We Need a 21st-Century Kind of Feminism
Women and girls of color have too much at stake not to embrace activism
When people claim that feminism isn’t needed anymore or that women have it better now than ever, I have to wonder if they actually understand anything about the global plight of women and girls in the 21st century. Yes, women have made tremendous political, economic, and social achievements, and are largely better positioned to be successful, healthy, and happy in our individual journeys through womanhood. With every “The First Woman to…” headline, we see how women continue to shatter glass ceilings, blaze trails, and move us all forward. But to deny the pressing struggles of women and girls around the globe is incredibly ignorant and complicit with the perpetual oppression of female populations.
In the United States, for example, abortion access is under violent attack, with several states enacting the most restrictive laws since the Roe v. Wade decision that “unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional” in 1973. At the southern border, children are currently being separated from their parents, detained in cages, and pregnant teens are being denied reproductive health services. Black maternal mortality has gone largely ignored for decades and Black women continue to be denied fair and equitable health care…
