chains have been forged by men, not by anatomy”. Men’s monopoly over the outside world gave rise to a strong sense of superiority, more precisely, male chauvinism. Derived from the name of Nicolas Chauvin, an excessively patriotic French soldier, chauvinism means extreme enthusiasm or devotion to a cause. When preceded by ‘male’, it refers specifically to attitudes and actions that assume the superiority of the male sex and thus the inferiority of women.
Eleanor Roosevelt had said, “A woman is like a teabag. It’s only when she’s in hot water that you realise how strong she is.” And the water had indeed begun to boil. The world witnessed a revolution in the form of a movement called feminism. Feminism strove to eradicate the oppressive patriarchal values that dictated the society. Feminists crusaded for women’s educational and political rights and equal status. A radical change was evident in literature with Simone de Beauvoir, Charlotte Bronte, Sylvia Plath, and Virginia Woolf and so on. Filmmakers focused on women centric themes.   The battle of the sexes had taken an interesting turn.
While the feminist movement has gained momentum, its...