An Overview Of Transfeminism And Indigenous Feminist Movements

It is undeniable that female empowerment is imperative. More importantly, the establishment of feminist movements has created a platform for women to assemble as a community to combat the patriarchal system that continues to exist in society. Consequently, women uniting to dispute sexism, acknowledges a component that can hinder their progress and success in society. Yet, this idea of feminism is over simplified, it disregards the diverse and intricate experiences women face in actuality. Therefore, the consequence of generalizing the feminist political practice results in an assumption that women uniformly experience a single oppression, this ignores the reality of the multiple oppressions women can encounter. This is illustrated through transgender

The incorporation of transfeminism and Indigenous Feminism broadens the perception of a women’s reality, which will be discussed subsequently by first addressing the utilization of sisterhood in feminism.

To begin with, Hooks (2014) addresses the flaws of Sisterhood in feminism. The author argues that the creators of Sisterhood coupled with its concentration on a common oppression was inaccurate about women’s true experiences. Hooks (2014) states; “The idea of common oppression was a false and corrupt platform disguising and mystifying the true nature of women’s’ varied and complex reality. Women are divided by sexist attitudes, racism, class privilege, and a host of prejudices” (pp. 43-44). Although, bourgeoisie white women may believe that the only oppression is by virtue of being

In reality, this community offer unique perceptions to the ways in which woman are socialized into their roles from a young age and how this manifests though out their upbringing. This is significant because in order to establish feminism that is advocating for equal rights it is important to evaluate whether women are fostering notions that prevent themselves from effectively advocating against patriarchy. This reveals that transfeminism questions what it means to be women. Gender assignment at birth does not necessarily dictate womanhood, therefore there are influences that conceive this identity. This changes the perception of feminism as it highlights the necessity to alter the gender roles and gender identity. Additionally, Macdonald (2005), explains transgender individuals experience discrimination from their reassigned gender community and their previous gender community. For instance, women who transition to a man appear as though they are abandoning womanhood. Whereas, men who transition to become a woman are disregarded as truly being a woman who can participate in the feminist movement. This signifies the continued limited scope feminism abides under. For feminism to truly be an effective movement it must acknowledge the spectrum of gender, as disregarding it only further implements patriarchal beliefs about gender. Therefore, transfeminism solidifies the validity of transgendered individuals