India's Feminist Men Who Deserve A Shout Out Too

As we celebrate International Women's Day month with so much gusto let's also take time to acknowledge these feminist men who have treated women with the respect they are entitled to. These men not only play an important role in empowering women but they also believe that we can achieve everything in our sight. We need more of such men in this world, to form a secure enlightened society that will help women to grow and design their own path to success. So to these very special feminist men, a very big thank you!

Farhan Akhtar

India's Feminist Men

Farhan Akhtar is not only a renowned filmmaker, actor and musician, but also a humanitarian. In 2013, he started a campaign called MARD (Men Against Rape and Discrimination), which supports women empowerment. In 2014, Farhan Akhtar became the first male UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for Southeast Asia.

Thank you to all sending their love re the @UN_Women announcement. It is with your support that I've had the energy to stay on this path.

— Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) November 13, 2014

On International Women's Day, Farhan Akhtar collaborated with celebrated music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman to create the single "Chulein Aasman" a peppy pop-rock song that propagates gender equality. He fervently participates in the causes related to women.

Raj Nayak

India's Feminist Men

Raj Nayak, who is the former COO of Viacom18 has always been at the forefront of supporting Women Empowerment. He is associated with initiatives like Colors WE! Women Empower', a unique crowdfunding campaign for the 'WE! Udaan Scholarship.' At SheThePeople.TV's Digital Women Awards held in Mumbai, he shared that many of the top positions in Colors is occupied by women who not only delivered results but also improved the culture and gender approach of the entire organisation. Colors also launched a campaign #SundayIsHerHoliday to bring forward the hard work a woman does but even half of it doesn't get its due acknowledgement.

K Onler Kom

K Onler Kom, husband of Indian Olympic boxer Mary Kom, is an inspiration for all men out there. He supported his wife by providing her everything from financial assistance to the comfort of a home-cooked meal, so that she could focus on boxing. He is always ready to go an extra mile for her despite all the hurdles."If there’s any problem in the family, my husband never tells me about it. He says, ‘Don’t think about the children, don’t think about us. You just concentrate on your training,'" said Mary Kom.

Adil Hussain

India's Feminist Men

Actor Adil Hussain who was a part of films like English Vinglish never shies away from speaking on issues related to women. He even reacted on Twitter about women not being a part of the Bollywood celebrities meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Guess, it is just a Normal. Patriarchal. Error 😑.. I mean, not intended but aaah.. You know.... But just being unaware.. And aaa... It's the Habit of.. You know.. excluding the women folk in Decision making process.. It will take time for the men folk to internalise equality 🙈 https://t.co/QNxDVbzUI6

— Adil hussain (@_AdilHussain) December 20, 2018

Earlier, Adil also slammed a multiplex chain on their sexist remark that demeans women by calling them a "nagging wife."

Hello @funcinemas @IndiaCinepolis Is this how you will attract your customer to your cinemas? How can you be so Sexist? "Leave Nagging Wife Behind"??! Take it down ASAP please. @dibang pic.twitter.com/5wDrNRu9KS

— Adil hussain (@_AdilHussain) December 7, 2018

Arunachalam Muruganantham

Menstruation is still a taboo subject in rural India. Arunachalam Muruganantham not only took an initiative to empower women, but he also spread a very important message that periods are normal. “All countries where women are empowered, those countries are called developed nations. Countries, where women are not empowered, are called developing and under-developed countries,” Muruganantham told SheThePeople.TV.

Suresh Raina

India's Feminist Men

Cricketer Suresh Raina, started an initiative for unprivileged moms. He also made an appeal for women's rights through a video "My choices." He pledged to protect the choices women make by respecting them.

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Mahavir Singh Phogat

India's Feminist Men

Mahavir Singh Phogat, an Indian amateur wrestler and a senior Olympics coach, is also the trainer and father of Phogat sisters. He believed in his girls and inspired them to conquer the heights of success, defying all patriarchal norms. By training his daughters into becoming successful wrestling champions he erased the line separating men and women in the sport.

Anand Mahindra

India's Feminist Men

Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group has always initiated conversations on equal representation of women at work. He says that companies should not look for excuses to not hire women. He won a million hearts with his post on Twitter, in which he acknowledged the fact that working women need to put in greater efforts than their male counterparts to achieve success.

I’ve been helping to baby-sit my year old grandson this past week & it’s brought home to me the stark reality of this image. I salute every working woman & acknowledge that their successes have required a much greater amount of effort than their male counterparts pic.twitter.com/2EJjDcK1BR

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) February 5, 2019

Sushant Singh

India's Feminist Men

Sushant Singh, as the General Secretary at CINTAA (Cine and TV Artiste’s Association) led the movement at the association to redress the complaints of sexual harassment received during the #MeToo movement. He has supported the #MeToo movement on social media and offline as well.

Ganesh Natarajan

India's Feminist Men

Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman and CEO, Zensar Technologies, initiated a Women for Excellence' programme in his organisation that led to a significant increase in the number of women occupying senior management positions and is an investor in many women centred startups.

Also Read : Dr Anita Sharma On Her Driving School For Differently Abled

Disclosure: Anand Mahindra is an investor in SheThePeople