At the end of my senior year and into my freshman year I was really proud that I wasn’t a feminist. Of course, I believed in equal pay, was pro-choice and believed in equality of all gender identities. But heaven forbid that I’d call myself a feminist. I think that I was hesitant because in 2017 I was a pick me in the middle of an anti-feminist movement.
I remember seeing my old friends make “triggered” jokes and acting like feminists were aggressive losers. During a field trip, we drove past a protest and I remember my one friend joking that none of those girls shaved their armpits. I’m ashamed to say that I laughed even though I knew it was wrong. I remembered thinking, “why do you care if she shaves? Why does her body bother you so much?”.
So I practiced feminism without putting a label on it. I would volunteer to tutor young girls, would talk about the need for women in STEM and would actively be angry about the wage gap. But, feminism was somehow beneath me.
Flash forward to my Sophomore year of college. I started an internship and I noticed that there was a group of outspoken women within it. They had feminism badges, stickers, notebooks and often said things like, “fuck the patriarchy”. At first, I tried to analyze them in ways that might have been cringey. But, throughout our friendship, we created a nonprofit for children of color in low-income homes, donated to women’s centers and tweeted support to male victims of abuse.
It felt so good to do so much widespread good to other people. But, for some reason, I still couldn’t call myself a feminist. I didn’t laugh when people made feminist jokes though but, I still wasn’t totally on board. I still had an outdated idea of what feminism was.
Then I saw that Emma Watson was a feminist. I’m uniquely anti-celebrity culture, but Emma Watson was the definition of classy to me. I researched more into Emma Watson’s feminism and feminism in general and I found the term “intersectional feminism”.
In its plainest definition feminism is the equality of the sexes. Intersectional feminism is the understanding that race, disability, gender identity, and other factors might cause additional marginalization. The purpose of being an intersectional feminist is to aid everyone and to unify under the notion that identity matters and might affect someone’s quality of life.
I also realized that there are waves of feminism. The first few were exclusionary but, today’s feminism works towards everyone’s unique experience with prejudice. The need for feminism is different for someone who is cisgender and transgendered. For someone who is white or black. I realized that intersectional feminism works towards making sure that everyone is equitable.
I also realized that I’m very privileged to used to be able to say that I didn’t need feminism. To think that I lived in a world where everyone was already equal to one another. But, the truth is that everyone needs feminism. And I’m ashamed that it took this long to realize it.
Since I reclaimed feminism I tell people who cringe at my identity that there is still a wage gap, that colorism exists and that there are countless other causes that need attention. Yes, there are people who practice outdated feminism but, they don’t speak for everyone. I for one am really proud to be a feminist.