Author and professor Cheris Kramarae once famously stated, "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." This quote has been printed on buttons, t-shirts and bumper stickers. Most people would consider themselves to be, at the very least, mainstream feminists (i.e. supporting equal pay for equal work, access to birth control and fighting unfair beauty standards). Often what these mainstream feminists leave out of the equation is intersectionality. By omitting entire groups of people, many marginalized groups are essentially absent from modern feminist dialogue: LBPQ women, transwomen, poor women, Black women, Latina women, Asian women, indigenous women, poor women, Muslim women, Jewish women, atheist women and non-binary people to name just some.
Expanding our understanding of feminism to be more inclusive of all races, ethnicities, socioeconomic classes, genders, religions, sexualities and ability levels is necessary. While the title of this article is 'Why All Genders Need Feminism,' most progressive feminists would agree that all people need feminism, as it is a cause that works for equality. However, as has been seen in numerous instances, White (and heterosexual/cisgender/able-bodied) Feminism only shows us a small part of the picture.
As to why, specifically, all genders need feminism, first, we, as feminists, must recognize that there are more than just the two genders of women and men that we have all been taught about. On this campus, I have encountered a multitude of people, students, and professors alike, who are either unaware of non-binary, agender, pangender, bigender, two-spirit and genderfluid people or who simply do not believe in their existence. Inclusive, intersectional feminism acknowledges the existence and validity of non-binary people's experiences and works for their equality, in addition to working for the equality of all women.
In terms of why feminism is still relevant to women, the list could go on for days. Access to birth control and oral contraceptives is being denied, and most new abortion laws are restrictive regulations rather than legislation to help expand the medical procedure to women who need it. Women are not paid as much as men are, and these numbers are even worse for women of color, trans women, LBPQ women, and women in traditionally male-dominated fields. Most political figures are still white, cisgender, heterosexual, Christian, upper-class men. There is an epidemic of violence against women, especially women of color and transwomen.
Feminism is necessary for men who believe in equality and who wish to see a world where conforming to gender norms is no longer necessitated by a cisnormative, heteronormative, white-supremacist, patriarchy (i.e. the United States in 2016). All genders have been disenfranchised by a lack of feminist discourse, particularly by a lack of inclusive and liberation-focused feminist discussions.
To find out more about how you can fight the patriarchy while also working for racial justice, economic justice, and civil rights for LGBTQIAP+ people, please visit the Feminist Majority Foundation.
