The Growing Need For Intersectionality In Brown Communities.

‘Feminism’ in Pakistan is a very controversial term.  Feminism in Pakistan is often misinterpreted. To the Anti-Feminist, Feminism means hating men and spreading “Fahashi” (Obscenity). The Anti-Feminists fail to do the bare minimum by doing a simple google search to know the definition of feminism;  “Equal rights and opportunities for all genders.”  Surprisingly, many Women are against Feminism in Pakistan.In the early 1990s the word ‘Suffragette’  was used in the UK and USA for those fighting for Women’s rights to vote.  To many women in the United States, this term was offensive and was not not embraced by the ones fighting for the movement. This can be one of the reasons of objecting feminism in the brown communities but it is predominantly because they don’t relate to the feminist expressions expressed by the mainstream feminism.

Intersectionality was a framework coined by Kimberlé Crenchaw in 1989 when she saw Black women experiencing gender and racial discrimination. Intersectionality in simple terms means that people are often discriminated, over-looked because of their race, class, gender, religion and ethnicity. Crenshaw argued that ‘non-white’ women have a very different experience from white women. White women are reprimanded by gender, but advantaged by race while Black women are disadvantaged by both race and gender.

"Intersectionality is an analytic sensibility, a way of thinking about identity and its relationship power. Originally articulated on behalf of black women, the term brought to light the invisibility of many constituents within groups that claim them as members but often fail to represent them." -Kimberlé Crenshaw. 

Gender discrimination and racial discrimination collide with each other, like a spider web they’re connected to each other. Pakistan is a blend of many cultures and ethnicities. Many minorities in Pakistan feel excluded from the mainstream feminism. As a Baloch woman, I have felt excluded, I have been discriminated. Baloch women march everyday for their missing loved ones, everyday they wake up to seek justice for their murdered families and friends but their voices fall on deaf ears, the mainstream feminists are not willing to talk about it. Pakistani housewives, religious minorities, uneducated women, tribal women, disabled women, feel excluded, We have to take them into consideration and we have to understand that Women from different backgrounds go through different types of discrimination and feminists need to listen to the oppressed. Feminism needs to be more inclusive. 

An Australian Indigenous activist, Lila Watson once said ‘’If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.’’

The mainstream feminists fail to recognize or choose to ignore the sufferance  of minorities in Pakistan.They take part in the aspects of feminism that only advantages them, and disregard the fact that there are other women, who may face more oppression than them and that their hearing their voices is also important.

 “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” -Audre Lorde.

Feminism without intersectionality does not exist. If you are going to fight for women, then make sure you fight for women regardless of their background. The mainstream feminists need to understand that there are different types of women, going through different situations, your feminism is not valid if you only focus on the issues that fall into your favor. The only way we can be strong is when we listen to each other and empower each other.