I’m just going to come out and say it: we don’t celebrate international women enough.
Before I became a women’s studies minor, I really didn’t understand the importance of global feminism. Yes, I’m an American woman so that makes me more attuned to the struggles of the modern day American woman.
But I’ll let you in on a little secret, there are women outside of the U.S. who are going through hardships that seem unimaginable to American women. For example, I’m fortunate enough to not have to worry about whether or not I’m going to get to go to school or not. However, as a socially conscious feminist I’m aware that my education is a privilege, one that women in Uganda or Bangladesh might not have.
If you’ve never taken a Women’s Studies course first, I highly recommend that you do. But more importantly, there is a term in the feminist community called Intersectionality. Merriam-Webster defines intersectionality as “the complex, cumulative manner in which the effects of different forms of discrimination combine, overlap, or intersect.”
That seems pretty complex to the normal human, but to break it down for you, it basically means that as humans we don’t identify as simply one thing. For example, I’m a woman. But, I’m also a Caucasian, Jewish, woman which effects my perspective on things.
So when we’re talking about transnational women, it’s important to remember that they are not just women. They’re African; they’re Latinas; they’re Asian; they’re Catholic; they’re Buddhist; they’re Muslim.
I’ll let you in on another little secret, a lot of these women are doing pretty kick ass things. Hell, obviously foreign countries are doing something right because unlike the U.S. women are leading entire countries and killing it too (Angela Merkel).
March is Women’s History month; it’s a time where we should be celebrating females all over the world. If McDonald’s can turn their “M” upside down to a “W” to support all women on international women’s day, I think we can give more than a standing ovation for women all over the world who are trying to make the world a better place.