Feminism has been a long challenged philosophy.
The first works of feminism can be traced back to around 1792, perhaps most notably that of the English writer, philosopher, and advocate for women’s rights, Mary Wollstonecraft, and her fundamental feminist work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In it, among Wollstonecraft’s main arguments were women's right to education and work.
The idea of post-feminism began in the early 1980s. Post-feminism claims that feminism is an expired cause, that the initial goal of gender equality has been fulfilled. The reality of this, however, is that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
As feminism in and of itself did not mention contextualized gender equality through individual cultural, societal, and political standpoints, intersectional feminism was introduced around the same time as post-feminism by Kimberlé Crenshaw. As she put it, “not all inequality is created equal.”
Feminism has broken off into many such sub-divisions, but I believe intersectional feminism to have the strongest hold on the original purpose of feminism, and that it is of the truest kind, merely updated to confirm the universality of feminism.
This is the strongest refute to the idea that feminism could have an expiration date, as the advocacy for a wide range of people based on the idea that their gender cannot impede upon this equality, seems like basic human rights.
Two students from College Heights Secondary School – Esther Oso is a Grade 11 student, as well as a Grade 12 student I’ll call Jimmy for this column - understand the core of feminism as indispensable.
“We need feminism,” Esther said, echoing the voice many feel feminism has given as a grounds by which people can speak on injustice. Revoking the term seems to revoke this voice as well, and this voice should always be supported, as Jimmy said, “even if gender equality had been achieved, we’d still always need feminism - to keep it that way.”
To solidify its necessity, feminism should start at the source. A common theme of feminism is to give women and men a choice that is separate from preconceived notions and stereotypes of their gender. Throughout the world, many do not have this choice, to begin with. Feminism should assume nothing and should advocate for everything leading up to its aim of gender equality.
The rights and opportunities based on a broadened understanding of gender equality is the truest fight. If we focus on this, we can hold onto the issues that truly matter, and then we can start working towards freedom, equality, and representation for all kinds of people across the globe.
- Noor Zohdy is a Grade 11 student at College Heights Secondary School.
