Feminism must liberate all women. Graphic by Reece Butler. 

SADIA KHATRI | OPINION COLUMNIST | sskhatri@butler.edu 

Rejecting any system of oppression requires a deep understanding of intersectionality — feminism is no exception. Opposing patriarchal norms and fighting against the systems that keep women and gender minorities subordinate to men goes beyond the genre of feminism that is focused on gaslighting, gatekeeping and girlbossing.

Choice feminism is concerned with the individual liberties of women and the choices they may make. Through this lens, any choice that a woman makes is feminist simply because she has the liberty to make choices. This interpretation of feminism, however, is far too simple and surface-level. It does not do justice to the complexity of what true feminism and gender equity should look like. 

Girlboss feminism — defined as purported equity, often within the workplace, under capitalism — is similarly riddled with issues. Female representation within the corporate world means next to nothing when such little work is being done at a systemic level to promote gender equity and liberation. 

Teigha VanHester, assistant professor of race, gender and sexuality studies, provided an important framework for beginning to understand what genuine feminism should look like. 

“Feminism is a thing that has to be qualified based on either the preceding adjectives or the prefix in association with feminism,” VanHester said. “What we see are these new groups trying to define a movement for gendered equity steeped in something else. Girlboss [feminism] would be that gender equity really focusing on capital and capitalism, but not a dismantling of that structure.”

Girlboss feminism does not allow for a legitimate destructuring of the systems that keep women and other marginalized groups in positions of inferiority. If we do not work towards dismantling these oppressive structures, we will not see true gender liberation or freedom. 

Choosing to work, for instance, is not necessarily a true act of feminism, though both girlboss and choice feminism would hail it as such. Choosing to have a career can certainly be empowering, but not every woman legitimately has such a choice. The only choice that some people have is between a handful of jobs simply to pay the bills and put food on the table. 

Mikala Lain, assistant director of the Efroymson Diversity Center, shared that such forms of feminism are often rooted in a desire to reach the level of privilege that men enjoy. 

“[Society has] always [had] this comparison of ‘the right way is the male way,’” Lain said. “I think [these forms of feminism] manifest [from] living in a patriarchal society.”

When considering the systemic obstacles that some women may face that others do not, girlboss and choice feminism become even muddier. Oftentimes, it is white women who are able to partake and benefit from such forms of feminism. 

For feminism to be truly liberating and freeing, it must impact all women. It is not enough for feminism to only benefit and serve the interests of a small and privileged sect of women.

VanHester also provided some insight into why such forms of feminism are popular. 

“I think it’s from feminism being seen as a trendy-adjacent concept,” VanHester said. “A lot of people come up with these other qualitative markers for feminism because they haven’t read the … [feminist] literature … It should be actualized equity across gender.”

Feminism must be intersectional and account for the diversity of identities that exist. Choice and girlboss feminism, beyond being unsustainable forms of feminism, are simply not applicable to every single person; not everyone is able to make choices in the way these philosophies advocate, free from societal pressures. Similarly, not all women experience the opportunity to make large corporate, capital gains nor is this necessarily beneficial for every woman.

Junior health sciences major Kamarie Fuller-McDade is Black and they shared how race in particular can impact a person’s experiences. 

“As women, we are all marginalized,” Fuller-McDade said. “However, race can further marginalize someone … Me and a white woman are both marginalized … However, their race gives them more of a privilege than me, just because historically, I’ve always been at a disadvantage because of my race.”

It is imperative that we think about how race can impact what feminism means to someone. True feminism is not focused on creating more spaces and opportunities for just white and wealthy women. Feminism should consider the variety of identities a person holds. 

Intersectional feminism considers how one person can be impacted by more than just their gender. When we navigate intersectionality, especially from the perspective of race, it requires an understanding of how racial and gender liberation are interconnected. Women who are further marginalized on the basis of race, socioeconomic status, ability status, sexual orientation and a plethora of other identities are going to have different experiences compared to women who are more privileged. 

“There’s a part of the Combahee River Collective [where they] say, ‘when Black women are free, we all will be free,’” VanHester said. “You don’t free people from the top down. You free people from the bottom up. And so, once a Black woman is free, that means a Latina woman would be free, an Asian woman [would be free], because we still operate in this hierarchical system.”

It is important to center marginalized voices within feminist movements. Gender liberation, and any other form of liberation, is not possible until every person is truly free. Something that is of particular concern currently, is how little empathy there is for women who are experiencing violence globally. Feminism is of no use if we overlook certain groups of women. 

“One thing that’s kind of really getting me is the lack of empathy for women and other people who identify as women outside of the United States,” Fuller-McDade said. “The example I’m going to use is the genocide happening in Palestine. The amount of groups and movements who usually speak up about a lot of issues happening in America … [are] not speaking out about what’s actually happening [in Palestine], the lack of [sanitary] products for women [etc.] And it’s just actually sickening because it really gives that you’re kind of selfish within your activism and that you only truly care about yourself and not all women as a whole.”

Dr. VanHester shared that intersectionality is important and relevant because our social structures are rooted in various forms of bigotry and prejudices. We need empathy and a willingness to understand how different groups of people face different realities because of their identities. 

“If we became anti-racist, this [intersectionality] problem wouldn’t exist,” VanHester said. 

Feminism is as much about supporting and empowering women as it is about freeing other people from other systems of oppression. When white supremacy and anti-Blackness exist, it is crucial that our feminism considers race and the obstacles that racism poses. 

Women of color deserve to be represented and advocated for within feminism. Navigating sexism and misogyny is tough enough without other forms of bigotry or prejudice. 

“We all … have an obligation to show up for each other and show up in support of each other,” Lain said. “Especially whenever it comes to an identity that everybody was going to have some type of relationship with.” 

We need to exercise empathy and understand that everyone has a different experience under feminism. Not everyone is marginalized exclusively on the basis of their gender. 

Lain shared that there are also spaces on campus where students can navigate their identities and experiences with respect to feminism.

“Students who are wanting to explore the topic more should check out Gender Equity Movement,” Lain said. “We have a lot of spaces for closed conversations as they’re exploring their own relationship to feminism, regardless of other intersecting identities, and we’re happy to share resources around that if they need them.”

Embracing a form of feminism that calls for the freedom of all marginalized women and people is imperative. We have to reject the biases, whether they are implicit or explicit, that we have. Feminism is not about serving and empowering a small subset of women, but rather about freeing and liberating all women and people.