Kaitlyn Sandvik
Editor-in-Chief
@ksandvikcourant
Ever since proclaiming my undying love for Sylvia Plath and listening to Kathleen Hanna redefine punk music in Bikini Kill, I have proudly identified myself as a young member of the modern feminist movement. But rather than giving you my spiel about the injustices that plague a patriarchal society, I want to explore the notion that civil rights movements are often flawed, not entirely united, and constantly evolving-yet should not be undervalued.
The Second Wave of feminism that surged in the 1960s lacked intersectionality, the hallmark of a productive inclusive movement. Popular feminism in the 60s was a movement focused on the advances of mainly white women and unfortunately perpetuated racial socio-economic disparities. Modern feminism of the third wave variety is certainly not perfect and all feminists do not agree on everything, but the strides made towards feminism for all people is a movement in a direction that I believe will offer great change with time.
However, as feminists, it is our duty to empower the people in our lives and be vehicles for spreading a message of equality rather than misandry. The mistake some might make is to allow their passion or anger to overwhelm their humanity and thus make careless statements that put men down. These errors should not become synonymous with a movement advocating for equality for all genders and when misandry is committed, feminism continues to be perceived as a “dirty word”.
While some may believe that sensitivity to gender inequalities is unwarranted, I would argue that before one can deem a movement extreme or unnecessary, they must look to their own privilege. History does not evaporate when each generation dies. The systemic issues that are a product of years of accepted repression are not going to be mended just because certain problems have been solved. The modern patterns of wealth distribution and access to education, etc can be traced to historic roots. Furthermore, if critics claim the complaints of women regarding oppression and sexism are the result of “liberal brainwashing” and an oversensitive America, I offer the statistics.
One in five women in the United States will be raped at some point in their lives. In 2014, full-time working women made only 79 cents to the dollar of what men made. It must also be noted that the gender pay gap statistic is the average discrepancy, but when specific minority groups are looked at isolation, the disparity is greater.
While feminism has gained traction due to the attention it has received in the mainstream media from the current leading celebrity figures (see Beyonce), there is no “one size fits all” brand of feminism that will be universally adopted and embraced by everyone everywhere. While some may want to find figures that can represent their cause in the celebrity sphere, assigning a movement to one face can be problematic.
One human cannot satisfy the myriad of expectations of what female empowerment is, and in their nature, a human will be imperfect. The goal is to understand how our common goal can offer unity to the feminist movement and to embrace our differences on certain subjects in order to continue a respectful dialogue. Although equality is not a radical concept, people will differ in their perception of how equality is supplied and what the best steps to take are in order to get there.
I believe people may tend to disregard the power that diversity has, I believe people tend to desire an unnecessary abundance of unity within a movement when it simply would not be advantageous. While it is beneficial to combat misinterpretations of feminism and attempts to disguise misandry under the veil of a so-called fierce desire for equality, we must not focus on trying to persuade all feminists to be an active part of Free the Nipple campaign or to be advocates for all the same facets of the feminist movement.
While there is absolute power in unity, there can be strength in our differences, so long as there is a core respectful value that unites the various factions. Feminism is about equality for all the genders no matter a person’s race, religion, sexuality, or any other element of their identity. With understanding, solidarity and compassion, we will continue to engage in conversations that promote equality for everyone and can continue to dust off feminism and uncover all the good it has to offer.
