INTERSECTIONAL FEMINISM

On the 7th, August 2020, the topic; Intersectional Feminism was properly discussed and giving an insight into by the facilitator of the discussion; Oluchi June.  

FACILITATOR:

-What is feminism?

-Identities

-Privileges

-Sexism

-Intersectionality

So firstly, we need two people to give us their definition of feminism

What they see feminism as?

OB:

Womanly qualities

FACILITATOR:

Would anyone else love to share their definition of feminism?

M O:

An activism that demands and restores the Unconditional equality of all sexes..... My definition today 😉

FACILITATOR:

Personally, I see feminism as a lifestyle of advocating for women’s rights and asking for equal rights for no matter a person’s gender.

Thank you O and M for helping us out with the definitions

JO:

I feel feminism is a movement that presents a world of possibilities for women.

FACILITATOR:

A beautiful explanation J.

Welcome

Indeed, feminism is a movement that presents a world of possibilities for women.

Thanks O for sharing your definition of feminism

For real, no one is begging for respect anymore.

We are not animals.

We are human beings and we would be respected.

Whether it sits well with anyone or not

So we have all given amazing definitions of what feminism is to us

Thank you very much for your definitions

Now, intersectional feminism is a term used to describe a feminist movement that can be include all women and be diverse for all women.

This is the brief definition of intersectional feminism

Now, you might be saying that I already defined feminism, which one is Intersectional feminism again

But feminism cannot be truly feminism if your advocacy as a feminist excludes certain types of women because of one reason or the other.

Intersectionality in your feminism is of utmost importance as you can’t exclude certain women from your advocacy

If feminism is advocating for women's rights and equality between the sexes, intersectional feminism is the understanding of how women's overlapping identities — including race, class, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation — impact the way they experience oppression and discrimination.

In understanding intersectionality, you must understand identities and privileges

Apart from being women, we all have various identities.

We all have various privileges.

These various identities and various privileges make our experiences differ from the experiences of other women.

Even though we are all oppressed because we are women.

We have to always take note of our identities and privileges.

We have to be able to understand that all women have various other oppression that they face due to these identities and privileges. We need to be willing to listen and understand other women and also ensure that your advocacy accommodates these other oppressions because all these contribute to make women’s lives hell.

So before we go on,  can we all give a brief description of ourselves.

My name is IOJ.

I am a radical intersectional feminist.

I am in my early 20s.

I am from Nigeria.

I am an Igbo woman.

I am a size 16/18 woman.

Can anyone else give a brief description of themselves?

While we wait for replies, I would carry on with the explanations

So the reason I asked us to give brief introductions of ourselves is to understand our identities

I identify as 

-a young woman

-a feminist

-a Nigerian

-an Igbo woman 

-a plus size woman

from my brief description of myself. Meaning that these 5 things lifted above are my identities.

They make the person I.O.J

So it is very important to know and understand that these various identities of mine, in as much as they make me who I am, in different situations and at different points in time, they contribute to individual forms of oppression even though I get steady oppression because I am woman.

I would briefly explain oppression

First, any oppressive system has at its core the idea that one group is somehow better than another, and in some measure has the right to control the other group.

This idea gets elaborated in many ways; more intelligent, harder working, stronger, more capable, more noble, more deserving, more advanced, chosen, normal, superior, and so on. 

The dominant group holds this idea about itself. 

And, of course, the opposite qualities are attributed to the other group; stupid, lazy, weak, incompetent, worthless, less deserving, backward, abnormal, inferior, and so on.

So when you see a situation in which one party believes they are better than the other and hence has the right to control the other party, that’s oppression.

MO:

My name is MO.

I'm a Radical Intersectional feminist with unwavering interest in knowledge building and intergenerational growth.

A middle 20 humanitarian consultant and advisor

OJ:

Thank you very much MJ for sharing.

So from the description that she gave, we can see identities here.

-MJ is Igbo

-MJ is a Radical Intersectional feminist with unwavering interest in knowledge building and intergenerational growth.

-She is a humanitarian consultant 

-She is an advisor

CO:

My name is  OC

I am a feminist

I am in my early 20s

I am from Nigeria (Kogi State)

FACILITATOR:

Thank you very much for sharing C

So from the description that C gave, we can see some of her identities:

-She is a feminist

-She is in her early 20s

-She is a Nigerian 

-She is from kogi

These identities contribute to make us who we are.

Meaning in various situations and at different points in time, we as women all have different life experiences due to each and every one of these identities.

A key factor to note when understanding intersectional feminism is to know and understand your personal privileges and identities . 

How these privileges and identities of yours put you at an advantage over other women or at a worse disadvantage in a society that already doesn’t care about the well being of women.

A rich woman is oppressed because she is a woman but has the advantage of wealth. 

A poor muslim woman is disadvantaged by her gender, lack of  wealth and her religion . 

An Igbo lesbian experiences discrimination because of her ethnicity, her gender and her sexual orientation.

We know that Nigeria is a highly religious country majorly populated by Christians and Muslims. 

This means that in Northern states, being a Muslim woman puts you at a higher advantage or gives you more privilege than women who are Christians living in the north. 

Even though in Northern states, there is the high case of child marraige for little girls. 

The same goes for Muslim women living in a Christian dominated areas.

Another example is, we know that Nigeria is majorly made up of three ethnic groups. 

Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa. 

This means that an Igbo girl living in Imo state would have more advantage than a Yoruba girl living in Imo due to tribalism and all that. 

So we can say that the Igbo girl living in Imo has more privilege than the Yoruba girl living in Imo. 

The same goes for Igbo women living in states dominated by other tribes.

Another really good example is we know that Nigeria is a homophobic country with laws out in place to punish homosexuals. 

This means that if you are a heterosexual woman living in Nigeria, you have a privilege compared to women who are homosexuals.

From these examples, do we understand what privileges mean and how it works to an extent?

Does any of us have questions at this point?

Intersectional feminism is very broad but has a foundational message

Which is your feminism has to be intersection

Your feminism has to include all women

Why say you are a feminist and deliberately believe that the struggles and oppression certain women and girls face are not your concern

You say you are a feminist, you advocate for ALL women

Every single person that identifies as a woman, that is who your advocacy covers.

You can’t say you are a religious person oh

But you can’t advocate for sex workers oh

You can’t say you wouldn’t advocate for poor women oh

Just the rich ones

You can’t say you wouldn’t advocate for  this tribe, just your tribe

You can’t say you wouldn’t advocate for this or that age of women

You advocate for all women

ALL WOMEN

To truly be Intersectional, you need to know that every single woman has various identities.

Every single woman has various privileges.

Each and every one of these identities and privileges serve as advantages and disadvantages to them in various cases.

You need to be able to note various identities of various women

Note their privileges

And understand that in as much as all women are oppressed by the patriarchy, due to our various identities, we have various other forms of oppression too which make the intensity of oppression vary at different points in time for every woman.

To end this discussion, the founder of Whispers To Humanity Foundation, MJ would be giving a talk on Intersectional Feminism that we would all love to listen to

Thank you all very much for being present for this discussion today

For those who couldn’t make it, you can go through the chat

Drop any questions or comments you might have and we would all address it

Have an amazing evening everyone