You searched for privilege - Page 15 of 45 - Everyday Feminism

Why do so many straight girls think being seen as a lesbian is an insult? Unpacking the driving social forces behind the fear shows how we’ve been taught to cater to the male gaze. Here’s how to break the cycle, de-condition yourself from patriarchal beliefs about femininity, and eradicate lesbophobia and queerphobia among women. As long as you’re happy in your own skin, rock on.

Many feminists want to work towards justice for people with disabilities, but how often do we stop and think about how we might be perpetuating ableism in our everyday lives?

Self-care is a revolutionary act when living in a world that tells us we—especially those of us with marginalized identities—are not worthy of care, forgiveness, and gentleness. It allows us to fight back against oppression by affirming that yes, we do deserve to feel good. We are inherently worthy of care and attention, and we shouldn’t feel guilty for it.

As male feminists, it’s easy to criticize the misogyny of the MRAs. But how often do we turn the lens around? There are stories from every era of the feminism — stories of men talking the talk of feminism, gaining trust, and using that trust to hurt, abuse, and act in profoundly anti-feminist ways. Here are six things we need to do starting right now to fight this.

There are the people who say that “skinny-shaming is the same as fat-shaming.” That might seem like a fair conclusion, but here’s why it just isn’t true.

“She doesn’t make a good witness.” I will never forget those words. This was one of the first instances that made me take a serious look at my privilege as an able-bodied person. It took seeing a survivor of a violent crime being told that she would never see justice because of her disability. This is a serious problem. So how can we work to solve it?

It’s no secret that money is exchanged at uncomfortably high rates throughout the US, and the more politically savvy among us might begin to wonder how our dollars can make a difference for social change. Thankfully, several effective strategies exist for us to pick and choose from, depending on our own personal situations and how we want to activate a plan.

People often discuss class as if it’s independent from other forms of oppression. But class is at the heart of feminist work – here are some important points on how.

“This is not important. First world problems!” Do you know how you’re perpetuating oppression by making comments like these?

Typically, we only discuss sexism in terms of gender, but it also has applicability to biases related to sexuality. Monosexism is synonymous with bi/panphobia in many ways because it perpetuates the myth that a person can only truly be attracted to one gender. But someone’s sexuality is not a tool for you to reassert your own social legitimacy at the expense of others.

Being poor and supporting a family of five on under $30,000 has taught me that stereotypes about the poor, created by dominant culture, foster a climate of fear, shame, and embarrassment in those who do their best to deny their poverty. But being broke is nothing to be ashamed of. What is shameful is that so many are degraded by precisely those who rely upon their labor.

A clipboard that reads "Weight loss plan," surrounded by grapefruit slices, apple slices, and measuring tape

“Why are we so attached to our diets?” Diet culture is everywhere, spreading misinformation about what “healthy” means. But we must break free from diet culture’s influence – and here’s what’s in the way.

An illustration of people in a crowd, frowning and otherwise looking sad

Do you know about FOMO? It’s the “fear of missing out” on something. It may seem simple – but find out why it’s harmful to everyone, especially disabled people, and why “friends don’t let friends suffer from FOMO!”

One red figure raising its hand among a group of gray figures

Self-determination – making your own choices – is so important. But let’s be careful about the difference between self-determination from a colonial perspective and how it’s defined in Indigenous struggles. If we don’t, it can be used to actively perpetuate marginalization and hurt disabled people. Here’s how you can take up self-determination in a justice framework.

We have to stop immediately assuming that people are straight by default. What good does it do us?

If your feminist space is predominantly white and cisgender, chances are that it’s got a lot of messy unchecked dynamics at play.

Performative call outs that focus on attacking individuals without addressing systemic oppression do nothing to change the discourse.

Call outs can be too punishing in nature, creating an oppressive culture marred by a fear of making missteps. According to many critics, modern activism is increasingly becoming a space devoid of vigorous discussion or differences of opinion. They have a point. Oftentimes, those characterizing call out culture as silencing and toxic just don’t want…

We all know that one person who you and your friends no longer ask about, a persona non grata within social justice. For the purposes of this article, let’s refer to her as G. She’s just one of the many people who have been excommunicated from social justice activism by way of social media call…

“Our power is stronger than their lies.” What does it mean to be on colonized land as a Latinx immigrant? Lessons from Standing Rock than can help us find some answers.