On Feminism
by Marley Dias, Guest Editor of the FEMINIST ZINE
Read this in the FEMINIST ZINE
It can feel hard to be a feminist. When I think about the legacy of feminism, I am reminded the white suffragettes of the 1920s telling Ida B. Wells to march in the back of their parade. I share those feelings of being excluded and not knowing where to go with the passions for change held so deeply in the hearts of Black women.
The feminist movement is only as strong as its weakest link.
As I carried this history, I weaved in and out of identifying myself as a feminist. Throughout most of my junior and senior year of high school I began to read more feminist and womanist literature and felt a new sense of empowerment.
I will never forget my graduation day, June 23rd, going to sleep the happiest and most free I had ever felt. I was finally out in the real world, released from the notions of girlhood that high school placed on me. Then I woke up the next day to see the news of Roe V. Wade. I felt confused and heartbroken more than anything. I had just studied the case for my AP Gov test, I had never conceptualized its power outside of a flashcard. Many of the simple freedoms I once looked forward to in girlhood are slowly chipping away, leaving a new set of responsibilities for all of us.
The feminist movement is only as strong as its weakest link. Through my assessment feminists who are not committed to dismantling white supremacy and capitalism are unable to create the change that shifts not just a year— but generations. We must stop using Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw’s innovative phrase “intersectional” as a buzzword, but instead take it seriously. We must read her words. We must engage with ideas that feel difficult. And we must accept that a fight for liberation can only exist through an investment in the most disenfranchised women and femmes in our world.
And that process starts through an intersectional understanding. After you read this, flip back through the pages and find the essay or art that you disagreed with the most. Maybe the work made you uncomfortable or caused a knee jerk reaction. Find the author or artist’s name and look them up. Learn more about them, where they come from, and why the work they do is important to them. Whether you are ready or not, as a feminist, as a person committed to women’s liberation, your arms are linked with these individuals. Learn about them. See them as people. Take this zine as an opportunity to expand your understanding of feminism and feel the strength that comes from exploration of this movement.