Concerned, meet terrified: Intersectional feminism and the Women's March

Abstract

The first US Women's March on January 21, 2017 seemingly had the potential to unite women across race. To assess the progress of feminism towards an increasingly intersectional feminist approach, the authors collected and analyzed interview data from 20 young African American women who shared their impressions of the Women's March that followed Donald Trump's inauguration during the month after the march. Interviewees believed that Trump's election and his sexism spurred the march, prompting the participation of many women who had not previously embraced feminism. Interviewees suggested that the march provided white women with a means to protest the election rather than a way to address social injustice disproportionately affecting lower social classes and people of color. Interviewees believed that a racially inclusive feminist movement would remain elusive without a greater commitment to intersectional feminism.