Inclusive & Empowered: Redefining Feminism
Like anything else that started hundreds of years ago, the feminist movement has a bit of a checkered past. Way back in the mid-1800s, when the first wave of the suffrage movement started, feminism looked a bit different than it does now.
As the relevant cries for equality started popping up, it became clear that they didn’t include everyone. As Sojourner Truth pointed out in her 1851 Women’s Convention Speech, these cries were only for white, cisgender women.
All talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about? That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman?
And she was right. Ain’t she a woman?
The 2023 Rise of Anti-Women Legislation
It’s sad to say that, even though we’ve made significant strides since the 1851 Women’s Convention, we are still far from including everyone that the feminist movement should protect and uplift.
While we’ve now seen a Black woman, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, named to her incredibly hard-earned seat on the Supreme Court and another Black and South Asian woman, Vice President Kamala Harris, be voted into the White House, we’re still seeing attacks on women pop up all over the country.
According to the Trans Legislation Tracker, there have been 560 anti-trans bills introduced in 49 states in this year alone. Of these bills, 83 have passed and 364 are still active. If those numbers shock you, stop to consider that in all of 2022, we saw 174 bills introduced and 26 passed. The increase in bills passed in just the first six months of 2023 is shocking.
Anti-trans litigation is just the tip of the iceberg when we look at anti-LGBTQ+ legislation as a whole. In just one week in May of 2023, seven anti-LGBTQ+ bills were passed in at least one chamber in states like Arizona, Louisiana, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas, according to the Human Rights Campaign. In addition, twenty more were either enacted into law or awaiting signature from the state’s governor in places like Florida, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Iowa, and Missouri.
Add all of these discriminatory laws to the laws being introduced against women’s health and abortion, the work we still have to do within the feminist movement can seem overwhelming. So what can we do about it?
Feminism Needs to Include All Female-Identifying People
The first step is to acknowledge that we are all needed in this fight. We can’t defend human rights for all if we’re accepting of a construct that discriminates against some of us more than others. If we’re going to call ourselves allies, then we need to do the work, unite together, and work on year-round efforts toward a more equitable future.
Learn About the History of the Women’s Rights Movement
The first step to a brighter future is to learn more about our past. From here, we can learn what has worked in the past and what steps we took that could be improved upon.
UN Women has an incredible resource that outlines the Women’s Rights Movement from its inception in the late 1800s through today. It details the progress that we’ve made and identifies gaps in the agenda.
Stay Up-to-Date on Human Rights Concerns
Many of these discriminatory laws are passed because people aren’t paying attention. This isn’t to blame anyone; we can’t stand on guard all day long, waiting for the next terrible thing to happen.
But what we can do is set aside a few minutes a week to get our news from reputable sources such as the Human Rights Campaign or the ACLU. These organizations are working hard to fight inequality across the intersectionality of feminism.
Work with & Donate to Quality Organizations
The best part about this movement is that we aren’t alone. No one has to take on the patriarchy by herself. There are plenty of organizations that are doing the hard work that we can’t do. The idea that we have to do everything ourselves, individually, is yet another trick of the patriarchy to keep us exhausted and isolated. We will make progress by working together, delegating, and outsourcing when someone else can do something better or more effectively.
Places like the Human Rights Campaign and the ACLU are some of the most well-known organizations but others, such as The Trevor Project, True Colors United, The Okra Project, the National Network of Abortion Funds, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, and the National Council of Jewish Women are doing incredible work on the ground to help women, nonbinary folks, and others across the country achieve the life of safety and success that they deserve.
Donate a few hours of your time to these organizations to help advance their mission. If you don’t have a few hours, raise awareness for their work by donating to their cause or spreading the word on social media.
Embrace & Encourage All Female-Identifying & Nonbinary People
Feminism is nothing if it isn’t intersectional. For this movement to work, we can’t waste our time fighting against each other. We must direct our attention to the patriarchal systems that harm us.
After all, according to a Pew Research Center survey, “about 6 in 10 American women say ‘feminist’ describes them.” Instead of splitting hairs over who has it worse, we need to focus on lifting us all up and breaking the chains that patriarchy has placed on us.
Surround Yourself with a Community of Supportive Women
It’s true that there is strength in numbers, and one of the first steps toward creating an inclusive and equitable society is organizing together. If you’re ready to take the next step and join a movement that is doing the work to create a better society, join the Forward in Heels Facebook community today.
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