Unless you’ve gone into hiding (which actually sounds appealing considering the new administration), you have heard, seen or attended the Women’s March. From Berlin to Texas, women and allies alike marched in solidarity around the simple phrase “Love Trumps Hate”. They marched to show compassion for members of the LGTBQ community, Muslim Americas, Immigrants, and People of Color who fear how President Trump could make their daily lives even harder. They marched to show President Trump that his divisive rhetoric will only unite them, even more, to actively resist any of his policies or congress’s policies that go against the principles of equality and justice for ALL. Even with all of these positive principles, White people specifically White women have found a way to turn this into a negative event. Many of them have had the audacity to claim that “the days for feminism are over” and that “we have all the rights we need.”
Well, dear White People, some of us are not privileged enough to live in a world where we can stop fighting for equal rights, for our right to exist. Instead of making a false comparison of women in other countries, take a moment to listen to the women in your own.
We still need feminism because Yes, the wage gap still exists. We can argue all day that this is a myth because “women aren’t applying to high-paying jobs similar to men” ( which is due to sexism), but the simple fact of the matter is Women are not getting paid as much as men for the SAME JOB. White women in 2015 were paid 80% of what their male counterparts made. The gap is even larger for women of color. In a report by the American Association of University Women, it showed that Black women only made 63% of the White man’s dollar and even lower than that, Hispanic women made 54%. This wage gap is not limited to Corporate America but is prevalent in almost all occupations; furthermore, it can have detrimental long-term effects, which is primarily the reason why women of color have a harder time paying back student debt.
We still need feminism to protect our health care and reproductive rights. Both President Trump and Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, have vowed to defund Planned Parenthood until it no longer exists AND to repeal the ACA leaving many women- especially those of low-income or women of color- with little to no assurance or reproductive health services. Women of color are more likely to rely on services like Planned Parenthood, due to “persistent wealth and income disparities, [they] are disproportionately more likely to be underinsured, uninsured, or eligible for Medicaid than their white counterparts,” said Louise Melling, legal director of the ACLU.
We still need feminism because the representation of women of color in film, media, and advertisement is embarrassing. Many are familiar with the tag, “Oscars so White” but what about the fact that Hollywood IS so White. Yes, women make up over half of the United States population. No, they don’t make up over half of the characters played on Television- they make up 33%. In a deeper analysis by NPR, their study showed that “TV shows they analyzed had no Asian speaking characters and more than one-fifth of them had no black characters with dialogue. Just 2 percent of speaking characters were identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual, and more than half the LGBT characters in all the films they examined came from two movies.” When women of color are shown, they are often over-sexualized and portrayed in a stereotypical manner (more about later).
Concerning advertisements, mental illnesses are often only represented by White women as if it’s exclusive to their “culture”. After Robin William’s suicide, many health organizations took the opportunity to raise awareness about mental health issues. For Example, the Hope and Grace Initiative released a “PSA” featuring testimonies of people who have suffered from a mental illness, but it only featured the stories of WHITE WOMEN. The media constantly silences the voices of every person of color by only featuring people who they think their audience will most likely be able to relate to. Not only is this not true, but it is dangerous. “According to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population.” By continuing this false narrative that people of color don’t suffer from mental illnesses, it perpetuates this idea within the Black community that mental health should not be a priority in their community.
We still need feminism to help tear down toxic stereotypes that keep us divided. We have all seen the “angry black woman” , “Ghetto Black woman”, or “exotic Black woman”- but what about the smart Black woman or kind Black woman? We’ve seen too often Hispanic women only being shown as maids, but what about the Hispanic women who are CEOs? In America, we are too quick to characterize Muslim women who wear a Hijab as oppressed, but what about the Muslim women who wear their Hijab to feel empowered? We need feminism because it reminds us, that we, as individuals, are not bound by any gender roles or preconceived characteristics people may have of us, but that we define ourselves. We need feminism to show us that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and that a Trans- Women doesn’t have to look like Caitlyn Jenner to be beautiful. We need feminism because it shows that there is no one set way to be or behave and that is okay
Lastly, We Still need feminism to help address the issue of criminal justice.
“In fact, no woman is more likely to be murdered in America today than a Black woman. No woman is more likely to be raped than a Black woman. And no woman is more likely to be beaten, either by a stranger or by someone she loves and trusts than a Black woman,” reported the Washington Post in 2014.
Concerning incarceration, two-thirds of women in prison are women of color. The implication of this is that it affects their families. Specifically, CNN stated that ” 79% of incarcerated women are also mothers whose children are often taken away from them once they are locked up.”
Time and time again, we see Black women’s voices being left out when it pertains to issues that affect both Black men and women and it’s no different concerning the issue of police brutality. In fact, the media didn’t start covering the experiences of Black women until after the tragic death of Sandra Bland even though more than 20 Black women have been killed by the police. In addition to this, Black women’s stories of sexual assault by police officers are not featured in the media.
So if you’re opposed to women still fighting for their rights, check your privilege. After you’ve done that and you still don’t feel like you need it, learn how to become an ally because those are just as important.
If you attended a Women’s March, will we see you at the next Black Lives Matter or LGTBQ rally? If your feminism and fight for social justice are not intersectional, then we don’t need it at all. As MLK said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and that is why we ALL need feminism.
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