Feminism Isn't for Just One Kind of Woman

I've never understood the idea that we have to fight for some people while leaving others behind.

If we're fighting for equality, shouldn't that mean all of us?

Feminism gets talked about like it's one simple thing, but the truth is, our experiences aren't all the same. Who we are, where we come from, how much money we have, the color of our skin, who we love, whether we're trans, disabled, or living with barriers other people never have to think about. All of these things shape how we move through the world.

And if we're going to talk about equality, we have to be willing to talk about all of it.

So, what the hell is intersectional feminism?

At its heart, intersectional feminism recognizes that different forms of discrimination overlap and shape people's lives in different ways.

A Black woman's experience isn't necessarily the same as a white woman's. A trans woman's experience isn't necessarily the same as a cisgender woman's. A disabled woman navigating a world that wasn't built with her in mind faces barriers that someone else might never notice.

None of these experiences makes someone more or less deserving of equality. They remind us that we can't use one person's experience to speak for everyone.

That's what intersectionality is about. It's about looking beyond our own lives, listening to people whose experiences differ from ours, and understanding that equality can't be built by ignoring the people who have been pushed aside.

And honestly? That shouldn't be a controversial idea.

You can't leave people behind and call it equality.

Feminism should never be a competition over whose rights matter most.

We can fight for reproductive freedom while standing up for trans people. We can challenge sexism while confronting racism. We can advocate for women in the workplace while recognizing that poverty, disability, and discrimination create additional barriers for some people.

These struggles don't cancel each other out.

You don't have to understand everything to stand beside someone.

When someone tells us they're being hurt, dismissed, or treated as less than, we can start by listening instead of immediately looking for reasons their experience doesn't fit what we already believe.

You don't have to know exactly what it's like to be someone else to care about what happens to them.

You just have to be willing to give a damn.

There's room for all of us. That's the point.

People deserve the freedom to be themselves without having to justify their existence to anyone else.

That means feminism that includes queer and trans people. Feminism that confronts racism. Feminism that makes room for different bodies, backgrounds, abilities, identities, and experiences. Feminism that understands bodily autonomy isn't something we get to support only when we agree with someone's choices.

We have to be willing to keep learning, even when learning makes us uncomfortable.

I don't expect everyone to have all the answers. I sure as hell don't. But I believe we have a responsibility to care about what happens to people beyond our own little corner of the world. None of us is free in a world where someone else's humanity is up for debate.

We can disagree, we can keep learning, we can have difficult conversations and still treat each other with dignity. What we can't do is claim to care about equality while deciding that some people are simply too different to deserve it. That's not the feminism I'm interested in.

I want the kind that makes room, the kind that listens, the kind that stands beside people, especially when it's inconvenient.

Our differences aren't a reason to abandon each other.

Christina, Founder of The Defiant Feminist