I Protest My Rights, But That Doesn’t Make Me a Feminist
I remember attending my very first protest a few months ago and wanting to dress like a handmaid so badly because I thought I was badass. Though I would be making a statement, it would not be a loud enough one. Margaret Atwood’s iconic novel has been ingrained into my list of favorite books. Still, it wasn’t until recent times that I realized that dressing like a handmaid in front of the capital does absolutely nothing.
When Roe v. Wade was overturned, I was mortified and angry with the decision and learned how ignorant I was about the issues going on right now. On social media, a fellow protester explained why dressing as handmaids is not doing what people like me think it’s doing. She explained that while The Handmaid’s Tale tells a very realistic story of the government trying to control women, it does not accurately represent the struggles of minority groups such as Black, Latina, and Indigenous woman who have been suffering for far longer and far worse than white women.
Though I love the award-winning Hulu adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, I had to examine parts of it a second time to really understand that the show itself does not depict the struggles of any women of color except for Moira, who is more of a “token Black character” in the show, rather than a unique character who experiences unique struggles. I realized that if I were to show up as a Handmaid at the next protest, I would only be supporting a movement of white feminism and not real feminism.
The Handmaid’s Tale isn’t the only thing that helped me realize that I was lacking so much in knowledge. Of course, when something major in the news happens, social media goes to work. On Instagram, I was posting all kinds of pro-choice media and abortion support posts on my story, but every day I stumbled upon information that put on spotlight on groups of people that had been fighting for these rights far longer than I realized.
It’s not just me who is going to suffer the overturn of Roe v. Wade:
- Indigenous individuals are disproportionately more at risk as a result of an abortion and reproductive rights ban.
- Black individuals, who already experience a high number of pregnancy-related medical complications, will suffer an even higher number of these occurrences
- Latinx individuals face several barriers including a lack of knowledge of the resources around them, transportation, and paid parental leave
- Immigrant and Asylum-seeking individuals are met with a greater threat of having their eligibility for citizenship denied in hostile anti-abortion states.
And the list only continues.
I am aware that I am a woman who has just lost their reproductive rights, but I need to keep in mind now that there are other uterus-bearing humans that have always had their rights in the hands of others. Social media and the stories of others have taught me that to be a feminist means to fight for everyone’s rights, not just my own. Especially right now, to be a feminist means to fight alongside all human beings suffering at the hands of prejudice.
