Feminism, the concept and practice of it, have been evolving for many years now. There are different facets to feminism that makes it so diverse and complicated a subject. One of the newest dimensions added to the realm of feminism is intersectional feminism. The term was first coined by civil rights activist and professor, Kimberlé Crenshaw, in the year 1989. The concept of intersectionality or intersectional feminism has today become quite popular and gained a lot of attention around the world. So, let’s try to understand what intersectional feminism is.
Injustice related to women
Women have been subject to several forms of injustices throughout the centuries. The range of injustices that are inflicted on women is wide and complicated. Whether it is basic education or the right to property or the right to vote – women have had to fight to secure their rights. In certain countries, specifically ones that are traditional and deeply orthodox, women are subject to several complicated and harsh forms of injustices through the agency of patriarchy. The situation is further worsened when women themselves perpetuate patriarchal behaviours towards other women.
Also, women from marginalised sections with low or zero financial, educational or social backing are more prone to discrimination and inequality. It is easy to quieten their voices with threats and violence. Poverty, lack of education, and many other reasons weaken their stature. Intersectional feminism delves deep into these issues that show how discrimination towards women is multifaceted.
Why intersectional feminism matters now
Intersectional feminism matters now more than ever. Understanding intersectional feminism will help make the entire movement inclusive. Intersectional feminism is about how different social identities of women affect different women, thereby proving to be advantageous for some women and disadvantageous for others. To make it easy for you to understand, consider this intersectional feminism example – try to compare the difference in inequalities faced by a white middle-class woman from the first world to those faced by a black/brown woman from an underprivileged section in a third world. Intersectionality talks about how at times one’s race, class, ethnicity, etc., can lift some women above while pulling others down. Intersectionality stands as a corollary to ‘white feminism’ wherein feminism was interpreted through the eyes of only white women, thereby excluding brown and black women. ‘White feminism’ excludes women who may have different sexual orientations, ethnicities, and hail from marginalised communities.
Oppression & privilege
Let us try to assess the discrepancies further. Crenshaw puts forth two types of violence that a man would inflict on a woman - domestic violence and rape. According to Crenshaw, a coloured woman faces racism and sexism through these forms of violence because she falls within the separate narratives of race or sex, she is marginalized within both social subsets thereby facing oppression from both. Another example was the movements around the right to vote in the 19th century. During the first wave of feminism, women-led movements focused on political and economic equality, such as women's suffrage, right to education, political representation, equal opportunity at work, legal rights in marriage, etc. But these movements were largely defined and participated by the educated and middle-class white women, and therefore, issues that only they dealt with were voiced out and fought for. The movements, therefore, favoured white women’s rights but eclipsed those of coloured women.
It is not about who suffers more
It soon became important to bring in women of all colours and experiences within the fold of feminism. By the beginning of the second wave of feminism, which took place between the 1960s and 1980s, more complicated subjects began to surface and were taken up for discussions, such as women in the workforce, reproductive rights, sexuality, physical abuses like domestic violence and rape. And that was the first time that feminism saw the active involvement of women of colour. It became all the more important to make every participant construe that women faced different sets of discriminations and abuses based on variegated and opposing experiences around the world. In the recent past, another issue has come to the fore and that is the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. The discrimination that they suffer is even worse and more complicated, and what makes it much more difficult is the very fact that the subject is simply left undiscussed intentionally. Therefore, it is important to address all the dimensions and talk about all the sufferings instead of who suffers more than the other. Intersectionality talks about this inclusion.
Binary thinking
As hinted above, intersectionality tried to ram it home that gender is not binary. If we concede to the misunderstanding that the world is home to only male and female genders then we show zero acceptance to the LGBTQIA+ community, and that is a huge form of discrimination. The moment we ignore them, we ignore not only their fundamental human rights but we simply chose to recognise their very existence. The world has seen several movements with this community fighting for their rights to owning their sexual rights, equality in the workforce, right to marry, to mention just a few. Intersectionality brings them within its folds to include all possibilities.
Changing mindsets
It is important to change mindsets. Despite the world living and excelling in the 21st century, equality amongst genders is still under-evolved. Women are still marginalised under one excuse or another in any society. To usher in equality, it is important to educate young and old how the world can be a better place if freedom is made available to everyone to an equal degree. Several movements around the world, including women’s suffrage, Marxist-feminist critical theory and the latest #MeToo movement to mention a few, are signs hinting that the human civilization has still a very long way to go to recognize varying social, economic, and political ills that still baulk the progress of women.
Examples of intersectional feminism
Let’s try to look at some examples to understand how grave the problem is:
· Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a well-known disability. But due to little research conducted over the years into this disability concerning women, there is not much medical help. However, research and diagnosis are available for male patients.
· Discriminatory behaviour at work is often more for LGBTQIA+ women. Despite her capability, often she could be subject to mockery because of her sexual orientation apart from being discussed about her physical appearances for she is a woman.
· Women tend to face rejection or suspicion of their capabilities if they try to enter into a field that is considered a male bastion. Even her own family may be dubious of her success. This will get grave if she has limited economic freedom and is under-represented politically, for example, if she hails from a particular tribal community.
It was never easy being a woman in this world. But through various movements, women have been able to secure their positions in the world, and the journey has been a tough one. But what bridles the possibility of progress is the lack of awareness of the existing wrongs even amongst feminists. Intersectional feminism has thrown light upon the gap in feminism. It has shown how there can be no generalities to be applied on lived experiences of wrongs in women’s lives because experiences will vary with race, colour, ethnicity, socio-eco-political implications amongst many others. It is time to involve every woman to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and fight this fight together simply ‘as and for women’.
FAQs
· In the 1990s, the third wave of feminism began and it broached controversial subjects like pornography.
· Feminists of the third wave coined the concept of 'riot grrrls', which is also an underground feminist punk movement. It represented a band of strong and independent feminists fighting against sexism.
Kimberlé Crenshaw used the word ‘intersectionality’ to help explain all kinds of oppression that is meted out to the African-American women