Women supporting other women, gathering in unity for the sake of solidarity and progress is the stuff of our dreams. Genuinely.
With that in mind though, there was a glaring flaw in the ‘Day Without a Woman’ strikes.
Wearing red worked for us, and not spending money was fine too.
But the main platform of the day was for women to take the day off from work, paid or unpaid. That didn’t sit well.
For how many women was this an option? For many disabled, low-income, and minority women, it was not. And these are the women most affected in our current political and social climate.
It only worked for people who felt safe being out and marching, and who won’t suffer from the loss of money or who don’t risk being fired. It seemed to cater to able-bodied, financially privileged and primarily white women. I completely support the ideology behind the movement, but the way it played out wasn’t working for me. I applaud the women who work tirelessly to organize nationwide movements in support of women but there is definitely a lot of work to be done.
*sips tea* pic.twitter.com/dU1y02pOmS
— z a h i r a ?? (@bad_dominicana) March 8, 2017
Full disclosure, at the moment I can’t think of better ideas. I understand that I can’t be critical and then offer no suggestions. It is something we need to work on both individually and collectively. By including the opinions and ideas of women who are most at risk at this time, perhaps we can work on a more inclusive campaign. We need to work on creating a platform where all women who want to take a stand, will be able and feel comfortable doing so.
This is the time when intersectional feminism is so important.
Let me clarify that I identify as cis, straight, able-bodied white woman from a financially comfortable background. I come from a place of privilege and can’t even pretend I can relate to the struggles that many of my fellow women face. I have so much to learn, especially in terms of confronting gender issues while recognizing my own privilege and understanding the struggles others face that I will never have to.
But I think it is time to work even harder to make intersectional feminism at the forefront of today’s women’s movement. If feminism isn’t intersectional, it isn’t feminism. We need to create motions that have the potential to involve all, not just the privileged few.
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