Assignments

Essentially, it's so messed up that in the events that we go to war, it's always the poor and working class that have to fight. It's never the wealthy class, in which they're never affected by the aftermaths either. The total amount of Americans affected by starvation and homelessness after war is too high, and not to mention, that the amount of veterans that are in both or either of those categories are excruciatingly high as well. Reading this article was eye-opening, because not only were the statistics shocking to look at, but the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. warned us was also shocking. It's a shocker because it's a sense of history repeating itself again, and because it's history going in this continuous cycle, it's kind of scary. Not only are the same problems that happened decades ago are resurfacing, but because the same paths are being followed, it's more discouraging knowing that a new solution to past mistakes won't come because of the current people in positions of power.

The hxstorical identity behind 'Xicanx' is moving. Personally, I wasn't even aware of how much is behind the political and cultural identity itself. I admire how the ancestors of the Xicano weren't easily deterred by the many adversities that came to them. Most definitely, I admire how people of the now Xicano are able to inherit and acknowledge the hxstory behind their identity, because it's like a piece of their ancestors' lives and what they fought for are in the Xicanos. Though Xicanx ties into the survival of their ancestors, it's admirable how the Mexican and Latinx culture, even their influencers from the American culture, is acknowledged and embraced deeply. Today, there is a lot of, not necessarily confusion or ignorance, but more inconsistency when labelling others Mexican, Latinx, and Xicano. That's why it's crucial to learn the differences and acknowledge the hxstory behind each cultural identity. Additionally, appropriating Xicano culture is also disrespectful and ignorant. It's disrespectful because back then, people of the Xicanx culture were heavily discriminated for their looks and were overall just looked down upon. Additionally, it's ignorant because the people who happen to appropriate Xicano culture are people who aren't necessarily aware of the hxstory behind its identity and the struggles it took to thrive in American culture.

Women have been fighting for equal rights for centuries. The willpower of each individual person through each movement starting from early America is very inspiring, despite the adversities that came in between. However, in my opinion I think the most challenging hardship women have had to overcome was the language of gender that was established. This included gender roles, a gender binary society, male supremacy, sexism, and patriarchy. Those individual things I imagine would’ve made it harder to start movements to create change. For example, in the time where tranquilizers indoctrinated a mindset where men will always be superior, I think that it would be hard in the foundation stage, because it’s not always a smooth start when starting movements for change. An example of this would be when women began fighting for the abolition of slavery whilst fighting for women’s rights. As Zinn Chapter 6, “The Women of Early America” describes, it was a rough starting point when advocating for change. At first, organizers of the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention didn’t even allow women to attend the meeting. This was due to the established gender role that stated it was improper for women to be going to public conventions.

In modern day it’s kind of hard to step aside from a gender binary society and gender roles. There aren’t a lot of women in power in a society where men are calling most of the shots, so it’s a little bit discouraging. However, with people like the Squad who are very passionate about what they do, it inspires many people, and it definitely inspires me. Especially during Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate, in which they all showed examples of resistance. For example, Rashida Tlaib made the decision to not just wear white, but instead wore her Palestinian thobe. She did this to represent her roots and also her people, but despite all the negative backlash, she knows why she did what she did and takes pride within it. This is inspiring because she didn’t let anyone guide her decision into selecting her attire at the House of Representatives. Another example of resistance displayed by the Squad was when Ayanna Pressley made the decision to not even attend the trial. She did this so that no one would take their perspective of the way she talked or what facial expression she displayed and interpreted in the wrong way.

Outside of America, there is a new wave of feminism happening in Spain. The two teenagers, Ari and Kalus, are great examples of activists who partake in the fight for gender equality while still in school. They do public interactions, such as protests, speeches, and performances, which is admirable considering how young they are. Nowadays and especially people of my age think that it's out of reach to try and make change, simply because it's a common mindset that young people don't have a voice. However, both Ari and Kalus are and could be inspiring if more people knew about them. Both of these teenagers saw the lack of action being taken in the events of sexual harassment and unequal pay so they decided to take these issues and make them more public for everyone to be more about. That dedication is very admirable and I strongly feel that more people should know the names of the people at the forefront of this movement. Overall, this new wave of feminism that is growing rapidly in Spain displays how much they are willing to risk, especially since they are fighting right in front of politicians who are far right on the political spectrum.

