This piece was written as coursework for my LLM in Human Rights Law at Queen's University Belfast. In this essay, I will be exploring how the word “Feminism” has developed over time through various waves and social movements to become exclusionary and have negative connotations, exploring its new taboo status and why this occurs, and exploring the concepts of “White Feminism” versus “Intersectional Feminism” to explore the feminist movement’s limitations and it's potential moving forward.
Feminism is defined as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes”[1] as well as “organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests”[2], but what does this really mean?
For centuries, women have been treated unequally to their male counterparts, from the gender pay gap to a higher number of sexual violence committed towards women. This is not only unjust but actively dangerous, for men and women alike. Furthermore, as the world starts to see gender on more of a spectrum, the issues of transgender rights must be considered as well. The Feminist movement has been and continues to be an opportunity to achieve a more equal society with regards to gender, to take action against gender-related injustices and raise awareness of them in an effort to eradicate them.
At its core, Feminism theory is about gender equality for all, yet in practice, approaches to achieve gender equality have been exclusionary, undermining the very philosophy of Feminism itself. Many people who seek gender equality reject the term “Feminism” despite its definition and premise being the achievement of gender equality.
In this essay, I will be exploring how the word “Feminism” has developed over time through various waves and social movements to become exclusionary and have negative connotations, exploring its new taboo status and why this occurs, and exploring the concepts of “White Feminism” versus “Intersectional Feminism” to explore the feminist movement’s limitations and it's potential moving forward. I argue that the associations with the word “Feminism”, alongside its exclusionary approach within its various movements, influence the failures of the movement.
To clarify, I believe that the feminist movement is one of the most successful global movements, but its limitations, which will be explored in this essay, have dampened its ability to be the most successful movement. By addressing its limitations, erasures and ambiguities in feminist social movements, I intend to highlight how feminist movements can become stronger and better, in the fight for ensuring that gender equality is in fact for all. In this essay, I argue that how Feminism and gender equality is crucial to strive for, yet the way that we strive for it must be redefined. In response to this question, I will be answering that Feminism has the core components to become the “most successful global movement for social change” as it is an ongoing movement, yet to do so it’s necessary to remove patriarchal and colonialist tendencies that surround current Feminism in the form of “White Feminism”. Changing the bias and negative connotations surrounding the word “Feminism”, in conjunction with an expansion of what “Feminism” means reforming it to include intersectionality, must be done to continue the momentum of the movement. Without an intersectional approach, we are nowhere near gender equality, but with it, we have the potential to be in the near future.
Failures of the Feminist Movement
The feminist movement is one of the most long-standing social movement, lasting centuries, with one of the first recorded protests for women’s rights in the 3rd century[3]. This points to both its success at holding momentum and its failure at taking centuries to combat the issues it addresses. Feminism has developed through various ''waves'' (i.e., social movements) and into various branches. The Feminism movement was enacted to combat issues such as the right to vote, to work, to access education, to not be sexually abused, to have personal autonomy, to name a few, and over the centuries at which the Feminism movement has existed, its undoubtedly made significant progress to gain these rights globally which should be honoured. Yet, the continued existence of sexual violence against women, femicides, female genital mutilation (FGM), high child marriage rate of girls, low literacy rates for girls versus boys, abortion laws, the gender wage gap and overall sexism globally, exemplifies that Feminism still has many issues to tackle and overcome before crowning it a successful movement.
There are various reasons why these issues all still exist, from stigmatized views to structural and systematic oppression. Many believe that men and women shouldn’t have equal rights as they see women as the weaker sex[4], or that Feminism is synonymous with man-hating and thus should be repressed[5], yet more commonly, many have settled with the perception that men and women are already fairly equal, and thus there is no need for Feminism[6]. These sentiments, as they spread and collude, become deeply problematic spreading hatred of Feminism and constricting its ability to tackle the core and pressing issues.
White Feminism
The umbrella term of “Feminism” has become associated with exclusion, in the form of “White Feminism”[7], a more toxic version of Feminism that promotes women’s rights, but specifically the rights of straight cis-gendered white women of a certain socioeconomic class in the Global North, at the expense of others who are also affected by oppression, on the basis of race, sexuality, socioeconomic class and gender. White Feminism excludes anyone who doesn’t fit into this very narrow category[8], such as those who are transgender, non-white women, disabled, poor, sex workers, non-binary, male and from the LGBTQ+ community.
