Why Everyone Should Be A Feminist
Whether you consider yourself a feminist or are new to the term, there can be a lot to understand when it comes to intersectionality and the women’s movement. You may have some questions that fall along the lines of:
What really is feminism?
What does intersectional feminism mean?
And wait, when was the first feminist movement?!
To help you better understand these terms, we sat down for a little Feminism 101 with IRL feminists and GLAAD Campus Ambassadors about why the feminist and women’s rights movement is so important. Let’s get started...
What is feminism?
Short answer: Feminism is about the advocacy of women’s rights to achieve equality. It’s about giving all people equal rights and opportunities. Anyone can be a feminist to fight and advocate for every woman, across all racial and ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic levels, abilities, and sexual identities.
What is the difference between equality and equity?
By definition, equality means that everyone is given the same set of resources, regardless of circumstances. Equity acknowledges the different circumstances that impact each person, and distributes resources based on those conditions so that everyone has the fair chance of reaching an equal outcome.
GLAAD Campus Ambassador Leah Juliett sets the scene: Two people, one tall and one short, are trying to see over a wall. Equality is giving them both the same size stool so that they get equal shares (even though the taller person will always be able to see farther than the shorter one). Equity is the idea that the shorter person gets a slightly bigger stool so that, in the end, both people can see the same distance. Using this example, marginalized groups and oppressed people like POC, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, and women, may need a slightly larger stool to achieve equal opportunities since they are starting from a lower position in society.
What is intersectionality and intersectional feminism?
“Intersectionality is my favorite word,” Joon Park, GLAAD Rising Star grant recipient, says. Intersectionality, a term coined by civil rights advocate and scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, is the theory that you cannot separate out different layers of oppression.
“It refers to the vectors of oppression that occur when systems and hierarchies interact,” Park explains.
“There are so many different levels and facets of oppression besides womanhood: womanhood and then color, womanhood and then economic opportunity or class or sexual orientation or gender identity. Those things just add on top of the weight that happens when you identify as a woman in our culture,” Leah Juliett adds.
For example, a white woman might face sexist oppression (she may be objectified, considered passive, or not as smart as the men at her job or internship), while a Black woman will experience sexism AND racism. A trans Black woman will experience sexism and racism AND transphobia. Intersectional feminism means that we cannot just focus on one thing (like sexism) when there are so many different oppressive systems working against certain people and groups all at the same time.
Why should the feminist movement be different today?
There have been different waves of feminism over the years, but they have all been exclusive of people of color, gay and trans women, and women in low-income households. When Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other suffragists gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, in July 1948, to advocate for the right to vote, not one Black woman was invited to attend, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
“It’s important to acknowledge that women of color and poor women were excluded from the original feminist movement. If we’re going to redefine today what it means to be a feminist, we need to acknowledge that original exclusion and amplify their voices in our new movement,” GLAAD Campus Ambassador C Mandler says.
In short, feminism has to be intersectional if it’s true feminism. “If your feminism isn’t intersectional, if it isn’t trans-inclusive, if it’s ableist, if it’s racist, then it’s not feminism," GLAAD Campus Ambassador Gianna Collier-Pitts says. “Our movement becomes less powerful if we’re leaving people behind.”
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