Sorority: why solidarity among women is so important

To fight against social injustices, cooperation and the rejection of individualism are key.

Sorority is one of those words that should be a must in any feminist dictionary. Both it and its derivatives ("sorority greetings," "sororear," etc.) tell us about an idea: solidarity and cooperation among women. In other words, it is a term that is becoming increasingly popular because individualism among women is losing followers.

In this article we will look at exactly what sorority refers toand why the word has appeared in connection with feminism and in general the currents of left-wing activism.

• Related article, "What is radical feminism?"

What does sorority mean?

One of the most controversial aspects of feminism has to do with its tendency to, with nuances, give preferential treatment to the feminine, to the experiences that only women live. From a non-feminist point of view, the concept of sorority reflects just that: a word of recent creation that attracts attention for being, apparently, a way of avoiding the use of the term "fraternity", for being masculine and referring to brothers.

But the interesting thing about this choice of words is that it has the power to make us question things. Instead of thinking that the term sorority is part of a strategy to avoid anything that refers to men, it can make us wonder why there are so few words with feminine connotations that apply to all human beings, men and women.

When we say sorority we are referring not only to solidarity among womenWe also take into account the context in which this solidarity takes place. And that context has to do with the historical discrimination and sexism that has existed for millennia through what in feminist theory is known as patriarchy.

The patriarchal use of language

The fact that "fraternal" comes from "brothers" and that it is used regardless of the gender of the people to whom it is applied can be considered a simple anecdote, something without the greatest political or social importance. In fact, at first glance, few people would bother to spend some time thinking about this.

However, it is still strange, if we think about it, that the default word is used indistinctly for male groups or for mixed groups, since this creates situations of ambiguity: when we say "brothers", are they all men or is there also at least one woman in the group?

Simone de Beauvoir, one of the philosophers who laid the foundations of second-wave feminism, gave one of the keys to understanding this. She wrote that the meaning of the feminine and the concept of what it is to be a woman is basically what is left over when the human and the masculine are equated. That is, historically, because of a set of unequal power dynamics between the human and the masculine. unequal power dynamics between men and women known as patriarchy, it is assumed that humankind is human.it is taken for granted that humanity is equivalent to masculinity, while the feminine is defined as the negation of that which is not masculine and, therefore, not human either.

Thus, for Beauvoir the reference figure is always a man, and the woman emerges by subtracting and adding qualities to this "mold". It is what is not masculine, "the other".

For example, some brands offer a line of products made up of the women's version of their star product, and they usually market it by playing with the color pink. However, neither the original product can be considered the male version of the product, nor does the color of the product make it obvious that it is for men. Normally the feminine is an offshoot of the masculine, and sorority is an offshoot of the masculine.Sorority is one of the many initiatives that combat this principle in order to influence, through language, how we analyze social reality and gender inequalities.

However, the idea that by modifying language it is possible to favor the establishment of dynamics of equality has been much debated and criticized, especially from theoretical positions linked to philosophical materialism, such as Marxism. This is so because it is seen with skepticism, first, that changing the language significantly modifies ideas in the sense intended from the beginning, and second, that the important thing is the change of ideas before there has been a material change in the objective reality in which people live.

Starting from inequality

One of the ideas on which the concept of sorority is based is that women, because they are women, are in a disadvantaged position. That is why they must cooperate to gain access to rights and freedoms that have historically been denied them.

Such a complicated task cannot be confronted from the standpoint of individualismIt requires the joint action of many people, capable of breaking old dynamics of subjugation: micromachismos, unjust laws, working environments in which women have more difficulties to prosper, etc.

Equivalence between women

As we have seen, the concept of sorority is the idea that expresses the extent to which cooperation and solidarity among women is important, and awareness of the dehumanization of women is important.. It is understood that, since the specific problems of women go beyond the individual, they must be confronted not from individualism, but through solidarity among equals.

The word itself, sorority, emphasizes the fact that it only applies to people of the female gender, since "soror" is another way of saying "blood sister", and at the same time reinforces the idea that women are equal in their disadvantaged situation vis-à-vis men.

Thus, it is not that men are despised, but rather that it is understood that, since they are not subdued as a matter of gender, it makes no sense to expect a similar structure of cooperation that is cross-cutting among all men. Such a type of alliance would have hardly any objectives to achieve, since they have already been achieved from the outset.

Bibliographical references:

• Lincoln, B. (2008). Women and public space: construction and exercise of citizenship. Mexico City: Universidad Iberoamericana.
• Simón Rodríguez, M. E. (2002). Democracia vital : mujeres y hombres hacia la plena ciudadanía. Madrid: Narcea.