Intersectional Feminism: A Brief History

Do you consider yourself a feminist?

Over the years, I've posed this question to most people in my life and received a mixed bag of answers, which I guess is reflective of the general worldview on feminism, as well. A lack of public consensus may also indicate how feminism as an institution has undergone tremendous change since it began, so much so that many people have struggled to keep up.

Today is March 8, International Women's Day, and the perfect opportunity to break down the history of feminism.

Feminism has undergone three primary waves: The first wave advocated for the rights to property and voting, the second wave focused on equality and anti-discrimination, and the third wave kickstarted the idea of intersectional feminism directly in opposition to the movement's previous position of favoring certain women (typically white) who were seen as more deserving.

'All men and women are created equal'

In the mid-19th century, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were female faces of the anti-slavery movement. But hand-in-hand with their commitment to abolition was their passion for the improvement of women's position in America. In 1848, they loudly proclaimed in their now-famous Declaration of Sentiments, "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal," throwing the language of the Declaration of Independence from 72 years before in the faces of American policymakers.

This was the start of the first wave, which advocated for the re-positioning of women as more than their husband's property and as equal individuals with a right to their own property. The first wave would end in 1919 when white American women won their right to vote.

Despite a period where women were encouraged into the workforce while men were off fighting World War II—and then, much to their chagrin, replaced by men when the war ended—the second wave of feminism didn't begin until the 1960s. Women frustrated by the continued inequality in employment and education began advocating for themselves: More than 320 women from 26 states formed the National Women's Political Caucus July 11–12, 1971. The founders included prominent women such as activist and author of "The Feminine Mystique," Betty Freidman; author of "The Female Eunuch," lecturer and founding editor of the magazine Ms., Gloria Steinem; former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm; former Congresswoman and former president of Women USA, Bella Abzug; and voting and women's rights activist and civil rights leader, Fanny Lou Hamer.

This second wave of feminism was, of course, compounded by the Civil Rights Movement and the Black American community's fight to access voting. But Black women would pointedly be left behind in the feminist fight.

While the second wave carried out critical components, many critics argue it primarily carried the torch for college-educated white women.

This wave would later be classified as the age of the liberal feminist, with an emphasis on a woman's ability to make her own choices. The Roe v. Wade decision on January 22, 1973—in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction—would be the case in point.

While the second wave carried out critical components—the fight to outlaw marital rape and the campaign for women to have control over their own reproductive activities were two—many critics argue it primarily carried the torch for college-educated white women. From this frustration, intersectional feminism and offshoots such as womanism began to spring.

This was accompanied by the so-called third wave of feminism. In 1991, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court justice nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. After the Senate grilled Hill and subsequently confirmed Thomas anyway, writer Rebecca Walker wrote a call to action in Ms. magazine in which she coined the phrase "Third Wave," dubbing feminism's next act its own movement.

Hill's struggle very much proved to be a precursor to the #MeToo movement. Tarana Burke, an advocate for women in New York City, coined the phrase #MeToo in 2006 to empower women who had endured sexual violence to know they were not alone.

By the 2010s, an understanding of "rape culture" emerged and became a rallying cry for women in their struggle to achieve true equal rights. The #MeToo movement exploded in popular media in October 2017 when the New York Times published a scathing investigative piece about sexual harassment allegations against then-Hollywood producer and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. His downfall helped unravel a secret world of hush-hush deals, nondisclosure agreements, and a system that enabled rich and privileged men to get away with being sexual predators, both alleged and proven.

Feminism today

Today, views of feminism remain divided, often because feminism is defined in a patriarchal matrix and thereby regarded as damaging to the lives and positions of men. In the 1970s, feminists became popularly satirized as man-hating bra-burners who believed they were better than men. The image was updated over decades, including by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who often used the term feminazi to describe liberated women.

Until quite recently, and certainly in the last century, women in the media were shaped to fit the viewing pleasure of a male audience. This is still a highly convoluted issue, but artists such as Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion and Lizzo (notably, all Black women) are at the very least becoming visible agents of their own sexuality, not dictated by men's desires. Notably, the former two scored a mega-hit called "WAP" that infuriated conservative figure Ben Shapiro, who took to social media to accuse the women of violating the institution of family by exposing themselves in allegedly "vulgar" ways.

Why is it that the male gaze's sexualization of women is sanctioned but a woman owning her own sexual pleasure is immoral?

Of course, this begs the question: How is it that despite a century-old fight for equal rights, women are still being held to standards of propriety that men aren't? And why is it that the male gaze's sexualization of women is sanctioned but a woman owning her own sexual pleasure is immoral?

Conservative, misogynistic anger aside, feminism today is a nurturing, inclusive movement that supports and champions the cause of women, minority lower-economic communities, the LGBTQIA+ community and much more. It is often collectively referred to now as intersectional feminism.

The fight continues

Women are shattering glass ceilings and, yes, women today can do things our predecessors could only dream of. But does that mean we don't need feminism anymore?

I don't think so. We need feminism now more than ever.

Take a major anti-abortion bill Texas passed in 2021. According to the Texas Heartbeat Act, abortion is prohibited when there's a detectable heartbeat, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene on this law on December 10 last year and it remains in place today in Texas. Yes, the same hallowed institution that handed down the monumental ruling on Roe v. Wade in 1973 is refusing to take action now.

Statistics show that the number of women in the U.S. who have reported being raped or sexually assaulted has risen gradually over the past decade, with drops in 2011 and 2012 a significant spike in 2018. It is estimated that as few as 20 percent of sexual assaults are reported and that more than 1.5 million women were raped by an intimate partner in 2019.

It's 2022, and it's still not always safe for a woman to walk home alone at night. But here in the U.S., we have it better than others, including 24-hour support from organizations such as the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline, 800-656-HOPE (4673).

It's still unsafe for women in some parts of the world where marital rape is not judged as a crime, where female genital mutilation is a normal part of culture and where women are killed for allegedly bringing dishonor on their families for the most innocent of circumstances.

So, yes, we still need intersectional feminism.

Happy International Women's Day.