Jan. 21, 2018, marked one year since the Women's March on Washington, there were a number of anniversary marches that took place across the country. Just like the first marches a year ago there were many signs. Some signs were funny, “I hate crowds but I hate Trump more”; some were serious “A strong woman stands up for herself. A stronger woman stands up for everyone else." Some were just "not OK."
An image surfaced of someone holding a sign from a march in Vancouver, Canada, claiming that transwomen are men, truth is not hate [and] trans ideology is misogyny & homophobic.
This sign is very troubling, but signs of this type are not all that uncommon in non-intersectional feminist spaces in 2018. In the past year we have seen an increase in the number of Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists more commonly known as TERFs.
The term TERF originally became popular in the 1970s during the second wave of feminism over time as we transitioned to the 3rd wave the label became less and less popular, while it never died out entirely it moved to the shadows.
The coming together of women from all over and of all different ages and backgrounds for the first women's march to stand united against the newly elected president brought the TERFs out of the shadows and back into the fringes of the mainstream.
The woman in the image is also seen to be wearing one of the most recognizable things of The Women's March, a pink “pussy hat.” The hats were originally named as a response to the now-President's "grab them by the pussy" comments.
Yes, that comment is completely repulsive and is not OK, but, making the unofficial symbol of a march for all women something with the term pussy in it alienates women who do not have vaginas or non binary folks and men who do have vaginas by saying that vagina equals woman.
So I am begging you, please stop wearing them.
Unlike the sign from Vancouver that was completely meant to exclude trans women. The pink hats were started with nothing but good intentions, as they were meant to show unity and solidarity, but sometimes good intentions have a negative impact.
Please don't get me wrong, I am in no way shape or from saying that The Women's March or any of the anniversary marches that took place around the world were a bad thing or that they should not have happened. The Women’s Marches were an incredible thing, the march last year showed that there was a resistance, and it was strong. The anniversary marches showed that the resistance is still strong and watching every move the President and the patriarchy makes.
Right now we are in the fourth wave of feminism, a wave of feminism that is intersectional, a wave of feminism that welcomes all women, a wave of feminism that is not afraid to own up to their mistakes, a wave of feminism that is not to be messed with, so please get with the program and get intersectional.
We need women's marches, but we need intersectional women's marches, marches that are welcoming to all women regardless of the color of their skin, age, genitalia or ability.
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Mikaela Ashburn is the communication coordinator for the LGBT Center and a previous Post reporter.
