A few years ago I wondered if feminism was dead. The transgender movement seemed poised to inherit feminism's cultural waves. Girls would have to step off the high school softball field as transitioning male to female athletes stepped up to the plate with their biological advantages. Last year a transgender student made it to the Alaska state track meet which means that the young lady that finished behind him could not compete. There is a social justice pecking order and feminists are beginning to find themselves left behind in the world of social justice grievances. The feminist movement looks old, white and hopelessly binary. How can such a movement survive when Facebook allows you to choose from over 50 genders?
But wait, not so fast! A well-organized army of feminists flooded Washington D.C. like a pink tsunami. The choice of head-wear at the Women's March included hats that resembled reproductive organs and hijabs. For those who do not see the world through the social justice warrior lens the presence of hijabs alongside "pussyhats" seemed bizarre and out of place. While pro-life feminists were dis-invited from the march, Muslim feminists were readily accepted. Observers might scratch their heads as they consider the anti-abortion stance of most Muslims as well as the rights and status of women in Islamic societies. Saudi Arabia is the beating heart of Islam and also happens to be a place where women are publicly segregated and something as mundane as driving a car is frowned upon if you are female. Controversy erupted when Saudi women participated in the Olympics. An Islamic cleric likened the athletes to prostitutes.
The most noticeable leader of the Women's March was a Muslim woman who lamented the fact that sharia law was not welcome in the United States. Her name is Linda Sarsour, a daughter of Palestinian immigrants and an activist who pushed for NYC public schools to close for certain Islamic holidays. Linda was invited to be a leader of the event. I assumed that those who invited her to the march were white women who didn't want the march to be about white women. After doing a quick Wikipedia search on the organizers my suspicions were confirmed. The white organizers of the march were quick to hide behind minority individuals.
All of this points to a new social justice movement known as intersectionality. Feminists have adapted intersectionality as a way to survive the ever-evolving world of social justice causes. Intersectionality is a term used to describe the way that various social advantages or disadvantages overlap. The following video is an instructional piece that uses pizza to describe intersectionality:
The problem with your typical feminists is that they look super privileged when they walk about with their $4 Starbucks and their homemade, hand-knitted "pussyhats." According to the video they are nothing but "cheese pizzas." Feminism is thus allowed to survive as long as it checks its historical privilege and couples itself with other victim groups (or other pizzas in their fight against a world run by burgers). The Women's March, while predominantly white, was careful to include various minority, trans, and lesbian groups. Without intersctionality the feminist movement would be cannibalized or co-opted by those who are higher up on the social justice scale.
Social justice warriors also breathed life into feminism because it is politically useful. They can build a case against President Trump based upon sexism and Islamophobia. Trump is not as vulnerable on issues related to race, homosexuality and transgenderism. Currently, victimizing Muslims and women is politically expedient, but that could all change with a shift of the political winds. By the way, whatever happened to the BLM movement?
What intersectionality gives it can also take away. Beneath the social justice veneer of solidarity is paranoia and infighting. There are signs that social justice warriors are beginning to turn their weapons on each other (cheese pizza vs. deluxe pizza). A cannibal can survive with other cannibals as long as they're not competing for resources. If feminists are not careful they may find themselves next on the dinner plate as their social scale tips from victim to privileged.
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