Recently, the death anniversary of revolutionary feminist icon, Andaiye was celebrated. Despite the short amount of time that I had the privilege of knowing her, Andaiye left an indelible mark on my life, the way I viewed the world and my response towards it. Prior to knowing Andaiye, I liked to compare the views I held to be fairly lite. Generally, I understood the importance of equality, but that understanding came with an asterisk.
I understood that women deserved equality, but that was largely restricted to popular western talking points such as equal pay and harassment, and lacking any significant analysis of the different experiences of different women. When it came to LGBTQI+ equality, some ideas I held were quite frankly, transphobic as I was still trying to wrap my mind around all of it. When it came to topics such as race and poverty, these were things I had a general understanding of but failed to see the intersecting impact they had on various identities. Even though I very early on had identified as a feminist, I mainly espoused the narratives pushed by popular culture about what being a feminist was. So I would often find myself clarifying that I was not one of those angry man-hating feminists as that was what I had at the time gathered feminism to be. Am I today a man-hating feminist? Quite possibly, I am no longer averse to the portrayal, even if it is an inaccurate assessment of feminism. Clearly, I have come a long way. But this was largely due to women such as Andaiye, Vanda and Danuta Radzik, Alissa Trotz and Sherlina Nageer whose work and knowledge really drove home the importance on intersectional feminist principles and its application.
I think it is important to highlight these women because we have a very imbalanced way in which we view living and dead historical figures. Male historical figures are highly revered and celebrated while the women are seen as mere footnotes in the annals of history. It definitely does say a lot about the patriarchal centring that continues to occur in literally every space. I think too of how men are centred even in the women’s rights arena. It is always an interesting thing to observe wherein men are cheered and celebrated for the bare minimum within the space, particularly since the vast majority that operate within it are unsafe to the women around them. There are many who can talk a big game about the privileges that they have, and the things that men should do to bring about gender equality. When it comes however to actually relinquishing the power they have over women in personal, professional and social spaces, the reality rarely ever matches the theory.
As people who are scocialised to believe that women and children have less rights than men, viewing those who are LGBTQI+ as being abnormal, and believing that those who are poor deserve it due to their own actions, it can take a lot to move away from these ingrained positions towards ones centred on more respect, understanding and care.
Feminism is in a stage now where it is enjoying some level of positive popularity as more persons aim to learn about it. Personally and professionally, I am happy about this growing shift, but I hope for it to eventually move past the concerns of optical “girlbosses” whose only understanding of feminism is being in the same boardroom and doing the same things as the men do, towards a more in depth understanding of the need for women’s social, economic and political equality. Equality not in the sense of having the power to be as oppressive as the big boys, but equality in the sense of working towards the removal of these oppressive structures to begin with.
