5. Intersectional feminism: What
the hell is it?
“the view that women experience oppression in varying
configurations and in varying degrees of intensity. Cultural
patterns of oppression are not only interrelated, but are
bound together and influences by the intersectional
systems of society. Examples of this include race, gender,
class, ability, and ethnicity.” (Vidal 2014)
6. Reference:
Nina Power (2013). One Dimensional Woman.
Winchester: O Books. 1-75
Ava Vidal (2014). Intersectional feminism: What the hell is
it? (And why should I care), Telegraph
Editor's Notes
Where have all the interesting women in our society gone? We are believed to portray a woman as someone with designer clothes and expensive handbags, a nice apartment and a muscular man by her side. All these are what people think the stereotypical woman must have. The world has shaped people ideas and understanding s of what a woman is to benefit their consumerism and revoke their rights. There are alternative ways for women to transform in their work, sexuality and culture and provide more serious material for feminists. (Power 2009)
Whether you’re starting out in the job field or if you’re the head of a company, your bodily existence at work comes to coincide with the résumé that neatly summarises where you’ve been and how wisely you used your time. There is potentially something very revealing about what an individual gets up to in their spare time. Power (2013) refers to the way girls act on Spring Break in America. Girls getting loose and sleeping around and exposing themselves for the enjoyment of others. Girls flaunt their assets in the hope of the little attention they get will filter back to their person as a whole. (Power 2013)
Consumer feminism is when companies are targeting their products at women telling them they this to be a woman, and all woman should be buying this.Consumer feminism has attempted to provide answers to a wide range of questions regarding topics such as work, sex, porn and family. Books aimed at young women try to capture the young women of our society with limitless amounts of ‘sass’ and breathless confidence building. Almost everything these days turns out to be ‘femisist’ – shopping, pole dancing, some may even say eating chocolate. (Power 2013)
Over time pornography has split feminism along political lines. Both sides refer to the issue of morality, some say pornography is bad because it is degrading, others say it’s enjoyable and therefore can be morally good. The porn industry is a huge industry in America and in the 1970’s we need to remember the exploitation of women in the industry was brutal in the increasingly neo-liberal and unjust society of American capitalism. (Powers 2013) However, if we remove the violence from the porn industry the exploitation of women is still morally wrong.
Feminists need to recognize that not every feminist is white, middle class and able bodied or the feminist movement risk losing momentum. Certain groups of women have multi-layered surfaces in life that they have to deal with. Not everyone is a “one size fits all feminist.” Many have to deal with other equality issues like race, nationality and skin colour. We need to start including various groups of women and cater for all their different problems and experiences of life and overall need to learn to respect them. (Vidal 2014)
