Feminism VS Tradition

Traditions are an integral part of every culture around the world. They are unique to each culture, giving them an identity. From trick-or-treating during Halloween in the Western world to giving red packets during Chinese New Year, traditions bring people together to celebrate and pass on culture. It can be said to be the ‘body’ of any culture. With many of these traditions being passed down from decades or centuries ago, it is inevitable that they are affected by the idea of patriarchism. Amidst the ideological conflict between feminism and patriarchism, one might have the concern: will feminists attempt to denounce or reject such traditions imbued with patriarchy? If yes, will it be disrespectful to the culture itself?

Each culture has its own unique traditions, such as trick-or-treating during Halloween and giving red packets during Chinese New Year.

Fortunately, not all traditions contain the idea of patriarchy, or they are at least not harmful to anyone. Santa Claus may be a man in folklore, but it does not go against feminism! There are also some patriarchal traditions that have been integrated into society, but which have alternatives available for opposing people. One such example is name-changing, which is quite widely accepted in a world where last names are inherited from the male family. These traditions, though based on patriarchy, are quite tame and insignificant, so as long as we keep an open mind about how such traditions are interpreted and give people the freedom to choose whether to follow the traditions or not, they will ultimately be beneficial for our society.

On the contrary, however, there are a lot of traditions and customs that are blatantly harmful and not widely accepted by modern standards, yet are still being carried out in certain areas of the world, with the recent ban of women from attending secondary schools in Afghanistan being a prime example. Taliban, the organisation seizing control over the country, enforced a strict ban on women’s rights to education, among many other violations of human rights towards other minorities, based on a strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. Though it may stem from Islamic religion and customs, it is quite obvious that these practices are detrimental to minorities in the country, and only serve as a method of discrimination. And due to most religious texts being written in ancient or seldomly-used languages, people with power can abuse these loopholes to implement unjust laws under the name of religion and tradition, as evidenced above. Though many may think that modern society has already moved on from such primitive ideas, the truth is many people are still suffering due to these customs and practices around the world.

Afghan women wait to receive bread in Kabul in January. Photo: Ali Khara/Reuters

So how does all this relate to feminism? The targets of feminism are not wholesome and beneficial customs carried out around the world, but rather ones that are created as tools of oppression against females and minorities. Most feminists certainly will not be against Valentine’s Day (except perhaps the most radical ones), but anyone should be against the violation of human rights carried out by the Taliban, as well as many other people and organisations around the world. As normal citizens, however, we must still try to do what we can to spread awareness on such concerning and important topics, either verbally or through social media. The more people work against harmful traditions and customs, the less those practices will be carried out, and hope may once again arrive for those minorities under unjust treatment stemming from fake ‘traditions’.

Writer: Joshua Lee