*Contributing writer, Sofia SanMarco
The role that feminism has had in my life has been ever present and ever changing. As a young, white, middle class, cisgendered, able-bodied woman, I have been lucky enough to benefit from the work done by Second Wave feminists in the struggle against oppression based on one’s sex. However, as I’ve gotten older, I have been humbled by the reality that oppression does not exist for all women in the singular form of biological sex, and that intersecting oppressions such as race, class, gender and sexuality play into an individual’s personal experience and knowledge of what it means to be oppressed. It is for this reason that I have struggled with my own identification as a feminist because I am aware that, historically, white, middle to upper class, straight women have dominated the political agenda of feminism and have excluded and marginalized women who do not fit into this privileged category.
Learning to be self-critical and self-aware is still proving to be one of the most challenging and uncomfortable experiences I have yet to encounter; most frighteningly because I know it will never end. However, this process has proved to be immensely valuable and eye opening. I attribute this knowledge to the feminists who have worked to push the boundaries of feminism past gender equality toward a feminism that analyzes not only our culture and the institutions of oppression that exist within it, but also itself.
I could say that in learning about feminism I have abandoned the very idea that it can be contained by one definition or word, or that as an individual I can even hold the weight of identifying with it. Yet, I do not want to discourage anyone from advocating for it because despite the complexities that exist around feminism, I am truly grateful for the hope, perspective and sometimes rage, that it has given me in every aspect of my life.