INTRODUCTION :

The Indian society has been fighting for women’s rights for a long span of time with a view to achieve gender equality. This brought the notion of ‘FEMINISM’. The entire goal is to establish gender equality in all spheres of society while advocating for women’s rights. The notion, however, has lost its actual goal and path moving forward. It is being used to assert dominance and fulfill personal goals instead of that of the entire society. While fighting for women’s rights and achieving selfish intents, we tend to forget that men too are a part of the society and their rights are also necessary for achieving gender equality in its truest sense. This diversion from the actual goal and selfish agendas have led to violation of the rights of men in India.

Meaning of Feminism and Pseudo-Feminism:

Feminism refers to the movement aimed at achieving gender equality with primary focus on women’s rights. It is a social, cultural and political movement. It seeks to promote women empowerment, addressing the gender-specific inequalities. The goal is to empower women in all aspects such as politics, education, workplace and personal freedoms. The main intent is to challenge the patriarchal structures that lead to discrimination. The entire idea of feminism is based on principles of justice, equal rights and opportunity for all genders.

Pseudo-feminism, on the other hand, refers to the superficial amd distorted form of feminism. It claims to support women’s rights but in reality does nothing to address actual challenges faced by them. It focuses many a times only on personal empowerment, using the feminism as an excuse for promoting personal or political agendas, ignoring the betterment of all women. It can also manifest itself in contradictory or hypocritical behaviours such as supporting only the issues and notions that align with their own viewpoints and might harm other women or other groups. This neglects the true essence of equality and justice.

Pseudo-Feminism in India:

Pseudo-feminism is the selective version of feminism that although claims to advocate gender equality, but may intentionally overlook the rights and struggles of men. This can create stereotypes about men, framing them as being abusive and violent while disregarding issues of male victimization. It is not only harmful for the women’s rights movement but also for men and the goal of equality.

It can manifest itself in various forms. Some examples are discussed below:

1. “Men Are Trash” Narrative:

The fight of feminists is for equal rights but some self-proclaimed feminists (pseudo feminists) try to promote anti-men propogandas. They try to label all men as abusers and oppressors. It is age of media, one can see on many social media platforms as well that there are several contents that spread the notion that all men are trash, which is not true. There are still good men out there, respecting and fighting for rights of women. This leads to resentment and hatred towards men and also in minds of men against women, leading to unnecessary gender war.

2. Misuse of Legal Provisions:

There have been several instances of misuse of laws such as 498a IPC, rape, alimony and maintenance, domestic violence and dowry related laws. There are n number of fake cases, filed before the Indian courts, against men. Most often misused provisions are that of domestic violence and dowry harassment. The recent cases of suicides of Atul Subhash¹, Manav Sharma², Shiv Prakash³, Nishant Tripathi⁴ are clear examples of such abuse of law. Even the court has recognised such abuse and directed in many cases to do thorough investigation, while taking proper caution, before arresting someone in such cases, to ensure that its not a fake case and no innocent is made to suffer. In cases relating to alimony and maintenance also the courts have ruled a number of times that where the wives are qualified and are capable of earning enough to sustain themselves, they are not entitled for demanding large sums of money in the name of alimony or maintenance from husbands.

There are also several instances of fake allegations on men, of sexual harassment and rape by women to exact revenge or other ulterior motives. Vishnu Tiwari⁶ and Sarvjeet Singh⁷ are two of such several men who were made to go through the torture of defending themselves against a legal system that favours women blindly.

3. Selective Outrage Against Gender Inequality:

The focus of feminism is gender equality but not for pseudo-feminists. They only focus on challenges faced by women but the same challenges become invisible when men are victims of it. The example can be that domestic violence is a crime and immoral when committed against women but not even recognised when committed against men. This selective anger against gender inequality leads to failure of actual ideology behind feminism and even makes it seem like an unnecessary fight against men and not the traditional patriarchal mindset.

4. Celebrating Double Standards:

Pseudo-feminists can be rightly described as having double standards. When a man does something unethical or immoral such as body-shaming, being aggressive and violent, objectifying women, it is condemned heavily, which is totally a right thing to do. But when women do such similar actions it is treated as women empowerment.

Acceptance of equal rights but rejecting equal responsibilities is another such double standard.

5. Toxic Feminist Influencers on Social Media:

The social media platforms are full of influencers these days. Every third person claims to be an influencer. Some of these misuse their reach and influence to promote personal vendettas against men. This leads to misrepresentation of feminism and even builds rage in public against men. They present a distorted notion of gender equality through clickbait contents just for more views and popularity.

6. Weaponising Feminism for Personal Gains:

Using one’s gender to escape duties and responsibilities is also pseudo-feminism. To gain something using the gender as a bargaining chip and shifting responsibilities on men is against the goal of gender equality. This puts pressure and stress on men as well as their hardwork and dedication goes in vain, further discouraging them from giving their best in respective duties.

7. Ignoring Issues Like Custodial Rights of Fathers:

The ignorance of father’s rights in a child’s life and custody matters is often neglected. The pseudo-feminists only advocate for mother’s rights when they want to have the child for their personal motives and go on ranting about men being irresponsible fathers. But when their idea of freedom does not align with the responsibilities that come with being a mother, they abandon the child or leave them with their fathers, claiming that even men should take responsibility of the child as its not the sole responsibility of the mother. The best interest of the child is just not taken into consideration at any given point.

