Reflections on intersectional feminism this Women’s Equality Day

On August 26, 1970, tens of thousands of American women gathered throughout the country to join forces in a strike led by Betty Friedan. The strike set out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of women being granted the constitutional right to vote, while highlighting ongoing battles and ultimately publicizing the feminist movement. Betty Friedan organized the nationwide strike and was a leading figure in the women’s movement, authoring six books and co-founding the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Congresswoman Bella Abzug, another prominent figure in the women’s movement, eventually proposed for August 26th to be designated as Women’s Equality Day to commemorate the 19th Amendment that prohibits the government from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex.

Earlier this week, online friend and creator of Make Muse, Maura Sheedy, asked me for a tip to being an intersectional feminist for her piece on Women’s Equality Day. Naturally, this got me reflecting on what equality looks like, how much progress needs to be made, and my own contributions as a feminist. I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t done enough. Since I’ve started blogging, there’s no doubt I’ve attended more feminist panels, town hall meetings, and film screenings than ever before. I’ve consumed a lot more female-focused content from the minds of women and there’s so much I have yet to learn, which brings me to my tip. As simple as it sounds, my tip for being an intersectional feminist is to recognize that often times unlearning is more important than learning.

Unlearning. It’s not about forgetting everything you’ve already learned. It’s about re-examining everything you’ve been taught about history and reality, to lay bare your perceptions of society and recognize the ways in which you may be unknowingly supporting or benefitting from a structurally biased system. We grew up in patriarchal societies that affect women in different ways at different levels. Unlearning is a matter of peeling back layers of subtle racism, ableism, and discrimination based on socio-economic status that exist within your feminism.

The 19th Amendment may be highly praised, but it didn’t really include all women. Years after the Amendment was passed, it remained difficult for Asian Americans to become citizens, which affected all of their abilities to vote. Many other legal barriers prevented black women, women of low socio-economic status, and Native American women from getting to the polls. Let’s approach this Women’s Equality Day with intersectionality in mind.