Some of us are too busy fighting for reproduction rights, victims of sexual assault that are ignored and the countless black women gunned down in streets to give a care about snowmen being gender neutral.
We are in a weird era where feminism is a controversial topic and looked differently from others. The minute you mention feminism or choose to identify as a feminist (while not being white), people look at you differently. That may have something to do with the fact that the idea of feminism, pushing for equality, has been twisted into something sinister.
In retrospect, feminism has always been selective about the type of women it supports. If we’re being honest here, there are feminists with agendas that only support white women. As time went on, the term ‘intersectional feminism’ was birthed to include ALL women because those with sense and open hearts realized the fault of feminism as a whole – just because someone identifies as a feminist, that does not mean they support and fight for ALL women.
There is a feminism, ‘Becky feminism’, that seems to only appear when certain women are affected. If you were okay, would you still be fighting? If this issue did not pertain to you in any way, would your mouth still open to speak out? If your paycheck was not at risk here, where would you be?
image from Vice News, @VICE on Twitter
Becky feminism is toxic. This type of feminism places its attention on matters that are not nearly as important as real issues that women are faced with. These “feminist” are the ones you see running butt-naked throughout the streets with no real agenda. You might also see them using feminism as a mechanism to support women who are racist, homophobic or negative in any way. Some (maybe all) have a strong sense of privilege that keeps them blinded from the atrocities of the world and the sufferings of other women that have no effect on them, so they stay quiet.
If you’re going to be for women, you have to be for all women. If your feminism is not intersectional, it is toxic along with the message it sends. When black women, handicapped women, women of other cultures and religions or women who are members of the LGBTQ community are being targeted, what happens to your feminism? More than likely, you were to busy brunch’in to be a feminist on those days.
You cannot only be motivated to act only when it’s popular to do so. You cannot go marching on Saturday for women’s rights and shut your mouth on Sunday when an immigrant mother is distressed from hearing her baby has died in U.S custody. You cannot tweet about how much of a feminist you are while you are teaching racism in your home.
Ideally, if you believe in equality between men and women, you may identify as a feminist. When used rightfully, feminism is good. Everyone should be a feminist, but only if it is intersectional. Your feminism should not have walls.