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To understand the Women's March on Washington, you need to understand intersectional feminism
The day after the upcoming inauguration, several thousand people, led by a group of four women, are planning to march in Washington, DC. Their goal, although they’re not officially pitching it as such, is to send a message about women’s rights that will provide a counterbalance to the political and personal values espoused by incoming President Donald J. Trump.
And by “women’s rights,” organizers have taken care to make it clear that they mean all women of all backgrounds: The official platform the Women’s March on Washington released Friday places the demonstration in the context of not only suffragists and abolitionists but the civil right movement, the American Indian movement, and Black Lives Matter.
Just two paragraphs into the four-page document, they note that “women have intersecting identities and are therefore impacted by a multitude of social justice and human rights issues.” Examples of this, including the especially urgent need for equal pay among women of color and the way they’re uniquely victimized by the criminal justice system, follow in the rest of the platform.
Sounds reasonable, right? But it’s that idea of “intersecting identities” that’s been at the core of criticism of the march, both by would-be participants and by conservative critics.
And by “women’s rights,” organizers have taken care to make it clear that they mean all women of all backgrounds: The official platform the Women’s March on Washington released Friday places the demonstration in the context of not only suffragists and abolitionists but the civil right movement, the American Indian movement, and Black Lives Matter.
Just two paragraphs into the four-page document, they note that “women have intersecting identities and are therefore impacted by a multitude of social justice and human rights issues.” Examples of this, including the especially urgent need for equal pay among women of color and the way they’re uniquely victimized by the criminal justice system, follow in the rest of the platform.
Sounds reasonable, right? But it’s that idea of “intersecting identities” that’s been at the core of criticism of the march, both by would-be participants and by conservative critics.
http://www.vox.com/identities/2017/1/17/14267766/womens-march-on-washington-inauguration-trump-feminism-intersectionaltiy-race-class