Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
YES! Must-Reads: Resist Like a Woman
Why you can trust us
Woman. It’s such a politicized word. Has its definition ever been fixed?
Living in an age where the word “woman” is routinely weaponized in favor of white, cisgender, heterosexual, and male supremacy, and against Black, Brown, Indigenous, and LGBTQ people, it’s challenging to think of a world where the word “woman”—and those who fit its definition—is no longer controlled and manipulated in the interests of power.
My own relationship to “womanhood” (and its policing) began early.
I was no older than 11 when my mother first told me that the way I was sitting—legs in a V shape, knees about a foot apart—was “not how ladies sit.” I was confused as to why there were rules for the way I sat but none for my brothers. As I got older, and curse words began making their way into my vocabulary, my father would tell me “girls don’t talk like that.” And so I learned there were rules to how women spoke.
By my junior year of college, I defined myself as a “womanist,” embracing Alice Walker’s definition of “a Black feminist or feminist of color.” Feminist theory encouraged me to begin interrogating my conception of my own womanhood. I discovered things about myself that had long been suppressed because they did not fit into the patriarchal definition of “woman,” like my bisexuality, nonbinary identity, or that I—like many other humans—curse. I ultimately realized that my true womanhood was defined by a resistance to these arbitrary rules.
In a world where women experience violence at alarming rates (rates that are even higher if you are Black or trans or both), just existing as a woman is an act of resistance. If “womanhood” can be defined as resistance, then “woman” can be defined as resistor.
So many women throughout history have called out the “rules” for what they are—illusions of a white-supremacist, patriarchal dream—and vowed to resist them. This collection of YES! stories is about (just some of) those women.
From how Indigenous people embraced the meaning of gender equality long before that same framework would be adopted for women’s suffrage, to LGBTQ women finding safety and solace within a community that recognizes—not rejects—their identities, to the long history of a truly inclusive feminism, these stories show how resistance and womanhood are often intertwined.
Women’s History Month, like any history month, is a calling to continue the work of these women—and those whose names we’ll never know—because they resisted what the world was for what it could be.
What Women’s Suffrage Owes to Indigenous Culture
Gender equality in Haudenosaunee society gave 19th-century white women some big ideas.
By Bridget Quinn
How Women-Led Movements Are Redefining Power, From California to Nepal
In the face of corporate domination, economic injustice, and climate change, movements led by women offer a revolutionary path.
By Rucha Chitnis
WATCH: Meet the Gaza Mom Suing the U.S. Over Israel Military Aid
A plaintiff in the legal case on the United States’ complicity in enabling Israeli genocide against Palestinians speaks out.
By Sonali Kolhatkar
LGBTQ Migrants Find Community at Mexico’s “House of Women”
After traveling thousands of miles fleeing violence and discrimination, LGBTQ women find safety and support in Tapachula, Mexico.
By Alice Driver
The Black Mothering Body, Fortified
In creating new life, Black mothers must overcome medical malpractice and social unsafety together.
By Gloria Alamrew
Menopause Matters
The end of menstruation has been stigmatized and misunderstood. The “menopausal multiverse” can change that.
By Omisade Burney-Scott
This “New” Feminism Has Been Here All Along
Our grandmothers showed us a bigger, better feminism with women’s rights, racial equity, and gender justice at its heart.
By Dani McClain
|
Julia Luz Betancourt
is an independent writer, journalist, author, and editor living and working in New York. She earned her journalism degree while fighting for racial and economic justice as a student activist and mutual aid organizer. Julia has bylines in outlets such as GEN-ZiNE, Truthout, Scheerpost, Z Network, and the Latin Times. Previously the audience engagement intern at the Financial Times, she is now the audience development specialist for YES! Media.
|
