Feminism Without Intersectionality? That’s Just White Supremacy with Lipstick. If your feminism isn’t inclusive, it’s not feminism.
Feminism is, by definition, a movement for equality, advocating for women's rights and challenging the patriarchal structures that oppress individuals based on gender. However, a critical examination reveals that feminism, when lacking intersectionality, can enhance systems of oppression rather than dismantle them.
Intersectionality, in simple terms, means including every section of a community or subject of focus. This concept is now being applied to feminism. A perfect example to grasp a better understanding of intersectionality is asking yourself, ‘How can we as a society protect the rights of everyone without including everyone?’ The simple answer is, you can't.
To advocate for human rights does not mean certain human lives.
Intersectionality in feminism means that all women will be safeguarded to have the same rights, and the same respect for their integrity, dignity, and person as any other human being.
Understanding Intersectionality With Statistics
American civil rights leader and scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw first introduced the term intersectionality in a 1989 paper. She argued that focusing on a single form of oppression (such as gender or race) perpetuated discrimination against black women, who are simultaneously subjected to both racism and sexism.
In writing about intersectionality, Crenshaw argued that singular approaches to social categories made black women’s oppression invisible. Many Black feminists have pointed out that White feminists frequently overlook how racial categories shape different women’s experiences.
One glaring example is hair discrimination. It is only in the 2020s that many organisations in South Africa, the UK and US have recognised that it is discriminatory to regulate Black women’s hairstyles in ways that render their natural hair unacceptable. This is an intersectional approach. White women and most Black men do not face the same discrimination and pressures to straighten their hair.
“Abortion on demand” in the 1970s and 1980s in the UK and USA took no account of the fact that Black women in these and many other countries needed to campaign against being given abortions against their will. The fight for reproductive justice does not look the same for all women.
It should be known that women of colour often face different societal stigmas and barriers that can prevent them from speaking out – and in the following statements, you can see why.
A 2020 - 2024 study by the Pew Research Center found that Black women are significantly less likely to report sexual harassment compared to White women. This is largely due to fear of lack of belief, or of facing racial bias.
Following up, a study by the End Rape On Campus organisation states that while 80% of rapes are reported by white women that have fallen victim to sexual assault, a shocking outcome was discovered: women of colour are more likely to be assaulted than white women, but do not report nor bring awareness to their assaults in fear of being shunned by their communities; the justice system not exceeding expectations; and fear of being assaulted again for speaking out.
In the United States, the following were outcomes from an End Rape On Campus investigation:
- For every Black woman that reports her rape, at least 15 Black women do not report.
- Approximately 60% of Black girls experience sexual abuse by age 18.
- 7.9% of Latinas will be raped by a spouse, boyfriend or ex-boyfriend in their lifetime.
- 92% of Native/American Indian girls who have had intercourse reported having been forced against their will to have sex. According to a 2010 study, US attorneys declined to prosecute 67% of sexual abuse, homicide, and other violent crimes against Native women.
- A 2020 study by the William Institute revealed that 35% of bisexual women and 34% of lesbians reported experiencing workplace discrimination, compared to 15% of heterosexual women. These statistics illustrate that the fight for gender equality must also advocate for the rights of all sexual orientations.
To eliminate violence against all women and girls we have to address how violence differs between groups of women, because the violence women and girls experience isn’t just based on their gender. 44% of lesbian women experience intimate partner violence, compared to 35% of heterosexual women. Women and girls with disabilities are 2 to 4 times more likely to experience domestic violence than women without disabilities (founded by the William Institute stated in the link below).
True feminism celebrates diversity and empowers unique identities so that everyone can have equal opportunities.
Why Feminism Needs Intersectionality
One misconception about intersectionality is that it encourages division and exclusion in the feminist movement. When we ignore intersectionality, we ignore women's real life experiences and let society undermine their stories.
The feminist movement has quite often focused and favoured tackling the prejudice that cisgender white women face. Although white women face immense struggles in their life and continue their fight for equality against the opposite gender, they are the most privileged women in the world due to their race. White women carry white privilege in this society of injustice, meaning they gain advantages based on the colour of their skin without even acknowledging it.
White privilege as well as white supremacy is the heartbeat to feminism without intersectionality, being largely based on extreme nationalism and racism, which is not often discussed when talking about the feminist movement.
The feminist movement strictly focused on the rights of most Western white women, the rights of all other women were pushed aside and they actually faced more discrimination due to the movement. This is because by only engaging in feminism that benefits and empowers white and cisgendered women, it actively works to perpetuate harm against women of colour, transgender women, women of different social class, and women a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Feminism Without Limits
Incorporating intersectionality into feminism ensures that we consider all women and empower those that have been diminished and ultimately create a more positive and accessible society for all. Lack of intersectionality dates back to as early as time began: discrimination has been embedded into the roots of our history, being passed down for generations destroying countless amounts of women's lives for decades. Feminism needs a radical reform and by fueling feminism without intersectionality is supporting a stagnant movement. Feminism cannot and will not be a one sided element in the fight for equality for all. We can't stay in the past if we want a brighter future; we need to live in a time where anything can be possible for anyone, no matter their differences, to create a better future.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeToo_movement
https://bhsblueandwhite.com/1811/opinion/feminism-without-intersectionality-isnt-feminism
Survivors of Color —Intersectional feminism: what it means and why it matters right now | UN Women – Headquarters Prevalence Rates -
End Rape on CampusLGBTQ People’s Experiences of Workplace Discrimination and Harassment -
Williams InstituteIntersectionality 101: what is it and why is it important? -
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