Feminism Won’t Get Us Anywhere … Unless It’s Intersectional Feminism
“Feminism” can be a taboo or scary word to some people, and that is because it is often misunderstood and misused.
bell hooks said, “Feminism is the movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression.” It’s not about women being opposed to men — it’s about addressing and ending sexism.
But feminism needs to go even deeper. What people often think of as “feminism” is actually white feminism, which I talked about with my friends Channing and Elise, who ran the Faithful Feminists podcast, on the First Name Basis podcast a few years ago.
White feminism works for the well-being, protection, needs and concerns of white women who are cisgender, heterosexual, middle-class and able-bodied. White feminism fails to address systems other than patriarchy, and fails to address identities other than womanhood. It has a stake in keeping the status quo of white supremacy because it affords white women power and privilege over other women. It focuses only on individual empowerment and gaining the same power and recognition as men.
What we REALLY need to do is move deeper into intersectional feminism.
“Intersectionality” is a term coined by Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw. It teaches us the ways that people can hold privilege while also experiencing oppression. Intersectional feminism recognizes many different ways of experiencing womanhood. It expands the needs, concerns and fights of feminism to include Women of Color, trans women, disabled women, queer women.
Channing and Elise explained that intersectional feminism sees systems of oppression as interlocking. Patriarchy is not an isolated system of oppression. Our freedom and our oppression are tied up with one another, so fighting sexism and patriarchy should also mean fighting racism and white supremacy, capitalism, homophobia and ableism.
I hope you take time to deepen your feminism and really dive into intersectionality. And learn more by listening to the First Name Basis Podcast, Season 5, Episode 15: “Say No to White Feminism & Yes to Intersectionality” with The Faithful Feminists.
