Tomorrow is International Women\u2019s Day, and with it comes words like \u201cempowerment.\u201d Which, well, okay! Empowerment isn\u2019t a bad thing, and it certainly isn\u2019t something to zero in on and condemn when there\u2019s about a million other things to zero in on and condemn. (All of which I\u2019m sure I will get around to in the future.)<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the thing: buzzwords make me so tired. Feminism-as-a-purchasable-commodity is draining. (I mean, I love a casual mantra, but you can\u2019t hang your entire identity on \u201cNevertheless she persisted\u201d tote bags.) And while I\u2019m not about to lecture anybody on their preferred methods of empowering one\u2019s self, to use International Women\u2019s Day as an excuse to shill product is exactly the opposite of anything good. You want to sell us t-shirts and keychains and mugs? By all means. But to pretend it\u2019s anyone\u2019s #IWD or feminist duty to acquire branded paraphernalia is insulting. One\u2019s social and political leanings do not require the addition of physical goods to be proven. And to conflate feminism with capitalism is not just a buzzkill, but a misstep. It\u2019s wonderful that feminism is trendy. But it isn\u2019t a trend.<\/p>\n
Especially because it has such an exclusory history. Lest we forget that white feminism has roots firmly anchored in racism, ableism, xenophobia, transphobia, and classicism (to name a few), and even today (in the year of our lord 2019), it\u2019s still rare to see true intersectionality being prioritized as much as the availability of sellable goods. Which is exactly the type of problem we should be using International Women\u2019s Day to address: unless every woman has the same rights and is granted the same opportunities, women \u2013 in general \u2013 lose. And, well, that means women are losing.<\/p>\n
Which isn\u2019t exactly a cheery IWD message to share on a day reserved for celebrating women. But the thing is, it\u2019s possible to celebrate women while simultaneously acknowledging that outside the \u201cyou go, girl!\u201d umbrella, there are millions of women who are being let down and whose power won\u2019t come from a slogan mug; women who\u2019ve been perpetually subjected to the worst parts of our system, and who\u2019ve been consistently excluded from the feminist discussion. I mean, International Women\u2019s Day can be powerful absolutely, but it must also be a day in which we ask ourselves what we\u2019re doing to ensure that all <\/em>women are granted power. Are we listening? Are we shutting the hell up so another woman can speak? Are we stepping aside to make space? Are we sharing the work of women who have better perspective than us? Are we advocating for the rights of women whose voices have been routinely silenced? Are we apologizing for when we misstep instead of getting defensive? Are we backing up other women even when the spotlight isn\u2019t on us? And are we doing these things every day?<\/p>\n And sure, if you want to accompany the aforementioned with a t-shirt or RBG sticker on your computer, bless. That is your business, and that is your taste. But International Women\u2019s Day isn\u2019t another holiday stacked high atop the foundation of consumerism. It is a day where we remind ourselves of the work to do, of the work that\u2019s been done, and the work we are doing. It can always be complemented by something you\u2019ve bought (who am I to say you can\u2019t wear a fun set of pins), but power doesn\u2019t come from a pair of socks with a message. Ultimately, it comes from the women who\u2019ve pioneered the path we\u2019re lucky to be walking on; the power lent to us that we\u2019re meant to keep passing down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tomorrow is International Women\u2019s Day, and with it comes words like \u201cempowerment.\u201d Which, well, okay! Empowerment isn\u2019t a bad thing, and it certainly isn\u2019t something to zero in on and condemn when there\u2019s about a million other things to zero in on and condemn. (All of which I\u2019m sure I will get around to in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67426,"featured_media":116161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81718],"tags":[83613,80699,83292,81720],"class_list":["post-116160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-anne-t-donahue-musings","tag-choosing-fragrances","tag-top-story","tag-topstory"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n