Recently, I wrote about the Women’s March: Hear Our Voice and a need to extend our hands in compassion to all people, even those that were the ones welcoming liberty’s death with a thunderous applause. Since then, I have continued to read articles and to contemplate what the Women’s March means for Feminism and the way forward. My best friend forwarded me an article on Kellyanne Kanye’s sign that went viral, and it got me thinking and struggling through the need to address the intersectionality of Feminism today.
Feminism, as any human-led movement, has always had its flaws and shortcomings. I, a self-proclaimed Feminist, acknowledge my imperfections while striving to maintain Feminist ideal. I also openly admit to my numerous failures to living true to all my values. But growth means discomfort, and Kanye’s article has the potential to remind many of us, white women in particular, some of the things that should cause us discomfort.
Kanye talks about her small act that went viral. She merely wrote down a fact on a sign, and it was met with both defensiveness and praise, but more importantly with great attention. Her simple act gave her a voice and created a space for her to be heard almost immediately. Yet, as she points out, there are countless women fighting at the front lines for Feminism, doing the hard work with almost no recognition. Her simple act was recognized, validated and “[She] was a living embodiment of ‘white mediocrity versus black excellence.’”
As I read those words I immediately thought back to just weeks ago, while I was on a trip to the capital in a friend’s private car. My friend was male and so were the other two passengers that were traveling with us. As we drove a terrible noise began to fill the car and the entire vehicle began to vibrate and veer left. I previously owned a car and I had experienced an almost exactly the same situation years before.
I immediately made the connection between the terrible rainy season roads and my past experience. The alignment was off. Slowing down would put less pressure on the wheels. This would essentially end the vibrating and veering of the car. I mentioned this a few times, but my advice fell on deaf ears. Not moments later, one of the men sitting in the back suggested that the driver slow down as he had noticed the vibrating virtually disappeared at lower speeds. The driver congratulated the astuteness of his friend. He immediately slowed the car down to avoid the vibrations until we could get the car checked.
I was angry, hurt and I felt voiceless. Despite the fact that I had successfully identified both the problem and a possible solution, I was ignored. I think that this experience can resonate well with what takes place even among women within the Feminist movement. White women fill the car and Women of Color sit in the passenger seat identifying many of the problems and proposing possible solutions. But the others in the car somehow fail to listen until it is they themselves who voice the same information.
Examining the intersectionality of Feminism is essential to properly understand the movement’s value and mission. In her TedxEuston Talk, We Should All Be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reminds us that a Feminist is
A person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.
It seems vital to emphasize that the definition necessitates an expansion including that the equality demanded for the sexes is regardless of race, ethnicity, age and creed. If we fail to give voice to the unique experiences that manifest from our differences, then the Feminist movement often finds itself exclusively applauding white women repeatedly while almost entirely silencing Women of Color who have and continue to do some of the most challenging and transformative work of the movement.
Kanye’s practice of redirecting the credit, and therefore the praise, to those Women of Color who shaped the movement long before she herself did, was encouraging and a step towards a Feminism that works for all. I have read about this practice taking place in offices and boardrooms across the nation. Women repeat the words of other women until the men finally hear the point the first woman already made. Finally, the women redirect the credit to the woman who spoke first, but wasn’t heard by the men.
The Women’s March and more broadly, the Feminist movement, includes the voices of all women. Women who are black and brown, indigenous and white, poor and rich, young and old. The differences that define us, also shape our stories and experience of Feminism. Celebrating all our stories is what makes the movement dynamic, inclusive and ultimately successful. Each woman in the movement has a voice and story that still needs its proper recognition. Each voice matters, yet some are still experiencing more silence than others. This weakens our movement and continues to stifle true equality for all. I’ll end with Kanye’s reminder,
“We must view intersectionality not as some lofty goal, but as a baseline requirement for our participation in Feminism.”