>Informed Opinion

Intersectional Feminism needs to be more acknowledged and understood because feminism isn’t exclusive to the rights of women who are white, rich, and heterosexual. Intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw to originally convey African American womxn’s oppression in 1989. However since then, it has been relevantly associated with not only the oppression of African American womxn, but also the LGBTQ+ community and now, the idea of feminism. The standard idea of feminism was the fight for women’s rights, but with Intersectional Feminism, it advocates for womxn’s rights through different forms of oppression such as, but not limited to, race, sexuality, class, and gender. According to “Intersectional Feminism: Don’t Touch My Hair” contributed by mabelbanfield on The Manc Union, she states that, “Feminism needs to be intersectional in order to be feminist, as this all encompassing experience is not the reality for all women” (Mabelbanfield). She asserts this because it implies that womxn experience life differently through the different aspects of their identity. Essentially, it signifies that Intersectional Feminism is more personalized in a way that fits with one of the many identities one has. However, on the contrary, there aren’t going to be full time supporters of Intersectional Feminism. Tamela J. Gordon, author of “Why I’m Giving Up On Intersectional Feminism” on The Quartz, outlines how she first believed in the idea of Intersectional Feminism, but now is not really keen on the idea anymore, “Intersectional Feminism doesn’t mean anything if white women still struggle to support and advocate for those whose identities cross intersections that are foreign to theirs” (Gordon). It’s the people that Gordon describes who don’t really grasp the whole idea of Intersectional Feminism who tend to do actions like this that lead to a rocky stage during the movement.

Works Cited

Gorden, Tamela J. “Why I’m Giving Up On Intersectional Feminism.” Quartz, 30 April 2018,

https://qz.com/quartzy/1265902/why-im-giving-up-on-intersectional-feminism/.

Mabelbanfield. “Intersectional Feminism: Don't Touch My Hair.” The Mancunion, 30 Oct. 2019,

mancunion.com/2019/10/30/intersectional-feminism-dont-touch-my-hair/.

Walters, Suzanna Danuta. “Elizabeth Warren Is Running an Unapologetically Intersectional

Campaign.” The Nation, 25 Feb. 2020,

www.thenation.com/article/politics/elizabeth-warren-intersectional-campaign/.

It’s important for intersectionality to play a crucial role in the new wave of feminism. It enables womxn to embrace and take pride in the facets that make up their identity, and it’s easier for them to relate with the branch(es) of feminism that applies to them. Furthermore, it could play as an example to the younger womxn of this generation, indirectly stating that they don’t have to be white, cisgender, heterosexual, and wealthy in order to partake in feminism.

With this new wave of feminism, it’s also pivotal that women, especially white women, realize that they’re all fighting for the same thing, and that just because an identity is foreign or isn’t applicable to them, it doesn’t give them the right to disdain that selfhood. Women who put down certain aspects of other people such as sexuality, race, or gender just because it’s not applicable to them, has discouraged others because it's individuals like them that create a setback in a movement. Tamala Gordon published “Why I’m Giving Up on Intersectional Feminism” on The Quartz regarding this issue, “Intersectional Feminism doesn’t mean anything if white women still struggle to support and advocate for those whose identities cross intersections that are foreign to theirs.” It’s hard to move forward in a movement when there’s people who try to bring others down for selfish reasons.

Additionally, it’s also important that intersectional feminism is discussed more, because when people hear the term ‘feminism’, oftentimes they think of mainstream feminism, and associate it with the faces of white women who are at the forefront of that concept. In Ava Vidal’s “‘Intersectional Feminism.’ What the Hell is it? (And Why you Should Care)”, she reminisces the time where she had a conversation with a Muslim woman, who stated that she hated feminism. Vidal then later clarifies that the Muslim woman hated the idea of mainstream feminism, and wasn’t even aware that intersectional feminism existed. This is why it’s fundamental for people, especially womxn, to be aware of the concept of intersectional feminism; the third wave will progress, but it will progress even further when everyone has basic knowledge of what intersectional feminism is and what it campaigns for.

"The Future of Feminism" by Jessica Machado and Karen Turner via Vox

Reading through the article and what the five womxn have talked about, they anticipate a fourth wave of feminism, and it's kind of surreal that the third wave is slowly approaching its end. Carmen Rojas, one of the five feminists who shared what they think of the third wave of feminism, envisions that the fourth wave of feminism will emphasize economic opportunity, political power, and representation. Personally, I didn't think that the fourth wave would include those aspects, but seeing where feminism is now, it makes sense on the direction feminism is heading towards. Honestly, I can't imagine the third wave coming to an end, mostly because there's still so much to do with this wave, and there's so much that hasn't been covered yet. And most of all, there's still so many people who don't know or can't grasp the basic knowledge of intersectionality and how fundamental it is to feminism, so it's hard anticipating what's to come. Although from a broader view, it makes sense that things are going the way that they are. The third wave sort of resembles identity, and how people are fully realizing how much of their character affects the way they live, and the fourth wave is of what's to come once people start taking their identities and using them to move forward.