EDITORIAL: Intersectional feminism is still needed in 21st century
Intersectional feminism is necessary to combat misinformation and inequality at all levels
For women across the world, March 8 is International Women’s Day — a perfect opportunity to talk about the state of feminism in the 21st century. To clear the air, let us first establish that feminism seeks equal treatment for people of all genders.
There have been many misconceptions, retaliatory men’s groups and confusion surrounding the women’s movement, but we have to work hard to disprove misconceptions and actively work to support intersectional feminism.
Modern-day women’s issues are coming up against men’s rights groups and faux efforts to make change. Intersectional feminism provides a solution to these threats as well as the opportunity to extend the benefits of feminism to as many people as possible.
What is intersectional feminism? While overly-formal language is generally a sign of bureaucratic or political nonsense, the term intersectional feminism actually encompasses a necessary and modernized definition of the women’s rights struggle. Put plainly, intersectionality asks us to consider all demographics and the effects of race, income, nationality and more have on women’s experiences.
American law professor, Kimberlé Crenshaw explains it best when she says that, “we tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality or immigrant status. What is often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts.”
Intersectionality is especially necessary in the 21st century when considering the racism associated with feminist movements. White feminism specifically ignores the issues of minority women, and moving forward, inclusivity and real change must happen on all fronts, not just the white-picket-fence-lives of middle class white women.
Women and girls across the globe face life-or-death situations on the basis of their sex. In some countries like India, some families kill female infants to make room for sons. Approximately 200 million women and girls have been subjected to female genital mutilation, primarily in sub-Saharan and Arab countries, according to the United Nations. In countries such as Moldova, young girls are sold as children and are married off. Intersectional feminism attempts to address all these issues, which is what makes it so valuable.
These changes and growth in feminism in the past year have sparked new backlash. That said, claims that feminists are crazy women looking to rob all men of their livelihoods are not new. Cartoons from as early as 1900 depict suffragettes as horrible, emasculating women.
Men, in a position of privilege, may feel challenged by the idea of equality and sometimes turn to online chats, where their hatred for women is allowed to fester. These online communities often spawn groups claiming to advocate for men's rights, but actually embody the visceral backlash to the women’s rights movement.
It is also important to note that not all men are actively seeking to tear down women’s issues, and that feminism, while it does focus on the lives and struggles of women, seeks to dismantle the systems that take advantage of gender roles to the detriment of all people. For one, feminism seeks to establish parenthood as a task equally split between men and women.
As it currently stands, women are expected to do most of the child-bearing, which hurts their potential to develop a career and have economic freedom. Men are severely disadvantaged in family courtrooms when trying to win custody. The parental gender roles here hurt everyone, and feminism seeks to dismantle those gender roles, among a variety of other issues that affect men.
It is also important to distinguish between real efforts to make progress in women’s issues and surface-level changes. Reforms like adding women’s awards in traditional areas of art, business or academia, while initially designed to ensure women receive credit, essentially relegate women to a children’s table of achievement.
It does nothing for the advancement of women and instead cements the idea that they cannot even compete with men for the same honors and accolades. Meaningful reform focuses on leveling the playing field, not creating a sub-category of success.
Intersectional feminism focuses on making change for women in dangerous situations, increasing opportunities for all women and create a world in which artificial gender roles do not limit the potential and possibilities of any one person’s life.
Education about women’s issues should not be reserved for the month of March but should continue so long as there are girls and women being punished for their gender. Your role, as part of the world you live in, is not just to learn about all women’s issues but to use that knowledge to act in a way that opens doors for all people, regardless of their gender.
The Daily Targum's editorials represent the views of the majority of the 153rd editorial board. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