White Feminism, in itself, is a failure of the feminist movement. By excluding all but a very small subsection of those affected by feminist issues this directs the conversation away from more pressing issues and focuses on white issues rather than taking into account other interconnected issues such as bias on the basis of race and sexuality (i.e., focusing on closing a pay gap between men and white women, without addressing how Black, Asian and Latina women make even less than white women)[9].
White Feminism, specifically in the form of white women campaigning at the expense of non-white women has been around for centuries exemplified through white women’s acceptance of slavery, of apartheid, and how the women’s suffrage movement in the United States intentionally excluded Black women demanding that “women be granted the right to vote before Blacks”[10]. American Suffragettes intentionally distanced themselves in order to illustrate superiority, summarized through a Suffragette’s own words that “the enfranchisement of women would insure immediate and durable white supremacy, honestly attained”[11].
White Feminism interconnects with the White Saviour Complex, which “refers to a white person who provides help to non-white people in a self-serving manner”[12] when approaching women in the Global South[13]. For example, during the British Suffragette movement, British Suffragettes were mainly white upper-class women who often spoke out with racist and discriminatory opinions[14], who “felt they were more able to speak for Indian women than Indian women themselves”[15] and were “deserving of suffrage by embracing the idea of Indian women as enslaved and primitive in need of civilization”[16]. Furthermore, British Suffragettes regularly compared sex workers to diseased animals campaigning (and succeeding) to criminalise sex workers[17].
Unfortunately, today, over a century later, white saviour sentiments such as this still exist. From legislation that specifically targets the “rescuing” of sex workers supported by feminists[18], to supporting abortion and marriage laws that treat women like infants unable to take control of their autonomy[19], to debating on whether or not the Burka is oppressive without actually consulting the Muslim women who wear them[20]. It’s also important to note that privilege comes into account here, as the ability to debate these topics and to “rescue” women comes with being in a position to influence these decisions. Feminists who have this privilege should be using their influence and platforms to louden the voices of those women who they are attempting to save, yet instead, these feminists chose to make the decisions and laws for them such as campaigning for a Burka ban[21] and for the criminalisation of sex work, both of which arguably harm women more being reducing their autonomy to choose how to practice religion or conduct work. These well-meaning feminists who want to save other women usually end up doing more harm than if they had left it alone, as now the legislation is in place, pushing the issues further into patriarchal control.
The feminist issues that white feminists campaign for can end up harming those women who don’t fit into the white feminist category. For example, ''Lean-In Feminism''[22], which works to combat disparities in the workplace by encouraging women to work ambitiously to become CEOs and Board Members, fails to incorporate how those women get there. Just like how the American suffragettes used the oppression of Black suffrage to gain their own vote[23], white feminists striving for top positions may use women of lower economic status to child-mind their offspring and clean their homes to give them more time to pursue these careers, which creates a further disparity between women of differing socioeconomic status, and usually, race too as the majority of those working as domestic workers in the United States come from Black, Hispanic, or Asian American/Pacific Islander backgrounds[24]. As accurately stated by Feminist Charlotte Shane, “the notion that women shouldn’t work outside the home was always unique to the white upper and middle classes”[25] who previously had the privilege not to work, as they didn't need to, unlike Black women and poor women who were forced to work to support their families.
Furthermore, as evident by Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s recent appointment to the Supreme Court, even the women in the highest decision-making positions can undermine women’s rights[26]. Therefore, by concentrating on the goals of White Feminists, such as filling high-ranking positions with more females and giving white women equal pay to men, this actively entrenches the oppressive systems that exist[27]. You can't smash the patriarchy if you're working within it and accepting it just legitimises its existence allowing it to continue to oppress others[28].
Imposing Western ideologies rather than empowering grassroots organisations, who are more able to adapt the concept of Feminism to local and contextual needs, can end up damaging feminist causes more, and assuming that feminists from a more privileged background may know better than those from more marginalised communities such as sex workers and pursuing damaging legislation can have a crippling effect. This is far from equality. If Feminism truly is about the equality of the sexes, it must take into account how with one sex, i.e., females, there is so much inequality, and work to eradicate that.
