![](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/imagecache\/Image_Right\/pnl\/images\/womans-place-revolution-org.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLanguage is important\u2014the way we think about women is reflected in how we talk about them and what we say about them. And the stories we tell about women with tools like movies and advertising provide girls with a framework for self-knowledge. There is no downplaying the importance of media portrayal of women, and yet the measurable realities of women\u2019s oppression are even more devastating.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It\u2019s interesting\u2014and perhaps it shouldn\u2019t be surprising\u2014that some of the clearest effects of systematic oppression of women can be seen with economic indicators. A June 20 letter to the Post-Standard<\/i> stated that in NYS \u201ca woman is twice as likely to live out old age in poverty\u201d as a man. What else can we expect when women still make 77\u00a2 on the dollar compared to men, and women are more likely to be raising children without the support of another adult?<\/p>\n
Feminism recognizes the intersectionality of oppressions\u2014the idea that oppressions can interact with and exacerbate each other. One of the intersections that I am most interested in recently is the capitalist oppression of women.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
The capitalist believes that everything is a commodity and anything can be gotten with enough money. Here feminist animal rights activists have already drawn the connections between commodifying an animal\u2019s body for food and commodifying a woman\u2019s body as a sexual object.<\/p>\n
We can go beyond that and reject the larger capitalist system that views all \u201cothers\u201d (women, animals, the environment, land and people in other countries\u2014especially other countries with people who have darker skin) as resource pools and any damages to them as externalities. We can reject the culture that teaches us we can get anything we want with money, even if it\u2019s someone else\u2019s body.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
Feminism demands human rights for women and all people. We as feminists have the responsibility to hear the struggles of women around the world and stand in solidarity with them. You see, feminism demands our action as peace activists, environmental advocates and anti-poverty crusaders just as much as it requires us to defend access to abortion and contraception or challenge damaging portrayals of women in the media.<\/p>\n
Feminism is humanism. Now don\u2019t tell me you can\u2019t get behind that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At age 16, I discovered in myself a need for specifically female camaraderie and I set out to start a women\u2019s group at my high school. The first students I approached about this possibility were women in my class who I estimated to have similar views or values as me….<\/p>\n