I once saw a meme that included a picture of women holding up signs that said “Women for Trump” and right beside it was a drawing of slugs that chanted “Slugs for Salt.” If any person were to ask me why a woman shouldn’t confidently support Trump, I would show them that exact meme. Any woman who identifies as a feminist and still dares to support Trump should also identify as a hypocrite because it is the blatant hypocrisy that women are cheering on more than they are Trump.
Any sane human would be aware of the harm that Donald Trump has brought on so many women’s lives, physically and emotionally traumatizing them, then covertly paying them off. The issue of Trump and his ways of weaponizing his money is an entirely different issue in which all-powerful men use to take advantage of women, but yet again a woman to stand with a man so vile and patronizing should re-evaluate their feminist identity.
Real feminism is intersectional, including the many identities that women also carry such as their race, sexual identity and orientation, and class. Intersectional feminism recognizes and includes all other advocacy groups because it means to support all oppressed people. The opposing white feminism fails to recognize the many identities one woman can also carry, therefore never recognizing the amounts of oppression underprivileged women also face. To be conservative means to reject all forms of change, but it also means ignorance in empathy. Yet another issue white feminism or “conservative feminism” fails to recognize is the need for sexual freedom, including all forms of contraception. While men in power continue to decide abortion laws, conservative feminists align themselves with their views. Conservatives established their morals and values on religious beliefs, which eventually guides their perspectives on sexual freedom and abortion laws.
The issue conservative feminists fail to recognize is their undeniable privilege. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett who could replace the late feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg falls into the category of white and conservative feminism. Barrett herself is a white woman who grew up in the suburbs of Louisiana and attended private Catholic schools her whole life. She was handed privilege on a silver platter and unfortunately doesn’t use it to her best abilities. Barrett seems to identify as more of a Christian woman than she does as a feminist, as she rightfully should for failing to include marginalized women in her policies. When women like Amy Coney Barrett become the voice of all women, it harms the ability for women to ever feel equal to a man.
In summary, if your feminism doesn’t include black women, brown women, Asian women, indigenous women, transgender women, poor women, queer women, or pro-choice, it is best to step out of the category of feminism.