Another caveat to explore within the failures of White Feminism is the exclusion of men in the conversation of Feminism. As stated by Emma Watson, the word “Feminism” has become taboo and provocative, “the word is really difficult because it seems to inherently suggest a preferential treatment of the feminine over the masculine because it has the feminine in the word”[29]. Feminism did start as advocacy for women’s rights specifically, yet only in the sense that it would lift women’s rights to an equal level with men’s rights. Today, many feminist issues concern men, non-binary and other non-female people, making the word less appropriate to advocate for equality of all genders.
Additionally, the term “Feminism” has become synonymous with man-hating[30], which completely contradicts the definition of Feminism. This can be seen in the responses to the global #MeToo movement, where many perceive the movement as a form of vilification of men and a way to wrongfully accuse men of sexual violence in a way to ruin their livelihoods[31]. Meaning that many men outwardly reject the movement[32], dampening its potential for change.
Feminism as a movement would positively affect men too as certain feminist issues are harmful to men too, such as the view of women as caregivers making it harder for men to gain custody of children in divorce[33] and meaning that many companies don’t allow paternity leave[34], or how toxic masculinity leads to higher suicide rates among men[35], as well as propagating rape culture[36] and discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community[37]. By dispelling the patriarchal views and structures that propagate this, it will benefit all genders, such as in Finland where parental leave has now been legally guaranteed for all genders[38]. Encouraging men to join the feminist movement, rather than actively excluding them, could reduce toxic masculinity which would actively help achieve feminist goals, such as reducing violence against women, while benefitting men too, i.e., such as through better mental health by encouraging and accepting vulnerability.
White Feminism, and all its limitations, has become one of the core associations with Feminism seriously impacting the movement’s success. Having such an exclusionary approach rejects the very idea of intersectionality, which I, like many others before me, propose is essential for the feminist movement to tackle the issues it aims to.
Intersectionality
Intersectionality, as coined by Kimberlie Crenshaw in the 1980s, is a term referring to the methodological approach of examining and understanding how various social categories interact and are affected by differing levels of discrimination[39]. It gets its name from “the idea that different "intersections" of oppressions (such as race, class, sexuality, ability, gender, and many others) work in tandem”[40] and that a person who identifies with a higher amount of these social categories may experience more oppression than those with less.
In her research, Crenshaw specifically looks at how race, class and gender compound to create disparities and thus these categories should not be treated in an exclusionary way[41]. Crenshaw states that it is “a prism for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other”[42]. Although coined in the 1980s, the term gained political and social momentum around 2016 in the Women’s Marches in the United States[43], who opted to include categories of sexuality and class[44].
Intersectionality can be seen as a direct opposite to White Feminism in the sense that it not only isn’t exclusionary, but the exclusion of any social category contradicts its very ethos, which aligns more with the general definition of Feminism itself. By illustrating and taking into account how discrimination can stack up as multiple social identities overlap. For example, how discrimination towards a Black person and towards a woman will be different to take towards discrimination a Black woman, which again will be different as a straight Black woman versus a Black woman from the LGBTQ+ community. As identities overlap and intersect, this directly impacts the way people who fit into multiple social minorities are treated. For example, in Iran and Saudi Arabia, women seek to reform Sharia law to be more feminist by including women’s rights such as the ability to divorce their husbands and remove the concept of guardianship[45], illustrating intersectionality through how “these women are feminists, but they’re also devoted Muslims. This means that the western concept of secular feminism simply wouldn’t work for their fight”[46]. Considering how in the modern day it is extremely common to have multiple identities, in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, nationality, to name a few, including this in discussions of social movements should be considered essential.
An intersectional approach to the feminist movement would not only be cognisant of these various overlapping oppressions but consider them in the campaigns and issues they target, opting to dismantle the patriarchal and systematic oppression within society, rather than just ask for a place within it like the Lean In feminists. It would do so by concentrating on loudening the voices of those most affected in the movement and by taking an intersectional approach to examining historical oppression and its lasting effects today[47]. This meets critiques that an intersectional approach would then just create a “new caste system”[48], yet Crenshaw responds by illuminating that intersectionality isn’t trying to reform oppression to move a different social group to the top, yet instead, it works as an advocacy measure to create a more egalitarian society[49].
