Everyday Applied Intersectional Feminism That Ignores Women
What, a couple of you asked on my latest post about Everyday Feminism, does this have to do with feminism, and why can’t they talk about feminism? It’s because they’re too InterSectional to talk about feminism, but I thought I might as well find their About page to see how they explain it themselves.
Everyday Feminism is an educational platform for personal and social liberation. Our mission is to help people dismantle everyday violence, discrimination, and marginalization through applied intersectional feminism and to create a world where self-determination and loving communities are social norms through compassionate activism.
There it is right there – they’re intersectional, so that’s why they talk about everything but feminism more than they talk about feminism.
Notice that there’s something missing – they forgot to say everyday violence, discrimination, and marginalization against/of whom? They forgot to say – or they intentionally didn’t say, because they want to dismantle violence, discrimination, and marginalization against/of everyone – but in that case why do they call it Everyday Feminism? Why not call it Everyday Social Justice or Everyday Human Rights or Everyday Equality or Everyday Progressivism?
Then notice again the absence of women from the world where self-determination and loving communities are social norms – notice that the goal is generic as opposed to particular. That’s ok, but then why call it feminism?
They go on to spell it out.
Through our online magazine, we work to amplify and accelerate the progressive cultural shifts taking place across the US and the world. Our unique focus on helping people apply intersectional feminism and compassionate activism to their real everyday lives has deeply resonated with people around world.
We aim to shift our culture to end the everyday violence, discrimination, and marginalization that people face due to their gender, sexual orientation, race, class, size, ability, and other social differences.
Gender plus all the other things. So then they shouldn’t be calling it feminism, because that’s not feminism. Feminism is of course compatible with other branches of activism, but that doesn’t mean it’s the same thing.
I wonder if a major reason they talk so much about activism that has nothing to do with feminism is because they’re afraid of being called transphobic. It’s the hot new thing, calling feminists transphobic for talking about FGM, so next it will be calling feminists transphobic for talking about women, and maybe Everyday Notfeminism wanted to get out ahead of the curve.
I suspect that is a big part of why they’re so all over the place and so squeamish about talking about women.
What a pathetic place we’ve reached.
So intersectionality seems to be going back to that old meme of “Why don’t they just call feminism equalism?”. That’s exactly what’s happening… I seem to recall that meme being one promoted by males too…
Yes. Exactly. The irony of it is stunning.
From what I have gathered, being about everyone except the people formerly known as “women” is pretty much the definition of “intersectionality”.
Who are the supposedly ubiquitous feminists who simplistically assume that sexism manifests itself in exactly the same way across all intersections anyway? Seems like a strawman to me.
Hang on. I thought that feminism was equalism. I mean, its called feminism, but its for everyone… there was the whole “if you believe in equality then you are a feminist” thing.
I always figured we called it feminism just because it emerged from womens lib, but that ultimately it would become known simply as what everyone does.
My feminism will be about pretty much everything under the sun except how women as a class are treated or it will be non-binary bovine excrement, collected only by vegan agriculturalists to enrich soil on their organic, non-GMO farms.
BLar, it’s kind of not an issue if an individual calls themselves a feminist because they believe in equality, but their main focus is something else and they aren’t really activist in feminism.
But to have a feminist blog, or feminist website, or feminist society, etc that doesn’t focus on women’s issues primarily? That’s not feminism, that’s generic progressivism or activism. You wouldn’t form a #BlackLivesMatter movement to go protest at a construction site about street harassment. It would be fine if you did that one day to show your concern for the sisters in the movement or in solidarity with a feminist group, especially if they’ve been helping you protest police brutality. But while there’s still a push for equality, it’s *not the same focus*.
Feminism didn’t emerge from “women’s lib” – it predates it.
I had a few Everyday Feminism posts shared into my FB timeline, and from what I saw I thought that EF was an anti-feminist parody created by some Gamergater. Honestly.
You’re not the only one who thought that.
In fact I’m not 100% sure it’s not a parody, a very long-running parody.
A good book on this subject is Feminism Unfinished by Dorothy Sue Cobble et al. They trace the roots of feminism back a long way, even though they focus primarily on 20th century, but they demonstrate how it didn’t begin with women’s lib, but is a much older movement. They also think it’s important for young feminists to understand that.
Feminism didn’t emerge from “women’s lib” – it predates it.
Feminism has been around since ancient day., since Sapho at least
Feminism has probably been around since the first woman said, “Wait, what’s up with this crap? Why don’t I get the same opportunities as my brother?”
Exactly, Samantha.
BLar, feminism is NOT simply about equity or equality for everyone; that describes humanism… of which feminism is a subset. But make no mistake, BLar; feminism is and always has been centered on the elimination of oppression, and eventual emancipation, of adult females (women) and female children (girls)… along with the elimination of gender as a means of patriarchal control. Intersectional feminism has managed to put everyone they see as “more oppressed”, even if it is males, ahead of this goal…. and tacked on every other social cause to boot. That is humanism, even if some do choose to rename it “intersectional feminism”. While I’m a humanist, i put feminism first. “Intersectional feminism” does the opposite. In fact, actual feminism is pretty low on their list.
Maybe these people “identify as” feminists? As opposed to actually “being” feminists.
Ha!
Case and point I’m a humanist first (because men can’t be feminists) but the co-opting feminism by non-women is a berserk button.