A Multicultural Perspective On Feminism Is For Everybody

One central misconception about feminism is that it only addresses the concerns of middle-class white women. There are numerous reasons why feminism interactions with a diverse population of women, not just the middle-class white women. Feminism is intersectional, meaning that it discusses how “multiple social categories intersect at the micro level of individual experience reflect multiple interlocking systems of privilege and oppression at the macro, social-structural level.” It approaches an array of women, helping women contest to racism, sexism, discrimination and oppression in various areas, societies, and cultures. Intersectional feminism is involved in understanding and improving women’s rights for all women throughout the world. It is diverse and inclusive embracing women of all races, ethnicities, classes,

Roxane Gay, author of the article entitled “Bad Feminist”, is a very accomplished American feminist writer. Her publication of “Bad Feminist” in 2012 gained national public attention (1). Feminism, as defined in the dictionary, is “the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes” (2), but Gay explains throughout her article that being a feminist is not just as simple as agreeing with this need for gender equality. The feminist label is too narrow and because of this the feminist movement is breaking apart. In this piece, Gay addresses how our society currently defines feminism and explains why this definition does not encompass everybody that it should.

When thinking about feminism in today’s society we tend to direct our minds and thoughts to a more radical and powerful train of thought. Feminism has been going on for centuries, with two main ideologies at the forefront; liberal and cultural feminism. Someone who identifies as a liberal feminist is someone who believes that women and men are a like and equal in most respects and deserve equal roles and opportunities (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017, p. 58). And cultural feminism is someone who identifies as someone who believes that men and women are fundamentally differently; you have different rights, role and opportunities (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017, p. 58). The women’s rights movement can be understood and broken down into three “waves”.

“Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” (1) This is the first line of Bell Hooks’ book, Feminism is for everybody. This sentence, a simple statement about the sense of feminism, has come into much debate in recent years. This is done by people claiming feminism is not a movement to end sexism- but rather a movement to give women superiority over men. Despite the literal definition of feminism being “an advocacy for the equal rights of the genders,” many people still claim that feminists are women who want to be of higher power than their male counterparts. Hooks acknowledges this by saying “and a huge majority of these folks think feminism is anti-male” (1). Like most aspects of today’s society,

Before this class, I was aware of feminism but also uncertain on the meaning. I knew gender inequality existed throughout history and currently. Growing up in the rural Midwest, feminism was not perceived as a positive movement. Little was taught or said about feminism in any primary education. We learned about women’s suffrage and that was it. After, taking this class, I understand that feminism is so much more than woman’s suffrage in the early 1900s.

In Feminism is for Everybody, hooks introduces a popular theory of feminism rooted in common sense and the wisdom of her own personal experience. In my opinion, hooks’ book is perfectly poised to become THE OFFICIAL “handbook” or “cliff notes” to feminism. Although it’s short, Feminism is for Everybody is powerful. It addresses all of the most prevalent issues facing the contemporary feminist movement, everything from where feminism stands, reproductive choice, beauty, violence, race, class, work, all the way to where feminism will go in the future. She uses simple, direct language to express complex issues. However, that is not to say that she “dumbs-down” such topics. Rather, she makes them more comprehensible to those not as familiar with feminism as a discipline. This book offers everyone (man or woman) a chance to explore feminism. It serves as an eye-opener to all those “would be” feminists who are afraid to label themselves as such for fear of being called a man hater or worse, a lesbian! She dispels these myths and others, forcing her audience

For years, women have fought to gain the same rights and treatment as men. Those women that have been fighting to gain equality have been held back and their opportunities have been stripped away from them due to the simple fact of being women. “Feminism is the belief in social, political, and economic equality of the sexes” (Scholz 2013). The feminist movement has been the key factors in helping women gain equal rights for those who have been underprivileged of their rights and equivalence that society refuse to give to them. A woman has every right to be treated equally to men and feminism is accomplishing this slowly. Feminism is not only beneficial to women, it helps both men, women, and children because it is allowing the communities

