By Laura Bramall
In sixth form, I wrote an article for the first edition of our philosophy magazine titled ‘HOW NOT TO BE AN ANNOYING FEMINIST: MY GUIDE’. It was labelled as ‘too true’ (my teacher’s words, not mine) and never published. I hope that one day I will publish that article on this blog, because I doubt Voices will veto it as too true, and I still believe my school needed a healthy dose of feminism.
That is what I would like the purpose of this blog to be. As a refuge for those who notice a lack of intersectional feminism around them at home or in the wider community, it can provide a community for discussion of ideas and interests. A space for debate over the very principles of intersectional feminism, but also for the exposition of our own beliefs and experiences. I believe one of the aims of intersectional feminism is just that; to recognise that each person’s experience of our anti-feminist world is different, depending not only on our personalities but on different situations, genders, sexual orientation, ethnicity, class, country and a host of other factors. The society and this blog welcome such a range of experiences and opinions; for it is essential to the progression and success of feminism.
I have found that the most common complaints is that the term ‘feminism’ shouldn’t exist: it’s exclusive, aggressive and self-promoting. Indeed, I hope that one day it will not only be inclusive, as we seek to be here, but will be unnecessary. Feminism shouldn’t have to exist, and it certainly shouldn’t exclude anyone, but while we still live in a world where millions of girls worldwide face the threat of FGM, where abortion laws in the USA are becoming stricter, and where a politically powerful woman is an anomaly, intersectional feminism is necessary. The Voices blog can’t right these wrongs by itself but we can help each other tackle the challenges that we face and start to help, in our own small way, those who do not have such a lively community of determined and passionate feminists.