You’ve probably heard the latest internet buzzword (is
buzzphrase a thing?), ‘intersectional feminism’. It must be popping up on your
timelines and news alerts and what not. Day by day, more people are starting to
identify as intersectional feminists because there is an increase in awareness
about this movement. The term was coined by Kimberle Crenshaw. In her
insightful 1989 essay, Crenshaw uses a simple analogy to concretize the
concept:
Consider an analogy to traffic in an intersection, coming and
going in all four directions. Discrimination, like traffic through an
intersection, may flow in one direction, and it may flow in another. If an
accident happens in an intersection, it can be caused by cars traveling from
any number of directions and, sometimes, from all of them. Similarly, if a
Black woman is harmed because she is in an intersection, her injury could
result from sex discrimination or race discrimination. . . . But it is not always
easy to reconstruct an accident: Sometimes the skid marks and the injuries
simply indicate that they occurred simultaneously, frustrating efforts to
determine which driver caused the harm.
Although it has been 28 years since the term was first
used, it has crept into the mainstream debate surrounding feminism only a few
years ago. Understandably, this is why many are still unaware or confused about
it.
To elaborate on intersectional feminism, it is important
to understand the most fundamental idea about intersectionality: there is no
one-size-fits-all type of feminism. Intersectionality tries to bring about the
idea that the identity comprises of several component identities, which include
but are not limited to, gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, class, sexuality,
age, religion, mental and physical disabilities etc… Intersectionality proposes
that all of these identities are not independent but rather interdependent and
linked to one another. Certain groups of women have multi-layered facets in
life that they deal with on a daily-basis. For example, an able-bodied
heterosexual white woman has a completely different point of view about
feminism than does a bisexual, paraplegic African-American black skinned woman.
It is very essential that mainstream feminism evolves to include ideas from
women from all spheres of life. If it remains stagnant, the movement will
become fragmented and be less effective.
With multiple identities come multiple privileges and
even multiple oppressions. There are many studies and instances which show that
women who come from minorities are more likely to be subjected to these
oppressions. Non-heterosexual women are more susceptible to hatred and verbal
abuse. Economically disadvantaged women, women of colour and uneducated women
are more vulnerable to poverty, domestic abuse and other forms of violence.
Transwomen are often ignored or subjected to hate-based violence. Being a part
of the minority leads to many challenges. If the mainstream conversation of
feminism doesn’t account for the women who are at a greater comparative risk of
facing discrimination, we aren’t accounting for all women and so the idea of
feminism is by definition, not proper.
Although ‘white feminism’ is a more colloquial and slightly
derogative term to use, it is the kind of feminism that most teens are exposed
to on the media. The Urban Dictionary defines white feminism as “A brand of feminism centered around the ideals and struggles
of primarily white women. While not outright exclusive, its failure to consider
other women and its preoccupation with Western standards and the problems faced
by the “average woman” is often alienating to women of color, non-straight
women, trans women, and women belonging to religious or cultural minorities.” While
this type of feminism raises questions about certain issues regarding gender
equality, like equal pay, it fails to pay attention to other issues which are
not separate from the conversation, such as trans-women’s rights, cultural appropriation
and disability rights. It erases the experiences of minority women who are not
white, heterosexual and cis-gendered. It
also imposes tight boundaries around what it means to be a woman and a
feminist.
Intersectional feminism is extremely necessary in this
day age where there is rampant globalization and an increase in diversity
around the world. This movement is not just about breaking glass ceilings but
also making the world a better place for women in all spheres of their life.
--V
*I am not rude. I am outspoken.
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