When I first joined the vintage community in my early 20s, I thought it was a safe space. A place where I could openly express my feminism. Where Marilyn Monroe’s unapologetic sexuality was celebrated, where Rosie the Riveter’s strength was admired and where voluptuous figures like Jayne Mansfield were widely accepted. Independence, strength, sex positivity, and the acceptance of fat bodies stood out undeniably as values that formed a foundation of feminism in the vintage community.  

At the time, however, I didn’t realize that all of those women above were, unlike myself, white. Whiteness and proximity to whiteness were the standards that had been set. This isn’t to say that there were no women of color at the time – there were Toni Elling, Lottie the Body and Miss Topsy. However, for some reason, they were only an afterthought in comparison to their white counterparts. The truth remains that whiteness and the experiences of white people are the default in the vintage community, and very few people are striving to make their brand of feminism intersectional. The realization of this standard sent me reeling – I think it hits every minority in this community on some level when they figure it out. Much like the pinups of color back in the day, our needs and means to survive and thrive in this community as modern pinups of color are also an afterthought.  

The only way we can push back against becoming an afterthought in the feminist movement is to embrace and strive for intersectionality. When we talk about the concept of intersectional feminism, we are talking about the term famously coined by Kimberlé Willams Crenshaw in 1989. “Intersectional feminism” requires a framework of feminism that recognizes the intersection of power and privilege that affects the more marginalized communities of women within feminism i.e., women of color, trans women and queer women, just to name a few. In other words, the more layers of oppression many of us experience, the greater the need for intersectional feminism. True feminism is not one-size-fits-all. To quote Kimberlé Willams Crenshaw, “Different things make different women vulnerable.” 

The most recent example of this occurrence was the controversy within the vintage community that exploded when Viva Las Vegas joined forces with several other Rockabilly music festivals and finally decided to ban the Confederate flag. In the United States (and everywhere really), the Confederate flag is undoubtedly a painful and fear-inducing representation of white supremacy – so much so, that it is listed as a symbol of hate by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In an article for The Root, Monique Judge goes more in-depth about its connotations: “The racist ideologies behind (the confederate flag) (sic) still pervade and control American society today, and the very existence of the flags and statues is a slap in the face to all the progress America claims to have made where race is concerned.”  

However, in regards to Viva Las Vegas, instead of joining people of color and other marginalized groups targeted by this flag in celebrating its removal, many of us were met with death threats and backlash for speaking up in favor of it. Many of our experiences as marginalized women of color were dismissed and reduced, and when we called on our white feminist counterparts to help uplift our voices, we were met with an overwhelming amount of silence. It did not affect them, so it was not of importance, and thus, their brand of feminism failed at including all women. Simultaneously, an even more devastating blow was to see other people of color gatekeeping in this community. It may come as a surprise, but it is possible for even people of color themselves to work against their own best interests to undo the work of intersectional feminism.  

Respectability politics are a big part of that undermining; some of the most powerful and visible people of color in our community are allowing companies and organizations to perpetuate racism and using their platforms to protect and dismiss these same harmful behaviors. In an article for The Root, Damon Young lays out the full damage respectability politics in regards to racism can do: “It shifts responsibility away from perpetrators (which in this context would be America) and places it on the victims (which in this context would be blacks in America). Instead of requiring the people and the institutions committing and propagating racist acts to change, it asks the people harmed by the racism to change in order to stop being harmed by the racism. Which is like getting shot and then getting blamed for standing in front of the bullet.”  

This ideology, without a doubt, negatively impacts women of color within the realm of non-intersectional feminism as well. Many of us more vocal minorities are struggling to get the rest of us inclusion, representation, and an equal platform, only to see them get undermined and exhausted by fellow people of color in this political climate. This behavior further harms us and derails our attempts at uplifting feminism that is intersectional. 

So, how can our feminist counterparts help us and do the right thing? Well, the first step in making sure your brand of feminism is intersectional is to make sure you not only listen to more marginalized groups when they are expressing themselves but also uplift their voices. Speaking authentically on a type of oppression you’ve never experienced is simply not possible and, of course, representation matters. A lot of the time, essential conversations about race and other experiences unique to a specific marginalized group within the feminist realm are derailed by defensiveness and self-centering. This was a popular tactic to derail conversations during the #METOO movement; the opposing hashtag #NOTALLMEN started to trend alongside #METOO in attempts to shut down and silence women in general when speaking up about their personal experiences. A perfect parallel example to when more marginalized women are speaking about their unique experiences within the community: instead of the dynamic being men and women, it is the wider scope of feminism derailing discussions that feminists who are more marginalized experience because it doesn’t apply to them and therefore does not need to be addressed.  

If you are feeling defensive when a person who is marginalized or victimized in ways that you are not is sharing their experience, it is always important to self-reflect and investigate where that defensiveness is coming from and how you can unpack those feelings. Everyone makes mistakes, and as a society, we are always learning, but we owe it to ourselves to make sure we are not impeding that progress.  

When it comes to women’s rights, we must always strive to include all of those who have significantly less of privilege: trans women, women of color, and other highly marginalized demographics among women. We must elevate their voices instead of silencing them because their struggles are unique and painful ones. Without the crucial tool of intersectional feminism, we cannot claim that the vintage community is a safe or welcoming space for everyone. This is why I will continue to support those who decide to be inclusive and leave behind those who are not. Feminism should uplift all women, regardless of societal norms or standards!