Intersectional Feminism

"If your feminism isn’t fat positive, anti racist, trans-inclusive, pro choice, challenging ableism, or against classism .. then who is it for?”

Mainstream Feminism for the most part has left out and marginalized many groups of womxn. It has left of womxn of color, trans womexn, low working class womxn, and anyone who wasn’t a straight cisgender white womxn. These womxn were underrepresented and that's where intersectional feminism comes into play. Womxn should “embrace the differences between each other” to “use them as a strength to fight their enemies.” (Audre Lorde) We can not achieve true equality without considering the most exploited and taking into account the different experiences and backgrounds each womxn has. The experiences of each womxn is different from one a another, a womxn of color would experience oppression differently than to white woman as would a trans woman would experience oppression differently than to a cisgender womxn.

“Until the mainstream feminist movement starts listening to the various groups of women within it, then it will continue to stagnate and not be able to move forward. The only result of this is that the movement will become fragmented and will continue to be less effective.” - Ava Vidal

The third wave of feminism, Intersectional Feminism, not only focuses on the oppression of a certain demographic women but considers the oppression of all women and where it stems from. This includes the acknowledgment of all the institutions of oppression and how they all intertwine. Kimberle Crenshaw addresses intersectionality and that when we gauge the” multiplicities of oppression” we shouldn’t look at it as an “additive approach.” It isn’t just racism plus sexism plus classism but “how class oppression is racialized.” (Kimberle Crenshaw). Intersectionality changed the major Ideas of feminism to not just pay wage gaps and marriage but Anti-Imperialism, Immigration, and Colonial Mentality. The purpose of intersectional feminism is not to separate womxn from men but to make both equal. To give target groups the human rights they have been deprived of so all womxn are treated equally. Feminism not only affects womxn but also men. Feminism is for the equality of everyone not putting women as more superior because then the oppression/oppressors would just reverse. We need to let men know that they are a part of the picture too. Hyper-masculinity and the gender roles put on men expects them to act a certain way; to be “manly”, assert dominance, never show emotions and to be the alpha which feeds into the patriarchy. It is men like this that need the most education. We can’t create a movement without trying to involve and educate everyone, even the oppressors and power groups.

Artist: Kruttika Susarla (@kruttikasusarla)

Sisters of Struggle

“If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down, these women together ought to be able to turn it right again.” ― Sojourner Truth

From the beginning of the Americas being created womxn have been excluded in history and were seen as less superior. They shared similarities with the enslaved, with no freedoms and rights and forced against their will to obey their masters bidding. Womxn of color faced double oppression. This led to womxn rights activists also supporting abolitionist movements as well as prison reform and healthcare. Womxn of early America were exploited for their bodies and strict gender roles were placed on them. There were womxn who challenged the patriarchy and broke gender roles but often faced consequences. However, they managed to step out of the gender norms slowly. They worked in textile factories and educated themselves by becoming elementary teachers. They were one of the first groups to hold work strikes, protests, and walkouts. The creation on America never included womxn especially womxn of color from coming here only seen as possessions to never even being included in the Declaration of Independence.

“Our very existence is the resistance.” - Ayanna Pressley

As a young womxn of color, this topic hits close to home. We still live in a society where womxn aren’t completely equal. We are underrepresented, faced with glass ceilings in the workplace, being told what we should and shouldn't do with our own bodies, treated like nothing more than objects, and some aren’t even considered true womxn. The word “feminism” itself has a negative connotation to it. I feel like feminists are seen as men-haters and want to overcome men and become more powerful. This is not the case, feminism is a lifestyle fighting for equal rights for all womxn. I believe ALL womxn should be treated as equal. All classes, genders, sexualities, and ethnicities. Different groups of womxn are underrepresented and often forgotten about in feminist movements like Indigenous womxn and Trans womxn. In the first emergence of feminist movements it only applied to a certain demographic, this was the first and second wave of feminism.

The first wave of feminism involves something many are familiar with, voting rights for womxn. However,, a misconception is that ALL womxn were included in this movement. The very first waves of feminism only included rich white womxn. Womxn of color and working class womxn were excluded from the picture. Even with the right to vote they “still weren’t free”. White womxn mostly dominated both the first and second waves of feminism which birthed a new term, womanism and the third wave of feminism. According to Kate Schatz book, Rad American Women A-Z, Womanism is a term created by Alice Walker as a new form of feminism that acknowledges the oppression from race and class. The third wave of feminism is where “womxn of color and minorities insist the fight is not over.” With mainstream media only highlighting first and second wave feminism left other groups of womxn in the dust. During the second wave of feminism, when the men went to war mostly womxn of color took up their jobs. However, in the media it is shown only white womxn to take on this role leading to the lack of representation. This was common to exclude a certain demographic of womxn and the 1915 film Birth of a Nation incorporated the idea to “protect white womanhood '' We need to bring different types of feminism to the surface as mentioned earlier. In Kimberle Crenshaw's essay “ Mapping the Margins,” womxn of color and white womxn experiences with oppression are different. Indigenous womxn are missing and being murdered but coverage about it is pushed down and most of their murders go unsolved. Schatz reveals when referring to Crenshaw’s works, black womxn “experience the stigma of poverty” more harshly compared to poor working class white womxn.

This goes to show that there are other issues falling into each other and everything is connected. It is shown that even in Feminism there can be racism, classicism, homophobia, and transphobia present. Which signifies the importance of the third wave of feminism. We must support each other despite our differences. I think this topic is extremely important to educate others on. To educate womxn all over the world and even more importantly, men. To include allies in this movement because we are not superior to men, we are equal. Whether it be “taking up space or “protecting yourself,” because as U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley says, “there is no right or wrong way to protest.” We are “sisters of struggle.”

Chicanx Movements: La Alianza

The Fight For Stolen Land.

Chicano! PBS Documentary: A Quest For A Homeland

Mexican Americans had their sacred land stripped away from them and were now tenants on land they owned. The Alianza, a Mexican American group, fought for their land reminding us of the Treaty that was long forgotten. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo stated that the people of northern New Mexico legitimately owned the land and “free enjoyment of their liberty and property of every kind.” Reies Lopez Tijerina, leader of the Alianza helped provide a voice for his people and their struggles. After a fight broke out when the Alianza stormed the courthouse to make a citizen's arrest on District Attorney Alphonso Sanchez for violating their right to assembly many others started to get inspired. Their struggle inspired movement activists and urban chicanos and a vision for change was created.

“Although, we are fighting for land, we are fighting for the survival and protection of our culture.”-Reies Lopez Tijerina

Even though the people of Northern New Mexico “legitimately owned the land” they were on according to treaty, they were treated as tenants. Many small farmers got their grazing permits revoked. Many of these people felt like they couldn’t voice their struggles. I feel like due to this, once they got the chance they were more than willing to fight for their land and culture. Tijerina contributed to this because he gave “a vision to people ready to fight.” I also found it incredibly unfair to see that land grants were being defied. Many land grants were taken illegally since only one heir signed the deed. It was never emphasized or even mentioned to us in a regular curriculum that we live on stolen land from Mexican and Indigenous people. If we are going to learn about U.S. history we should learn about how we “got” this land. Instead we are just taught about Westward Expansion and the textbook version about the Alamo. Our education is rigged and was picked and chosen by those in power. I think that it's important to learn a different perspective to history. Each side tells a different side to history but it is often the victims history that is overlooked.