Protesters against the pageant threw false lashes, bras, and feminine items at the Freedom Trash Can, as they called it. They also had a pig called Miss America, but no bras were burned at the event.
We may talk about feminism a lot, but sometimes we are not educated about the ideology that it holds.
Feminists are people that fight for women’s rights and equality in all aspects of society. As everybody understands, feminism is defined as a movement for political, social and economic equality for women in the society.
Feminism stands for a broader concept and holds different beliefs and ideologies, but how did it all start?
Everything started with the women’s rights movement engaging activism to enlarge women’s political rights. Women wanted to vote, they wanted to contribute to their society but often felt left out from social problems.
Nothing was easy at that time, but women fought for their rights and demanded respect.
Let’s explore the different types of feminism, and understand what they represent.
Radical feminists:
This was the first form of feminism during second wave feminism, also called the women’s liberation movement. They relied on revolutionary politics on public events to call attention to women’s oppression, and demand changes in a woman’s place in society.
At that time women were second class citizens and couldn’t engage in public arguments, as well as many other discussions.
Ecofeminists:
Ecofeminism was first launched in 1974, reinforcing that if oppression is culturally valued, it will be imposed on anyone that cannot resist it. Several animal rights activists, vegetarians, vegans and peace activists joined the ecofeminism movement.
Animal rights were also tied to feminist critiquing cultural values and how society supports aggression, exploitation and domination.
Multiracial Feminists:
Most feminists at the time were white, middle-class women that were seeking change.
Multiracial feminists interjected that race cannot be viewed in isolation, and that gender does not have a universal meaning, but it varies depending on the economic class and sexual orientation.
They believed that race-ethnicity affected the meaning of being a woman, and automatically placed them in another category.
“For multiracial feminists, the key to understanding identity lies in the intersection of multiple categories such as gender, race-ethnicity, sexual orientation, and economic class. This leads multiracial feminists to write and talk, not about women or men as broad groups, but about more precise and complex categories such as black, working-class lesbians, and middle class, heterosexual Chicana,” said Julia T. Wood at Gendered Lives.
Revivalists:
These were feminists that focused on women’s traditional roles and activities, and brought appreciation to their skills. They wanted to bring respect for music, literature and art created by talented women. Revivalists talk about recovering women’s history and illustrate the capacity of women in their traditional roles, such as weaving and quilting.
Lesbian Feminists:
Lesbian feminists focused on the sexual exploitation of women and male dominance. Members argue that only women who do not live their lives around men can be completely free, leading some women to embrace lesbianism as positive and liberated.
“For lesbian feminists, the primary goals are to live as a woman-identified woman and to make it possible for women in committed, enduring relationships to enjoy the same property, insurance, and legal rights granted to heterosexual spouses. First, lesbian feminism use their voices to respond to social criticism of their sexual orientations. Second, some lesbian feminists adopt proactive rhetorical strategies to assert their value, rights, and integrity,” said Wood.
Separatists:
This group of feminists builds communities in which women live independently in respect and harmony. They believe it’s impossible to reform America’s homophobic culture, so instead, they focus on living in harmony with people, animals and the earth.
“Finding that these values gain little hearing in a patriarchal, capitalist society, some women form all-women communities in which feminine values can flourish without intrusion from men and the aggressive, individualistic, oppressive values these women associate with Western masculinity,” said Wood.
As you can see, feminism is a term that has been misrepresented and misunderstood by the media, and covers more than one issue.
You don't have to identify with just one aspect of feminism. These theories blend with each other, and give feminists a broader ideology.
Yes, I’m a feminist, and no I don’t burn bras. What about you?
