Feminism, at its heart, has always been about equality. It is important to note that it was never about sameness, but equal dignity, opportunity, and respect for women. But today, feminism has splintered into a thousand competing voices that do not stand for the idea of empowerment of the larger section of women. The global conversation about gender equality has advanced considerably, but there is a nagging sense that much of what feminism stands for and represents in India, here in our homeland.
The Missing Voices
The loudest voices of modern feminism often emerge from urban, privileged spaces like Instagram influencers, celebrities, or elite academic circles. I am not suggesting the idea that these women do not deserve to voice their opinions. But the problem is that these voices do not necessarily represent the larger problems of rural women, working-class women, and women who do not have access to the larger idea of modernity. For rural women and women from lower economic backgrounds, the struggles are not the same. Their feminism looks like demanding land rights, fighting for education, and resisting child marriage. Their lives are a daily survival for dignity and freedom from societal oppression in the form of masculinity and patriarchy. Yet, modern feminism rarely speaks about these realities that these women face. Modern Campaigns and hashtags that trend online don’t make any impact or change to these women, because their lives need radical reform in the form of radical women's empowerment, both economically and in the form of education. This exclusion is dangerous as it narrows the movement and what it stands for. When feminism does not include everyone, it becomes less about liberation and more about urban lifestyle and less about equality.
The Princess Treatment Archetype
One of the strangest contradictions in modern “Feminism” is the celebration of “princess treatment.” On one hand, Modern feminism calls for independence, equality, and autonomy. On the other hand, social media feeds are filled with content glorifying the idea of being spoiled, adored, and pampered like royalty. This is, although the modern notion of chivalry is based on the idea that women are less capable than men. Still, chivalry in its purest form was a form of mutual respect and love. The paradox here is glaring; you cannot celebrate princess treatment while also bashing patriarchy. They are rooted in the same idea. One elevates women into gilded cages, the other fights to dismantle them. Princess treatment is like a softer, shinier version of dependence, and dressing it up as empowerment does not make it less regressive. You cannot demand chivalry simultaneously while battling the oppressive ideology it originates from.
The Cost of Aesthetic Feminism
What this paradox reveals is a deeper problem: feminism is being turned into an aesthetic, just like masculinity is today. When rebellion itself becomes a trend, disagreeing with customs simply because they are customs, or demanding independence only when it looks glamorous, it hollows the movement and the meaning it stands for.
The danger is that real changemakers, the trailblazers who genuinely seek to dismantle oppressive systems, get drowned out in the noise of performative feminism.
The Exclusion of Men from the Conversation
Another contradiction in modern feminism is how men are positioned only as antagonists who are all at fault for the historical oppression of women. While it’s true that patriarchy has historically privileged men, reducing every man to an enemy overlooks the fact that gender equality requires cooperation. Men, too, need redefinition; they need to learn new ways of relating, nurturing, and building partnerships.
But when every act of male effort is dismissed as the “bare minimum” or when women demand princess treatment while claiming equality, the movement loses coherence. Feminism cannot simultaneously reject patriarchy while romanticizing its perks.
The Rural Feminist Lens
If modern feminism were to re-centre the experiences of rural women, it would regain clarity. Rural women do not have the luxury of virtue signalling; their feminism is about survival. It is about securing water, protecting their daughters, earning wages, and escaping domestic violence. Their struggles highlight what feminism should always have been: a fight for dignity and opportunity, which changes lives and uplifts women.
By sidelining this large section of women, mainstream feminism risks becoming elitist, a movement of privilege that does not resonate with most women it claims to represent.
Towards an Inclusive Feminism
The way forward is not to abandon modern feminism but to widen it. It must hold space for rural voices and the working-class struggles of women who have very different struggles that cannot be represented by women who come from privilege. It must question the contradictions like princess treatment and call out the hollowing of rebellion into mere performance of coolness. In a world that is obsessed with aesthetics and performative activism, the most radical act is clarity and questioning what the movement stands for today. So, If Feminism wants to remain a force of real change, it must choose authenticity over performance, inclusion over exclusion.