Impact on Men:

1. Stigmatization of Men as Villains: Pseudo-feminism often portrays men as oppressors and primary perpetrators of violence which creates a stereotype against all men as being so. This leads to societal bias, presuming men as being guilty in all cases relating to gender-based violence, even when the cases are fake or proper investigation has not been carried out.

2. Neglect of Men’s Issues: The needs of men and the issues faced by them are often neglected by the pseudo-feminists. Issues such as increasing suicide rates in men, mental health issues and biased custody battles are ignored and this neglect leads to marginalizing of men’s rights and their emotional well-being.

3. Pressure to Conform to Stereotypes: Pseudo-feminists mostly try to reinforce the patriarchal notion that men should be strong, unfazed, and dominant. This leads to men being discouraged from expressing their vulnerability and emotions and from seeking help. This creates a toxic environment and even leads to mental health issues. Moreover, the struggle of real feminists go down the drain.

4. Imbalance in Gender Equality Efforts: The pseudo-feminists tend to focus on their own goals even at the expense of men’s rights and gender equality. This leads to imbalance in gender equality efforts and may lead to more clashes between the genders rather than bringing them together and achieving gender equality.

5. Limited Support for Men’s Mental Health: The talk around men’s mental health is already limited and has less support. The actions of pseudo-feminists further contribute to this as they do not focus on men’s mental health, thereby creating no space for them to discuss their struggles.

6. Undermining Positive Masculinity: To achieve their goals, the pseudo feminists do a lot to demean all aspects of men’s behaviour. Even the increasing false cases break men. This may discourage men to abandon leadership, protection, responsibility related traits, which could be essential and good traits to have to inculcate positive masculinity, if balanced and combined with empathy and equality.

7. Alienation in Relationships: The image of men portrayed by pseudo-feminists leads to men as being seen as perpetrators and abusers. Also, the presumption of men being guilty in cases of gender-based violence, even when the cases are fake or they themselves are victim of it, leads to men being alienated by their families and relationships. This creates strain in relationships and leads to gender-based resentment.

8. Social and Financial Harm: The misuse of laws made for women’s empowerment and protection is not unknown to the society but is overlooked by pseudo-feminists, ignoring men’s issues. These fake cases and neglect in addressing the challenges results in social and financial harm to men.

SUGGESTIONS:

To fight the negative impact of pseudo-feminism following steps can be taken:

1. Promote core values of true feminism.

2. Encourage open and constructive discussions.

3. Raise awareness on gender stereotypes.

4. Make gender-neutral laws.

5. Support men’s rights and well-being.

6. Awareness campaigns about feminism and pseudo-feminism along with men’s rights.

7. Encourage men to participate in feminism.

8. Establish programs and networks focusing on men’s issues.

9. Challenging false media narratives and encourage balanced portrayals of men and women.

10. Advocate for positive masculinity.

CONCLUSION:

The harm done by pseudo-feminism is much more than the good. It distorts and destroys the true purpose of feminism. It not only harms men but is also degrading and against the actual ideology of feminism and empowerment of entire women community.

Though it is true that with n number of cases of crime against women, with men as perpetrators keep coming every day, it is difficult to trust men and it is also impossible to differentiate good men from bad ones but this should not be a reason to make innocent ones suffer. There are even women who are perpetrators of violence, both against men and women too. Everyone needs to be treated with equal strictness by the law. If we make it a matter of gender war then it will only result in chaos with no one benefitting from it and the goal of gender equality would always remain a distant dream for India. It is thus the responsibility of everyone to promote only the actual notion and ideas of feminism and gender equality and also discourage all forms of pseudo-feminism as it is non-beneficial and harmful for the entire society regardless of gender.

REFERENCE:

1. ‘Why Don’t You Die by Suicide Too’: Did Wife’s Remark Break Bengaluru Techie Atul Subhash? NEWS18, 12 Dec 2024, https://www.news18.com/india/atul-subhash-suicide-why-dont-you-die-by-suicide-too-wife-remark-bengaluru-techie-death-reason-latest-news-9153969.html.

2. TCS employee Manav Sharma dies by suicide:'men are lonely', pleads in final video, Times of India, 28 Feb 2025, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/tcs-employee-manav-sharma-dies-by-suicide-men-are-lonely-pleads-in-final-video/articleshow/118622370.cms.

3. Madhya Pradesh: Man Dies by Suicide, Blames Wife and Mother-In-Law on Instagram Live, News18, 22 Mar 2025, https://www.news18.com/india/madhya-pradesh-man-dies-by-suicide-blames-wife-and-mother-in-law-on-instagram-live-9271152.html.

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5. Deepak Lavania, Innocent man freed after 20 years in jail, Times of India, 2 March 2021, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/innocent-man-freed-after-20-years-in-jail/articleshow/81284702.cms.

6. Jasleen Kaur case: Sarvjeet acquitted after four years, netizens demand apology from Kejriwal, Arnab for maligning him, The New Indian Express, 27 Oct 2019, https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2019/Oct/26/jasleen-kaur-case-sarvjeet-acquitted-after-four-years-netizens-demand-apology-from-kejriwal-arnab-2053322.html.

Received on 28.04.2025 Revised on 24.05.2025

Accepted on 16.07.2025 Published on 22.08.2025

Available online from September 05, 2025

Int. J. Ad. Social Sciences. 2025; 13(3):115-118.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2679.2025.00018

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Creative Commons License.