Asian feminism is a badass vehicle

Asian feminism is a badass force to be reckoned with as it grows to embrace so much more than the traditional fights.

While once it embraced women's rights to simply speak up about what they thought would make their lives better, autonomy in other words, Asian feminism now is a broad church. A quick scan of Asian activists on social media sites like Instagram demonstrate fights against colourism, Chinese 'slit eyes' stereotyping, impressions of women from the Asian continent being 'tight' and 'tiny' and 'doll like' and, even, encompassing racism against Black women.

How far we have come. When I was growing up Indian women were cautioned against 'speaking up' and this was often meant in the literal sense. Speaking loudly was seen as a sign of a maverick woman. A loose cannon female would never find a man to marry her and this was considered to be the ultimate in the land of shamedom. 'Shame' and being Indian were firm friends. 'Shame' was a useful patriarchal tool used to keep us low down in the pecking order of social hierarchies.

What better way to fight the stigma of shame which places our so called 'foibles' in the private sphere than to go public with what makes us feminists.

When Asian women of all nationalities speak up our stories combine to create a rich and varied tapestry of our feminisms. We intersect at various points and the unifying factor is our fight for equality.

Each and every one of us who believes in Asian feminism ought to tell and keep retelling our story. A combined effort will be one of our greatest achievements in making breakthroughs.