There is a lot of misinterpretation and misunderstanding when it comes to feminism, and I was to try and set it straight in a very simple way.
I have come to believe, after reading various opinions online and hearing peoples opinions and views on feminism in real life, that one of the main reasons why many people are hesitant to actually look into feminism and give it the time of day, is because it doesn't focus on them. It calls out the oppressors, and that makes them uncomfortable and react.
For example, the movement "BLACK LIVES MATTER" is a movement to empower black people. It is calling out the oppressor (white people) and empowering the oppressed. It is igniting fire into a race of people who have been put down, degraded and taken advantage of for many years.
Now, because "BLACK LIVES MATTER" is inclusive of black people and exclusive of white people, white people began to feel uncomfortable. This is because, white people are so used to being included in everything and being represented in everything, that when they are suddenly out of the loop they feel targeted and attacked. They are suddenly feeling how black people feel in almost every aspect of their life.
This realisation began the hashtag "ALL LIVES MATTER," which is a very racist response to the movement "BLACK LIVES MATTER," and it attempts to strip black people of any sort feeling of worth and empowerment.
Now I used this as an example to lead into what feminism is generally about. Feminism, was a movement that focused on bring women up to the same respect and status that a white, cis, heterosexual, able, etc male in society would get.
Feminism started around the late 19th century in the western world, and it focused on things like women's suffrage, equal pay, maternity leave, reproductive right, etc for white, middle and upper class women. That was first wave feminism. Second wave and third wave feminism still tries to deal with these issues, but also cultural and social issues too [1]. Many internalised issues such as simply using the phrase, "throw like a girl," or the issue that femininity is often linked to negative things.
During the birth of feminism, many African Americans, Native Americans, etc started up their own organisations such as the National Black Feminist Organisation, that was founded in 1973 [2]. These organisations formed because the first wave feminism wasn't inclusive of all women. They only focused on white women's issues and not the issues of WOC. This was really related to the blatant racist feelings towards POC during that time.
Today, in this rise and popularity of feminism, the feminism that is being talked about today is called intersectional feminism. It isn't white feminism (first wave). Intersectional feminism includes all women. All women, and I mean ALL, women. Black, white, asian, latino, transgender, disabled, etc. Intersectional feminism helps to empower and raise all women to the same respect as the white, cis, heterosexual, able, etc male. In doing this, intersectional feminism acknowledges that even though it is empowering all women, not all women experience the same thing [3].
For example, a white woman and a black woman and an asian woman would experience gender discrimination, but a white woman would not experience racism like the asian woman would, and the asian woman wouldn't experience racism like the black woman would. Intersectional feminism acknowledges that, and helps deal with racism to help the black and the asian woman defeat the struggle that they were dealing with in their lives. So intersectional feminism empowers ALL women, acknowledges that all women have a different experience and that they ALL need help, and tries to deal with that.
In doing so, intersectional feminism not only tries to destroy sexism, but:
• Homophobia
• Racism
• Transphobia
• Islamophobia
• Ableism
• Culture Appropriation
• Unachievable beauty standards (especially for WOC)
And much more.
Now, like I said in the beginning, many people are weary of feminism, because it calls out the oppressor. It doesn't include them and it doesn't empower them. Another reason why, is because people do not understand it.
Now, going back to my first point. Yes, feminism does seek to empower women, raise the status of women and bring them up to reach the same respect as the white, cis, heterosexual, able, etc male. However, in doing so, it helps men.
Now many of you non feminists are probably wondering how that possibly works. Well, it's true. Intersectional feminism would eventually achieve equality for all, and this is how:
In the simplest of terms, at first in the beginning, feminism concentrated on getting white women to where white men were, so they were both equal:
However, when people realised that this white feminism wasn't including all women at all, and they decided to help all women, that meant that the aim a little more complicated:
And it's obviously more detailed and complicated than that, but here's is just a snapshot of all the other types of women that intersectional feminism included. Now, as I said before, to help WOC, queer WOC, religious WOC and just WOC generally defeat these issues, intersectional feminism had to also defeat racism, and homophobia and islamophobia, etc. Doing this, it is also defeating racism for asian men and black men. It is defeating homophobia for men, or for transgender women and women, etc. Now you can see that whilst helping women's struggles, it is also helping men in those minorities too, so feminism isn't just a movement for equality for women, but for all by reaching equality for men:
So feminism is very complicated, but also very simple at the same time. Feminism (intersectional feminism) is empowering ALL women to reach the same status of the white, cis, heterosexual, able, etc male. In doing that it destroys homophobia and racism etc. When it destroys homophobia for women it also destroys it for men. When is destroys racism for women, it also destroys racism for men, because racism isn't a gender thing, it's a race thing. It helps men because homophobia isn't just a women's thing, it's a sexuality thing that affects everyone. Racism affects all races (except white people). You're killing multiple birds with one stone, practically.
Another way to see feminism (intersectional feminism) as a movement for women, but also a movement that strives towards equality for all, is to look at it this way.
How many times have you heard the phrases:
"You throw like a girl."
"Are you gonna cry? Are you a little girl?"
And many more.
Well how many? Especially in TV and film? How many? The answer is too many to count.
The reason why these phrases are used, is because they are associated with femininity, and femininity is seen as something "bad," or "less," or "weak."
The reason why people use the phrase, "you throw like a girl," or see crying as a sign of weakness, is because it is associated with femininity. The history between those phrases is basically this. Women are seen as less. They are portrayed as being less than men, weaker and more naïve [4]. Can you guess why women are seen as less than men? Yes, you got it. Sexism. Misogyny. You know the drill.
What would happen if we decided that using words and phrases that are associated with femininity aren't negative things anymore? What would happen if we decided that we treated women equally to men for a change? All those accounts and stories of boys being bullied for showing the slightest bit of femininity wouldn't ever happen. Men won't be belittled for showing a dislike in sports. There wouldn't be a pressure on more feminine men, to pretend to be macho and stereotypically masculine anymore, because femininity isn't seen as a negative and bad thing anymore.
So to hopefully wrap this up, I want to get a couple of things clear.
• Feminism is for all women.
• Feminism aims to also help all women by battling racism, islamophobia, etc.
• In battling those issues that affect men, they are liberating men of those minorities and helping those men achieve equality in those areas of their life
• This therefore means that WOC, MOC, and white women will all be able to rise up to reach the status that is given the most amount of respect in our society: the white, cis, heterosexual, able, etc male.
“I am definitely a feminist. I’m fucking disgusted by the way women are still treated. It’s 1993 and some people still think we’re in the 1950’s. We need to make more progress. There needs to be more female musicians, more female artists, more female writers. Everything is dominated by fucking males, and I’m sick of it!”
- Kurt Cobain
Thank you for reading. I hope you have been blessed, now go and educate somebody else.
The sources listed, are pages that helped and aided me construct my ideas in this article.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_movement
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Black_Feminist_Organization
[3] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10572435/Intersectional-feminism.-What-the-hell-is-it-And-why-you-should-care.html
[4] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2562890/BREAKING-NEWS-Son-14-oil-millionaire-murdered-man-groomed-computer-games.html
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