Intersectionality= “The view that women experience oppression in varying configurations and in varying degrees of intensity. Cultural patterns of oppression are not only interrelated, but are bound together and influenced by the intersectional systems of society. Examples of this include race, gender, class, ability, and ethnicity.”

In the past, feminism has mostly benefited white, middle-class women. This needs to change, and continually is, so that all women benefit from the feminist movement. Every woman deserves respect, equal rights, freedom from injustice, access to affordable health, freedom from violence, and equal access to participation in society. For a grad school project, I posted on one of my classes website-forum that we need to have Women’s History classes in middle schools and high schools and that women’s experiences should be fully incorporated into the main curriculum. One of my classmates responded, with good intentions, “This is great! This is also a great opportunity to talk about women of color.” Yes, exactly. That’s why I said Women’s History, not White Women’s History. But it made me realize, that, still, in our society today, we need to explicitly, clearly state, that women of color are, and need to be, fully included in the equality equation. Otherwise many people will assume it’s just about white women; possibly because in the past, it has been. That is why Intersectional Feminism is so important: Women of all backgrounds, ages, bodies, ethnicities, abilities, sexualities, socioeconomic backgrounds and gender identities should be, and continually are, (thanks to people speaking up) included in the women’s movement. Intersectional feminism points out that not every woman’s experiences can be equated and that we need to realize the complexities of varying experiences.

Check out this helpful video with Franchesca Ramsey and Laci Green.