I was on my local Facebook mums group, having an idle discussion about how newspaper articles always mention if an interviewed female executive has children, but never comments on this for men in public life. It was a good robust feminist chat.
Then someone came on saying that this was exactly the type of thing that would be discussed at an upcoming local intersectional feminist conference. I asked what intersectional meant. I was told by this person that it was 'feminism that's not just for middle class white women'. She explained that it asks women 'to be aware of their privilege as white/cis-gender/heterosexual etc.' I thought about replying (particularly how the original topic was pretty solidly a concern for white middle class women) but am now afraid of doxxing after reading about it on here.
Since Spartacus I've been doing a bit of reading and realised that all my life I've been an unreconstructed second waver. I've done a fair bit of activism in the past for women in third world war zones and am horrified that this cis-gender concept is marginalising genuinely appalling things to women and girls who don't get to choose to identify out of their oppression, rape and torture.
It seems to me, though, that 'intersectional concerns' have always been a feature of progressive movements. We didn't just have that terminology. I'm a bit confused that old school feminists have been reconstructed as elitists. It seems to me that it's actually the other way around. Are there any good texts to read so I can understand the issues more clearly?