What Feminism Means to Me

To me feminism means women standing up for themselves to fight the oppression, I use that word carefully, and degradation that has been a part of their lives since the beginning. Of course, there are different levels of oppression and some people suffer more than most depending on such other categories as race, economic status, sexual orientation, and even the region of the world in which the woman lives. I, myself, am lucky enough to be a white American woman living in a place with less restrictions than most. But still I can be a feminist and fight for others who don't have the same opportunities. Feminism is not just sitting quietly and watching someone, a friend, a stranger but a woman get put down or beat down because of the color of her skin, or because she's a homosexual, poor, or just because she has the cursed double X chromosome. Feminism is unity, its solidarity, and strength in numbers. We can't change anything alone but together anything is possible.

I would say liberal feminism appeals to me the most except only white middle class women are included in that movement and they only focus on gender. I think, I fit mostly under radical feminism who believe that the oppression of women is a fundamental form of oppression on which all others are modeled. If the oppression of women is stopped then others will follow. I also agree with the multiracial feminism in their emphasis on the multiple systems of domination that affect the lives of both women and men and that race can not be viewed in isolation. If radical feminism includes others categories of oppression such as race, sexual orientation, and class then I'm a radical feminist for I believe that indeed they are all connected and through the continuance of one comes the perpetuation of the others.