The other day, during the episode*, I stated that I was “a feminist cultural critic” and that, in turn, got me thinking into something that I believe is important, for me, to expand a bit further. I see feminism as a toolkit, the lens through which I look at the world and its politics. Feminism, and not just *any* feminism, but more specifically, a feminism of color, a feminism that centers decolonial practices and frameworks is the political standpoint that I use to center myself when I try to observe or explain (mostly to myself) what happens around me. I do not conceive feminism as the end in itself. To me, feminism is the vehicle I use for the journey, not the end point where my journey ends. This, mostly, means that I am not just “a feminist”. I am “a feminist [x]” where x is the hat I wear when I am writing. I am “a feminist immigrant”, “a feminist Latina”, “a feminist woman of color”, “a feminist cultural critic”, “a feminist writer”, etc. In all these instances, for me, feminism is nothing more than the place from where I stand and the political continuum built by many generations before me. Many feminists of color before me laid down these tools that I could then pick to attempt any kind of political work.
I understand that others might feel differently about this and for them, feminism is the end point of their journey. However, on a personal level, I am not comfortable with that definition. What would be the point of being “Flavia, feminist”? If that feminism doesn’t translate in a liberatory praxis, if it’s just a stagnant label that I use to “sell” a product (i.e. myself), then I would be offering very little value. Instead, I prefer to think of feminism as my vantage point, supported by countless works, actions and, more importantly, the lives of millions of both those who came before me and my contemporaries. Declaring myself “a feminist”, without any other clarifier, would turn my feminism into an individual act; me, an island, with a nebulous political affiliation removed from the practice that drives me. Instead, I prefer to think of myself as “a feminist writer” and see myself as inspired by the legacy of countless other writers that created the foundations for me to stand on. Also, it allows me to be very clear on the kind of feminist lens I use, rather than a vague “feminist” affiliation that is usually equated to mainstream, white, corporate politics.
What this means is that I am not interested in writing only about feminism. I write about politics and culture from a feminist perspective. There is a big difference, in my everyday work, between turning feminism into the focus of what I do and using feminism as an instrument to explain what happens around me. I am a writer, a critic; feminism of color, decolonial feminism and Third World postcolonial feminism are the theoretical tools and practices that empower me to take a stand and try to explain my life and the world I live in.
* I will only refer to “the episode” because it triggered the substance of this post, not because there is any value in it (there isn’t).
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