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Kendra Curtis
Dr.Parker
English 113
09/29/2016
The Intersectionality of Feminism
When it comes to the topic of feminism, most of us will readily agree that there are
various different ways to define and explain what it is to be a feminist and a part of the feminist
movement. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of what feminism
really is and what the purpose of it is. Whereas some, such as Chris Good, are convinced that
feminism is based around a group of women who support a definite and extreme anti-male
society, others, such as Jarune Uwujaren and Jamie Utt, maintain that this idea of the feminism
movement is momentous in pushing our society onto bigger and better days and is more than just
pushing for women being just as equal to men. On one hand there are a few, such as Chris Good
in his article of Why Feminism is Not The Fight For Equal Rights, who defines feminism as
stubborn-minded and prejudiced, acting upon illogical, biased and, therefore, extremist values.
In the article Feminism and Womanism by Carmen Mojica, she defines feminism as femalecentered and revolves around the empowerment of the female in a patriarchal society. However,
there is such a deeper level to the movement. A lot of women, especially women of color, have to
endure more than just the oppression of their sex. Uwujaren and Utt state: racism for women of
color cannot be separated from their gendered oppression. What most people do not understand,
or choose to look over, is that the various forms of oppression towards women is a part of every
womans life on a daily basis. Sometimes women, especially women of color, have to be able to
cope with multiple forms of oppression. In her article of Defining Feminism Celia Buckman

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says that a feminist is anyone who believes in equality, regardless of gender or sex. While I do
agree that women should be treated just as equal to men, especially in topics such as the wage
gap and education, I also believe that the main idea of the feminist movement should be to end
sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression of all kinds; simply put, there needs to be a bigger
and better intersectional lens included within the feminism movement.
The movement of feminism is to end this idea that all women are just sex objects and that
they are anything less than a human being. In todays society, a women cannot be looked at
without something about her appearance or sexualization judged. Every time women walk
outside, no matter what or who they are around, something will be said about how they dressed
or what their hair looks like or if their dress is too short. A teacher in Atlanta was reprimanded by
the school she teaches at because she is too curvy. Many women in the spotlight of our media
cannot really go anywhere or do anything without paparazzi following them and taking pictures
of everything they do and then having E! News judge the type and amount of food they are
eating. Even Beyonces four-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, has been laughed at and made fun of
because she does not fit into some peoples beauty standards, she is only four years old.
There is no feminist movement if it does not include and reside around every human
being and the individual strengths, faults and oppressions that they hold in their lives. Every
oppression comes hand in hand, there is no oppression that outweighs another. The idea of an
oppression is to subject a person to unjust treatment. Saying that someones oppression is not as
important as another is basically saying that the unjust treatment they are receiving does not
really matter and that they should be okay with being treated like anything less than the human
being that they are. Black women are oppressed because she is both black and a woman. She is
not oppressed just because she is black or just because she is a woman, she is oppressed in both

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ways at the same time. Transgender women or men have more vulnerability to being attacked or
even killed during hate crimes just because they want to be able to love and accept the skin
that they are in. Oppression is everywhere yet it is always hidden to those who are too ignorant
to look.
The movement that is feminism is moving to end this ignorance. We cannot live in a
world where anyone is treated any less of the human being that they are. While it can be looked
at as something that is only benefitting those that are already privileged, feminism is so much
more and so much deeper than what the ignorant mind wants to believe. How feminism is
portrayed in the media and how it is talked about is very conflicting to what its actual purpose is.
In the media, you hear all these things about Feminazis or how the only purpose of feminism is
to make women the dominating sex. That is the complete opposite of what feminism is truly
trying to do. In my personal opinion, feminism is working towards creating a world where
everyone, including all gender and races, can be treated as equal human beings. While the
movement could work on expanding their intersectional lens, the true purpose of feminism is to
end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppressions of all kinds.

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Works Cited
Buckman, C. "Defining Feminism." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Dec. 2014.

Web.
Good, C. "Why Feminism Is NOT The Fight for Equal Rights." Thought Catalog. N.p., 30 Dec.

2014. Web.
Mojica, C. "Feminism and Womanism." Gender Across Borders RSS. N.p., 30 Mar. 2011. Web.
Uwujaren, J., Utt, J. "Why Our Feminism Must Be Intersectional (And 3 Ways to Practice It)."
Everyday Feminism. N.p., 12 Aug. 2016. Web..