In light of the women's march on D.C. and an orange, racist pervert taking charge of one of the most powerful positions in the world, I thought it would be a good time to point out three things that feminists need to consider when advocating for social justice.
Intersectionality is the interconnection between different social categorizations, and how different identities play a role in oppression and privilege. In this article, I want to focus on how racism, ableism, and classism impact a women's experience, and why these experiences are important for the bigger picture of feminism as a movement.
1. Racism
Women of color experience sexism in different ways than do white women. The impact of race on their identity as a woman influences the ways in which they are oppressed. More importantly, feminism, as a movement, has largely failed women of color by refusing to show solidarity in fighting against issues of race. In fact, disaligning with women of color was a deliberate move that white women used to secure the right to vote. White women contributed to this notion of otherness so often associated with people of color and immigrants. White women have, quite frankly, done a piss poor job of being inclusive when it comes to women of color, not to mention the fact that something like 53% of white women voted for Trump. White women need to reconcile their white privilege with supporting women of color, they (we) need to come down off our high horses and recognize the laborious activism many women of color partake in everyday, while dealing with personal attack on their race and gender. Including POC's in the feminist movement is the only way we can truly succeed.
2. Ableism
Ableism is something often not considered when thinking of feminism, but women will disabilities, physical or otherwise, also experience sexism in addition to ableism. Women with disabilities are often targets for physical abuse and sexual assault. This is one way that these two forms of oppression act on the identity of a woman with disabilities. Ableism is very much alive in many social justice movements because people who are not out protesting are viewed as not doing as much for the cause. This mentality is highly exclusionary because it is not always possible for a person with disabilities to march around in the streets. There are many other constructive and important ways to protest, such as calling your representatives or even writing.
3. Classism
A poor woman's experience of sexism is different than that of a wealthy woman's. Poverty plays an extremely significant part in where a woman can live, work, go to school, etc. There are significantly more women living in poverty in the U.S. today than there are men. Depictions of women on welfare are incredibly racist and classist, the idea of the welfare queen comes to mind. However, this mentality of poor women, especially, poor black women, can sometimes be a deterrent to even seeking on such types of social services that they might very well need to survive.
When feminism forgets about these three classes of oppression, it becomes something else entirely. It becomes a platform for white supremacy. When we are divided we will never fully rid ourselves of misogyny, and that is exactly what our oppressors want. White, wealthy, het-cis, able-bodied women need to get back to the true root of feminism, which is equality for all. Let's be real, White women helped get us in this mess, and we need to start busting our asses to make it right.
