How is Visionary Feminism Changing Societal Issues Today?

Written by Tavin Nguyen

Back in the early 60s, visionary feminism was reforming society and giving civil rights to women in what was still largely white supremacist, capitalistic and patriarchal based, while still working to change that system entirely. Much of the feminist movement, however, later turned to focus solely on reforming the current society instead of flipping it over. Another important goal of visionary feminism is creating strategies that will help to change the lives of all women and give all women more personal power. A problem that goes against this goal is not making feminist media, institutions and education available to all women. Higher class and wealthier feminists do not give to women who are at the bottom and instead talk amongst themselves, which does little to affect those who need it the most. It is also mandatory to adapt a mainstream way of getting feminism out to all people that is understandable to everyone. Visionary feminism is solving today’s society's problems while also strategizing to change the current society, helping all women regardless of class or wealth, and creating a way to mainstream feminism for all.

In visionary feminism, people have to both work on reforming the current society while also looking for ways to turn it over. In today’s society, we must not only focus on making reforms such as giving women more rights and creating more welfare policies, but we also need to work on finding a way to end this type of system. Helping people live better lives is very important, but in the end, the type of system that is naturally wrong needs to be replaced. As people we change, the way we live changes, and our societies can also change for the better. There are many places across the world that all have different societies, with some being more wrong than others, such as places with apartheid. This shows that we can not only reform inside of the system we live in but we can change it entirely to something better.

Another part of visionary feminism is creating a way to spread feminism to all people regardless of intersectionality. There needs to be a way for feminism to be widespread to all people in an understandable way so that they can be involved in the movement and further the feminist agenda. Many people lack the education or have not been taught enough about the subject to understand the current material about feminism. People who participate in these “academic circles” need to make their ideas more accessible to all so that people can take part and know what the feminist movement truly is instead of all the misconceptions surrounding the topic of feminism.

Visionary feminism is thinking and solving today’s issues while also working to change the systems of today entirely. It is strategizing to help all women and not just those who are spoken about the most. It is also creating a way for all people to be able to understand the notion of feminism and be a part of it.