Feminism is under fierce attack on the internet. When looking for illustrations for this post I found many anti feminist sites. In the images I saw stacks of doctored photos denigrating feminism by mockery, divide-and-rule, inventions, junk science, misandry, rape celebration, patronizing, etc.
Mostly it seemed to me like pathetic bleating by Nth American men about losing any of their socially permitted patriarchal privileges,… But switch language on Google and you get similar results in different contexts..
Seems like we’re living through giant social battles that are going on around the world, in which millions of women feel empowered by a perceived freedom and individuality on social media, threatening to undermine long established systems of cultural semi slavery, and provoking ‘testerical’ reactions from religious and authority figures.
One classic sexist tactic is to single out and exaggerate separatist ideas and continuously brand all feminists as ‘smelly, hairy, man haters’ etc.
Of course there are many branches of feminism.. and that is an enriching and inclusive diversity. In Spanish we talk about ‘feminisms’ (and ‘anarchisms’) in the plural.
There’s room for plenty under the anti-hierarchy banners, as is clear from the growing popularity of an ‘Intersectional’ movement . Below we reprint a shortlist with some attempt at explanation, plus the illustrations dredged from the sewers of Google images.
Eleven Feminisms in One |
- Intersectional Feminism. Can include all of the below. The concept of intersectionality in feminism has been around for decades. Groups of women have multi-layered facets in life that they have to deal with. There is no one-size-fits-all type of feminism. For example, I am a black woman and as a result I face both racism and sexism..
- Anarcha-Feminism (or Anarchist Feminism) is another offshoot of Radical Feminism and combines Feminist and Anarchist beliefs in which patriarchy is viewed as a manifestation of hierarchy so that the fight against patriarchy is an essential part of the class struggle and the Anarchist struggle against the state.
- Radical Feminism considers the capitalist hierarchy of society, which it describes as sexist and male-based, as the defining feature of women’s oppression. Most Radical Feminists see no alternatives other than the total uprooting and reconstruction of society in order to overthrow patriarchy and achieve their goals.
- Separatist Feminism is a form of Radical Feminism, which argues that the sexual disparities between men and women are unresolvable, that men cannot make positive contributions to the feminist movement, and that even well-intentioned men replicate patriarchal dynamics.
- Sex-Positive Feminism is a response to anti-pornography feminists who argue that heterosexual pornography is a central cause of women’s oppression, and that sexual freedom (which may or may not involve a woman’s ight to participate in heterosexual pornography) is an essential component of women’s freedom.
- Black Feminism (or Womanism) argues that sexism, class oppression and racism are inextricably bound together.Alice Walker and otherWomanists claim thatblack women experience a different and more intense kind of oppression from that of white women.
- Socialist Feminism (or Marxist Feminism) connects the oppression of women to Marxist ideas about exploitation,oppression and labour. Socialist Feminists see the need to work alongside men and all other groups, and to focus their energies on broad change that affects society as a whole, and not just on an individual basis.
- Liberal Feminism (or Individualist Feminism) seeks the equality of men and women through political and legal reform. Liberal Feminists see the personal individual interactions between men and women as the place from which to transform society and argue that no major change to the structure of society is needed.
- French Feminism (or Post-Structural Feminism) tends to be more philosophical and more literary, less concerned with immediate political doctrine and generally focuses on theories of “the body”. The 1949 treatise “The Second Sex” by the French author and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir(1908 – 1986) is a foundational tract of contemporary Feminism, in which she sets out feminist Existentialism which prescribes a moral revolution..
- Eco-Feminism links Feminism with ecology, arguing that the domination of women stems from the same patriarchal ideologies that bring about the domination and destruction of the environment.
(Pro-Feminism refers to support of Feminism without implying that the supporter is a member of the feminist movement. It is usually used in reference to men who are actively supportive of Feminism and of efforts to bring about gender equality.)
adapted with thanks from http://www.philosophybasics.com/
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