A few months ago, this Buzzfeed quiz called "Are You A Feminist?" came out, and I guess the point of it was to illustrate that feminism isn't this extremist Kill All Men ideology and that, as bell hooks said in more words, feminism is for everybody. Which is kind of cool and I can get behind. It's refreshing to begin to see positive examples of feminism in popular culture and to see more of my peers begin to come around to this way of thinking.
But I also think that this definition of feminism is lacking. The "Are You A Feminist" Buzzfeed quiz maintains that, as long as you believe in the complete equality of women, you are, in fact, a feminist. And this is a pretty great start, don't get me wrong, but it glosses over a lot of the important parts, namely that while #YesAllWomen are unequal to men as a whole, some women (and non-binary individuals) are even less equal due to their race, gender identity, sexuality, socioeconomic status, immigration status, ability, and lots of other identities. Taking these identities into account when developing your feminism is called intersectionality, and without it, in my opinion at least, your feminism is bullshit.
I'm not here to tell anyone that they're not allowed to be a feminist, but if I'm going to consider you my ally and my comrade in this fight, your feminism has to apply to all women and not just expect that because #LeaningIn works for corporate cis white women, that it works for everyone. Your feminism has to understand that sexism, racism, poverty, transphobia, and other forms of oppression aren't failures of individuals to be decent human beings, but actually the successes of systems to keep marginalized people from ever escaping their circumstances.
So yes, it's cool that you read The Second Sex and some Tumblr articles about the wage gap and that they ~spoke to you~ and that you want to be part of this movement. But if your idea of this movement doesn't include my interests as a woman of color or the interests of any other marginalized people, don't consider me your ally. Because I'm not.
