Do Western Women Still Need Feminism?

“If you find yourself using the plight of women in foreign countries as a bludgeoning tool against the comparatively hyper-privileged women of America, you should be flat out ashamed and embarrassed... Does domestic violence not happen here?... Does rape not happen in the US or something now?... Usin…”

— Erika Nicole Kendall, facebook.com

“Women in THIS country are in poverty, partly because they are denied the resources to determine when they have children and how many they have. Women in THIS country are subjected to violence because they are a part of a society that uses a rubric to determine how "worthy" they are of comfort, freed…”

— Erika Nicole Kendall, facebook.com

“You were told America is the land of opportunity, but guess what? For far too many women, inside this country and out, the opportunities they can take advantage of are severely limited... No you won't sit here and make women feel bad for coming together by pretending to give a damn about women who e…”

— Erika Nicole Kendall, facebook.com

“Sisterhood doesn't mean yelling "RAH RAH RAH GO YOU" at everything the women and girls we know do. Sisterhood is being able to cheer you on when you've done well, challenge you when you can do better, and admonish you when you drop the ball. White women, you wanna talk about sisterhood. Welcome. Get…”

— Luvvie Ajayi, facebook.com

“I was moved by the Women's Marches around the country (and world). And I was glad to hear that they were all "peaceful" and there were no arrests. You know why there were no arrests? Because PR-wise, it was a march that would be attended by mostly white women. And in a world that doesn't protect wom…”

— Luvvie Ajayi, facebook.com

“There'll be no cohesive women's movement until divisions are acknowledged and those who have perpetuated it take responsibility... when I speak about women of color and marginalized groups being sidelined and erased, I'm referring to a historical pattern. The very foundations of the mainstream weste…”

— Christiana A Mbakwe, twitter.com

“Mainstream feminism, how (unnecesarily) grand its gestures tend to be and its hollow solidarity.”

— Christiana A Mbakwe, twitter.com

“Mainstream feminism only seems to make noise when certain women are impacted. Where were all these women when we lost Sandra Bland?... I want a multicultural feminist movement... There have been calls to "Resist" since Nov 8th. A lot of us have been resisting since we were little girls. We literally…”

— Christiana A Mbakwe, twitter.com

“White women elected Trump... White women: let's get familiar with feeling uncomfortable... Black, brown, trans, and queer women have been doing this for far longer and at far greater peril. We are the ones new to this.”

— Kellyanne Kanye, twitter.com

“Yes, women do have more social, political and economic rights than ever before — but the fact is, we still have to deal with the harmful side effects of gender inequality on a daily basis. We still have to deal with pay inequality, body-shaming, sex-shaming, slut-shaming, mansplaining, victim-blamin…”

— Elizabeth Enochs, bustle.com

“In 2003, the European Commission started keeping a database to monitor the numbers of men and women in key decision-making positions in Europe. The statistics show that only 4% of executive-level positions in the largest publicly-listed companies in the EU are held by women. Things aren’t much bette…”

— Debating Europe, debatingeurope.eu

“Although women as a group have made substantial gains in wages, educational attainment, and prestige over the past three decades, the economists Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson have shown that women are less happy today than their predecessors were in 1972, both in absolute terms and relative to…”

— Anne-Marie Slaughter, theatlantic.com

“Women still make less than men, on average, in every career field. Violence towards women gets worse with each passing day. The greatest insult to any man is to claim he is somehow effeminate. Prejudices against gay men are primarily so strong, because gay men are perceived as effeminate, or less th…”

— Unknown, debate.org

“If you think you don’t need feminism, that’s ok. I’ll respect your choice. But practice some altruism. Be informed, and think about how maybe other people do need feminism, and the potential damage you wreak by condemning feminism as a whole. And if you’re in a position in your own life where utter…”

— Matilda Branson, gender-focus.com

“Feminism is needed because females and males are not seen as equals on any platform, the over-sexualization of women’s bodies in still seen as normal in mainstream media, and society maintains an incorrect idea of what feminism really is and what it stands for...Until women cease to be used as overs…”

— Brittany Anderson, dc.cod.edu

“1. Our culture is toxic to girls 2. Our culture is toxic to boys 3. Our culture is toxic to those who challenge the gender binary 4. Too many students face harassment and violence on a regular basis 5. Those committing the harassment and violence urgently need education 6. Systems of privilege need…”

— Jon Greenberg, everydayfeminism.com

“For the same reason why black people aren't slaves anymore, but still need anti-racist movements: it's possible to be legally free and still treated like shit.”

— Nora Rivkis, quora.com

“Counter-question, first: Why are you posting questions on Quora when there are children starving out in the world? Do you see how absurd this line of reasoning is? You have stuff you want and don’t think it’s at all odd to prioritize that over literally everything else in the world you could be doin…”

— John Colagioia, quora.com

“Free" is not a binary condition. There are many levels of freedom and many forms of negativity. Western women may be well off in some ways, but they still have many challenges to face. This is especially true when you consider that "western women" includes women of color, transgender women, lesbian…”

— John Colagioia, quora.com

“That does not mean, that women in the West do not face problems... I guess, we should just stop to evolve our societies. Women in the Western World should just shut up again and stop bothering men with their claims for equality. They have it better then other women on this planet, so why should they…”

— Tina Mueller, quora.com

“You know how 1st world feminists get told that they don’t need feminism? They’re told that they should be glad they’re not ‘really oppressed’ like the women in 3rd world countries. That things could always be worse. You know what my mother tells me? She says I don’t need feminism because I should be…”

— Unknown, natasharamonoff.tumblr.com

“Solidarity cannot come from only one group reaching out to the other. White feminists must come to grips with their own internalized structures of racism, classism, and even sexism that prevent them from seeing other feminists of color. It is also important to understand women of color may not be co…”

— Anthea Butler, rewire.news