Concrete examples of how intersectionality can be achieved in the feminist movement would be for feminists to turn up at Black Lives Matter protests; to fight for LGBTQ+ rights in legislation; to include discussions of class, privilege and ableism into reforms; to disband toxic masculinity and its effect on men as well as women; to promote the voices of indigenous women; to work to reduce Islamophobia in society; to name a small minority of the overlapping issues[50]. Again, all of which must be approached to truly reach the end goal of Feminism: equality. It’s also important to note that promotion of these issues doesn’t mean taking them on as feminist issues while silencing those it’s actually impacted, as this is another form of the white saviour complex and is oppressive in nature, which is simply contradictory.
Conclusion
The feminist movement, undoubtedly, has had huge successes over the last few centuries, such as “increased educational opportunities, the right to vote, protections against workplace discrimination, and the right to make personal decisions about pregnancy”[51].
The issues that traditionally concern feminists, such as sexual violence, FGM, child marriages, girl’s literacy rates, sexism, rape culture and the gender wage gap, not only have multiple root causes and interconnecting factors but are all still in existence due to patriarchal, colonialist, imperialist and systematic racism, xenophobia and other forms of oppression. These issues must thus be addressed with an intersectional approach to be properly tackled. You must tackle the root of an issue to disband the branches and surface problems. To be radical and not accept the status quo. To smash the patriarchy instead of requesting a place within it. To be truly feminist and gain true equality, intersectionality is not only beneficial but crucial and essential.
Therefore, for feminism to be the most successful global movement, which it has the potential to be, it must be reformed from its current form (white mainstream feminism) to its optimal one (intersectionality).
Footnotes
[1] Merriam Webster, ‘Definition of Feminism’ (Merriam Webster) <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Feminism> accessed 27 December 2020. [2] Merriam Webster, ‘Definition of Feminism’ (Merriam Webster) <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Feminism> accessed 27 December 2020. [3] Elinor Burkett and Laura Brunell, ‘Feminism | Definition, History, & Examples’ (Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 September 2020) <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Feminism> accessed 28 December 2020. [4] Angela Saini, Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story (Beacon Press 2017). [5] BBC News, ‘Emma Watson: Feminism Too Often Linked with Man-Hating’ BBC News (22 September 2014) <https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-29308459> accessed 1 January 2021. [6] Anna Jean Kaiser, ‘“I Don’t See Any Reason for Feminism”: The Women Backing Brazil’s Bolsonaro’ The Guardian (14 October 2018) <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/14/bolsonaro-brazil-presidential-candidate-women-voters-anti-Feminism> accessed 1 January 2021. [7] HuffPost, Why We Need To Talk About White Feminism (2015) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNdZcegK1lQ&ab_channel=HuffPost> accessed 27 December 2020. [8] HuffPost, Why We Need To Talk About White Feminism (2015) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNdZcegK1lQ&ab_channel=HuffPost> accessed 27 December 2020. [9] The National Partnership for Women & Families, ‘Quantifying America’s Gender Wage Gap by Race/Ethnicity’ <https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/fair-pay/quantifying-americas-gender-wage-gap.pdf>. [10] Tamela J Gordon, ‘Why I’m Giving up on Intersectional Feminism’ (Quartz, 30 April 2018) <https://qz.com/quartzy/1265902/why-im-giving-up-on-intersectional-feminism/> accessed 3 January 2021. [11] Tommy J. Curry, ‘They All Must Fall: Does the Racism of White Suffragettes Mean Their Statues Must Also Come Down?’ (RACE.ED, 4 August 2020) <https://www.race.ed.ac.uk/they-all-must-fall-does-the-racism-of-white-suffragettes-mean-their-statues-must-also-come-down/> accessed 3 January 2021. [12] Wikipedia, ‘White Savior’, Wikipedia (2020) <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White_savior&oldid=996030718> accessed 1 January 2021. [13] Sharmila Lodhia, ‘Beyond Rescue: Rethinking Advocacy and Intervention in the Women’s and Gender Studies Classroom’ (2016) 27 Feminist Teacher 1. [14] Charlotte Shane, ‘How Do We Move Beyond Commodified Feminism?’ (Literary Hub, 11 October 2018) <https://lithub.com/how-do-we-move-beyond-commodified-Feminism/> accessed 28 December 2020. [15] Anna Leszkiewicz, ‘What Did the Suffragette Movement in Britain Really Look Like?’ (NewStatesman, 7 October 2015) <https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2015/10/what-did-suffragette-movement-britain-really-look> accessed 3 January 2021. [16] Tommy J. Curry, ‘They All Must Fall: Does the Racism of White Suffragettes Mean Their Statues Must Also Come Down?’ (RACE.ED, 4 August 2020) <https://www.race.ed.ac.uk/they-all-must-fall-does-the-racism-of-white-suffragettes-mean-their-statues-must-also-come-down/> accessed 3 January 2021. [17] Judith R Walkowitz, Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class, and the State (Cambridge Univ Press 1991). [18] Aziza Ahmed and Meena Seshu, ‘“We Have the Right Not to Be ‘Rescued’...”*: When Anti-Trafficking Programmes Undermine the Health and Well-Being of Sex Workers’ (2012) 0 Anti-Trafficking Review <https://www.antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/28>. [19] Naina Elizabeth Mathew and Arya Warrier, ‘Still the Second Sex? Underlining the Lack of Autonomy in India’s Abortion Amendment Bill’ (LSE Human Rights, 29 July 2020) <https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/humanrights/2020/07/29/still-the-second-sex-underlining-the-lack-of-autonomy-in-indias-abortion-amendment-bill/> accessed 3 January 2021. [20] Christine Delphy, ‘France’s Feminists Are Colluding in Oppression by Supporting Headscarf Ban’ (the Guardian, 20 July 2015) <http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2015/jul/20/france-Feminism-hijab-ban-muslim-women> accessed 3 January 2021. [21] Amnesty International, ‘Denmark: Face Veil Ban a Discriminatory Violation of Women’s Rights’ (31 May 2018) <https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/denmark-face-veil-ban-discriminatory-violation-womens-rights> accessed 3 January 2021. [22] Katherine Goldstein, ‘I Was a Sheryl Sandberg Superfan. Then Her “Lean In” Advice Failed Me.’ (Vox, 6 December 2018) <https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/12/6/18128838/michelle-obama-lean-in-sheryl-sandberg> accessed 3 January 2021. [23] Tamela J Gordon, ‘Why I’m Giving up on Intersectional Feminism’ (Quartz, 30 April 2018) <https://qz.com/quartzy/1265902/why-im-giving-up-on-intersectional-feminism/> accessed 3 January 2021. [24] Heidi Shierholz and others, ‘Domestic Workers Chartbook: A Comprehensive Look at the Demographics, Wages, Benefits, and Poverty Rates of the Professionals Who Care for Our Family Members and Clean Our Homes’ (Economic Policy Institution 2020) <https://www.epi.org/publication/domestic-workers-chartbook-a-comprehensive-look-at-the-demographics-wages-benefits-and-poverty-rates-of-the-professionals-who-care-for-our-family-members-and-clean-our-homes/> accessed 3 January 2021. [25] Charlotte Shane, ‘How Do We Move Beyond Commodified Feminism?’ (Literary Hub, 11 October 2018) <https://lithub.com/how-do-we-move-beyond-commodified-Feminism/> accessed 28 December 2020. [26] Sarah McCammon, ‘A Look At Amy Coney Barrett’s Record On Abortion Rights’ (NPR.org, 28 September 2020) <https://www.npr.org/2020/09/28/917827735/a-look-at-amy-coney-barretts-record-on-abortion-rights> accessed 3 January 2021. [27] Charlotte Shane, ‘How Do We Move Beyond Commodified Feminism?’ (Literary Hub, 11 October 2018) <https://lithub.com/how-do-we-move-beyond-commodified-Feminism/> accessed 28 December 2020. [28] Charlotte Shane, ‘How Do We Move Beyond Commodified Feminism?’ (Literary Hub, 11 October 2018) <https://lithub.com/how-do-we-move-beyond-commodified-Feminism/> accessed 28 December 2020. [29] Entertainment Weekly, Emma Watson Explains Why Some Men Have Trouble With Feminism (2017) [01:21] <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xWJf8cERoM&ab_channel=EntertainmentWeekly> accessed 27 December 2020. [30] BBC News, ‘Emma Watson: Feminism Too Often Linked with Man-Hating’ BBC News (22 September 2014) <https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-29308459> accessed 1 January 2021. [31] Jubilee, Has The #MeToo Movement Gone Too Far? | Middle Ground (2020) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Owr_sGIOs&ab_channel=Jubilee> accessed 2 January 2021. [32] Jubilee, Has The #MeToo Movement Gone Too Far? | Middle Ground (2020) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Owr_sGIOs&ab_channel=Jubilee> accessed 2 January 2021. [33] Emy Cordano, ‘Why Do Women Get Child Custody In 90 Percent Of All Cases? Isn’t It Gender Discrimination?’ (EMY A. Cordano, Attorney at Law, 28 June 2018) <https://www.cor-law.com/blog/women-get-child-custody-90-percent-cases-isnt-gender-discrimination/> accessed 3 January 2021. [34] Jessica Grose, ‘Why Dads Don’t Take Parental Leave’ The New York Times (19 February 2020) <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/parenting/why-dads-dont-take-parental-leave.html> accessed 3 January 2021. [35] Helene Schumacher, ‘Why More Men than Women Die by Suicide’ (BBC Future, 18 March 2019) <https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190313-why-more-men-kill-themselves-than-women> accessed 3 January 2021. [36] Malin Christina Wikström, ‘Gendered Bodies and Power Dynamics: The Relation between Toxic Masculinity and Sexual Harassment’ (2019) 3 Granite Journal 7. [37] Alex Berg, ‘Analysis: How “Toxic Masculinity” Fuels Transgender Victimization’ (NBC News, 4 August 2017) <https://www.nbcnews.com/think/nbc-out/analysis-how-toxic-masculinity-fuels-transgender-victimization-ncna789621> accessed 3 January 2021. [38] BBC News, ‘Finland to Give Dads Same Parental Leave as Mums’ (BBC News, 5 February 2020) <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51384614> accessed 3 January 2021. [39] UN Women, ‘Intersectional Feminism: What It Means and Why It Matters Right Now’ (UN Women, 1 July 2020) <https://www.unwomen.org/news/stories/2020/6/explainer-intersectional-Feminism-what-it-means-and-why-it-matters> accessed 2 January 2021. [40] Noor Al-Sibai, ‘8 Issues To Support If You Call Yourself A Feminist’ (Bustle, 3 May 2017) <https://www.bustle.com/p/8-issues-to-support-if-you-call-yourself-a-feminist-55196> accessed 3 January 2021. [41] Jane Coaston, ‘The Intersectionality Wars’ (Vox, 20 May 2019) <https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination> accessed 2 January 2021. [42] Katy Steinmetz, ‘Kimberlé Crenshaw on What Intersectionality Means Today’ (TIME, 20 February 2020) <https://time.com/5786710/kimberle-crenshaw-intersectionality/> accessed 3 January 2021. [43] Noor Al-Sibai, ‘8 Issues To Support If You Call Yourself A Feminist’ (Bustle, 3 May 2017) <https://www.bustle.com/p/8-issues-to-support-if-you-call-yourself-a-feminist-55196> accessed 3 January 2021. [44] Elinor Burkett and Laura Brunell, ‘Feminism | Definition, History, & Examples’ (Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 September 2020) <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Feminism> accessed 28 December 2020. [45] NowThis World, What Does It Mean To Be A Feminist In Islam? (2016) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpdXrKqWx14&ab_channel=NowThisWorld> accessed 3 January 2021. [46] NowThis World, What Does It Mean To Be A Feminist In Islam? (2016) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpdXrKqWx14&ab_channel=NowThisWorld> accessed 3 January 2021. [47] UN Women, ‘Intersectional Feminism: What It Means and Why It Matters Right Now’ (UN Women, 1 July 2020) <https://www.unwomen.org/news/stories/2020/6/explainer-intersectional-Feminism-what-it-means-and-why-it-matters> accessed 2 January 2021. [48] Jane Coaston, ‘The Intersectionality Wars’ (Vox, 20 May 2019) <https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination> accessed 2 January 2021. [49] Jane Coaston, ‘The Intersectionality Wars’ (Vox, 20 May 2019) <https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination> accessed 2 January 2021. [50] Noor Al-Sibai, ‘8 Issues To Support If You Call Yourself A Feminist’ (Bustle, 3 May 2017) <https://www.bustle.com/p/8-issues-to-support-if-you-call-yourself-a-feminist-55196> accessed 3 January 2021. [51] Elinor Burkett and Laura Brunell, ‘Feminism | Definition, History, & Examples’ (Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 September 2020) <https://www.britannica.com/topic/feminism> accessed 28 December 2020.
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