During these last thirteen weeks, I have discovered a lot about myself, not only as a student, but as a feminist. Before taking this class, I knew that I wanted to be a feminist. I believed that women should stand up and exercise their rights to be equal to men on every level. Be that as it may, I lacked the education required to develop my own sense of feminism--my feminist manifesto, if you will. When approaching the topic of feminism, every person needs to ask themselves a list of questions: Who am I? Who do I want to be? What has influenced me as a person? How can I help? These are the beckoning questions we, as developing and purposeful human beings, ask ourselves every day, and these are the questions that will lead each and every person

There is a heavy stigma surrounding the word “feminism”, saying it out loud evokes emotional responses from many people. During my conversations, I received many casual responses to feminism, or rather the traditional, “I believe in equality” response. I also received some negative responses from people that did not approve with modern day feminism, or believed that we had already achieved equality. And finally, I received some very strong — yet positive — responses to feminism, however, these people explained that feminism itself is on a downward spiral.

The content of this project includes revealing the basic understanding of fundamental feminist theories, which is the first phase of the class learning experience. In class, we went through multiple feminist theories, and I picked the two that impressed me the most in making this project.

Women made up 50.8% of the United States population in 2013 (United States Census Bureau), yet made only 78 cents to a white man’s dollar (Hill). Women also hold only 17% of the seats in Congress, about 90 seats total, and less than 3% of Fortune 500 businesses are run by women (25 Surprising Stats to Share on Women's Equality Day). And this is just for white women. For many women of color, the statistics are even more grim, Latina women making only 53% of what white men make (Hill). This inequality of the sexes spreads out of the workplace and into women’s everyday lives. Feminism works to even the playing field between males and females by promoting female empowerment and supporting women in their endeavors. The feminist movement

Many people believe that all feminist are the same. They all believe in the same thing and are all white, millennials that want all men to die and suffer. While I’m sure by now you understand that not all feminist are like this. Many people actually don’t want to be called feminist because of this negative stigma that is associated with it. While, for the most part, all feminist do have the same dogma of equality among men and women, they do have different ideas on how this equality looks like. In this essay I will address three kinds of feminism, talk of their goals, inclusiveness, and relationships between women and men.

“I need feminism because we need more sexy blond female CEOs but not more female miners and other jobs in those kinds of fields. They are not glamorous enough. Women should not have to get on their knees and work hard unless they want to get backstage at a weekend concert.” Man-hating femi-nazis are plaguing the world with their rants about “misogyny” and flashing their naked bodies to men and expecting not to get objectified. This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a breast. Modern-day feminism is often regarded as something that is no longer needed, because women of the 21st century have the same rights as every other person. But sadly, that is not true. Women and men in America in the 21st century are not treated as equals in social, economic, or political aspects of society, ergo feminism—the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities, is still a necessity in the modern society of America. The true intention of feminism is NOT to degrade men and preach that women are high and mighty and deserved to be treated better, but rather that all sexes be treated the same way in all aspects of life.

At Troy High School, 57 percent of students do not identify as a feminist, much of this percentage claiming that feminism is irrelevant as females already have equal rights and that the fight for equal gender rights is a “thing of the past” (Troy High Feminism Survey); but do these students actually know what feminism is? Feminism is a global movement to empower women of every age, economic standing, sexuality, and culture through gender equality. Often confused with misandry, or the hate of males, feminism simply wants to make both genders equal. Misogyny, or prejudice against females, is the main bane of feminism, a force so deeply embedded in our culture that feminists have had to fight it for centuries, and continue to fight it to keep our current rights while aiming for new ones that would ultimately achieve gender equality. Everyone should be a feminist to stop misogynistic standards and to create a safer more productive future.

Within only three days each week I learn so much more about feminism in each lesson. I began the course knowing that feminism can be for anyone and is about equality of the sexes. With the help of our many readings and discussions we have during class I have now learned that feminism is a struggle with not just white women, but with women of color, women of third world countries, and lesbians. I was unsure about what I would all learn while taking this course and now it’s safe to say that I am definitely gaining more knowledge about feminism, while developing a different outlook on feminism. During the fourth week of this course I have learned about classic knowledge, feminist theories, and our layers of performances.