Is intersectional feminism starting to do more harm than good?
I'm starting to see the term being used more and more on everywhere from Pantsuit Nation to The Huffington Post, but when it does show up, I'm starting to notice a disturbing trend.
Intersectional feminism, as best as I understand it, is an attempt to understand the rights and inequalities that women experience not just as women, but as women from diverse racial, religious, ethnic, social, and gender identities. It arose out of the concept that white women in the feminist movement face discrimination in society due to their gender but not due to their race, whereas African, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern women faced discrimination due to both gender and race. If the goal of feminism is to call for equality and social justice for womankind, then either all women benefit or none at all. And there were growing concerns that white women, whether by accident or by design, were gradually taking control of the feminist movement on all levels and, to a certain extent, muzzling other voices within the movement. After all, the Constitution starts with "We, the People..."
All of this I should support, and do. There is no good reason why a white woman should make less money than I for doing the same job, or that a Hispanic woman should make less than a white woman for that same job. It's not just a matter of appointing or electing more women to power - it's a matter of putting all women on an equal playing field regardless of race, color, or creed.
The current application of intersectional feminism is what I have a problem with. One proposal I'm seeing is that we should no longer deal with feminism as a singular, but feminisms as a plural. We already see this echoed in the constant need to identify oneself in liberal/progressive circles by distinguishing features, whether it be "As a gay man..." or "As a Muslim woman..." or even the famous "Nobody's Perfect" line by Senator Mazie Hizono (D-HI). This could lead to simmering resentments and even infighting within the overall feminist movement at a time when unity is so badly needed in today's political climate.
And when intersectional feminists are unified, I've started seeing another current of thought circulating among them - as long as you have white men, you will have racism. This very concept was hotly debated on PN not that long ago, as though white men were the only humans on Earth capable of racist thoughts or actions. I've seen this sentiment echoed among certain SJWs on college campuses, too. When you're trying to build a broad and diverse coalition against the rising alt-right, this does not help. When a plan of action is being suggested, I don't care if the person who dreamed it up is gay or straight, black or white, male or female, cis or trans. I only care that the plan is good, that it will work, and that it will grow our movement and further the push for true equality.
Finally, when dealing with inequalities and vulnerabilities experienced by various women in American society, it seems that the intersectionalist concept of said vulnerabilities must, by definition, have a shelf life. Physical vulnerability of women, in the context of what Paul of Tarsus once deemed "the weaker vessel," is being increasingly challenged in both the military and within professional sports. When I was a child, the only female athletes I could name offhand were Dorothy Hamill and Billie Jean King. The concept of athletes such as Laila Ali, Ronda Rousey, Manon Rheaume, Serena and Venus Williams, Brandi Chastain, and Diana Taurasi was, if not a novelty, broadly frowned upon and sometimes forbidden by regulations or even law. American Ninja Warrior doesn't even have male and female divisions; everyone competes on the same course. As a society, we are increasingly getting used to the radical nation that women can be physically strong as well as agile, and the diminuition of female vulnerability, once it more effectively permeates society as a whole (with one exciting side effect being that more would-be rapists on college campuses get their asses kicked by their intended victims), could leave some intersectional feminists with solutions in search of a problem.
Your thoughts? Am I making much ado about nothing? Or am I missing some salient points? Many thanks.
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