Lena Dunham has gone under fire for her comments on Odell Beckham Jr.’s treatment of her (or rather, lack of) at the Met Gala. Once again, she has caused controversy for being what is known as a “white feminist”. She’s not the only one. Celebrities like Amy Schumer, Taylor Swift, Patricia Arquette, and Tina Fey have all been called out for the same reason. But what is exactly white feminism? What makes these women white feminists? And why is white feminism so problematic?
“Feminism” is a broad group of movements that recognizes that women are oppressed and granted less power, social capital, material goods, and/or freedom than men. The movement recognizes that everyone (male or female) should have equal rights. On the other hand, “white feminism” is a term for feminism that fails to be intersectional. The term “intersectionality” is a feminist sociological theory coined by critical race theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, though the actual concept has been around since at least Sojourner Truth’s Ain’t I a Woman? It centers on analyzing and discussing how oppression often intersects, creating unique and varied experiences of discrimination. While the misogynoir (misogyny and racism) faced by black women, it has expanded to include anyone who suffers disadvantages in a white supremacist, capitalistic, patriarchal society, addressing issues like racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, thin privilege, ableism, xenophobia, and ageism.
White feminists are under the impression that every woman experiences misogyny the way white women experience it. Their flawed view of feminism, with its Western standards and eurocentrism, often alienates and excludes any woman they don’t consider “the average woman” (white and cishet). Not every white woman is a white feminist, but most white feminists are white because they fail to address their white privilege, the benefits whites receive as a result of institutionalized racism. Though they are too blame for their privilege, they still have it, and its existence negatively affects all non-white subjects.
White feminists are under their impression that their fight is everyone’s fight. They also at times exhibit discriminatory behavior. They ignore race-related issues because they’re not really present in their everyday lives. They reinforce white, patriarchal beauty standards. They might join their white male counterparts on complaints about excessive political correctness. A white feminist might condemn sex workers, like Tina Fey did when she said “we’re all better than that.”. They might accuse black women of “pitting girls against one another” when they’re trying to point out racism and thin privilege, like Taylor Swift did to Nicki Minaj. They might assume that all Muslim women who choose to cover themselves are doing so because they’re being oppressed. In summary, they prioritize their whiteness more than they do their womanhood, and thus assume the ignorant, self-centered, and exclusive attitude that manifests when a person does this.
White feminism isn’t new. White women have excluded women of color from the fight for equality since the beginning of women’s rights movement, often appropriating terms and theories coined by their non-white counterparts to benefit only themselves. The majority of celebrities, artists, and activists representing feminism are white. White feminists forget that women of color want and should be able to speak for themselves, too! They must be aware that their fight for equality is plagued with privilege. Their victories aren’t every woman’s victories. For example, while women were granted a right to vote in the United States on 1920, it would take another 40+ years for black women’s right to vote to be unalienable and fundamental.
White feminists need to need to understand that an important aspect of feminism is the idea that women should have complete control over their life choices, and that those choices should be respected. They must remember that feminism is not advocacy for white cishet women to share power and privilege with white cishet men. They need to listen about and become educated on issues that don’t necessary apply to them but are very important and real to other women, while avoiding appropriating their movements, struggles, and ideas. White feminists must use their privilege to instead become allies to groups they aren’t a part of. They must stop interpreting the discussion of other forms of discrimination within feminism as attacks or attempts at silence them. Instead, they should embrace intersectionality and diversity in discussions about feminism. If we women want to thrive, we must fight together. And we can’t do that if our brand of feminism only functions to benefit only those like us.
Sources:
http://intersectionalfeminism101.tumblr.com/faq
http://www.wesleyan.edu/mlk/posters/suffrage.html
http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/09/white-privilege-explained/
http://www.bustle.com/articles/120684-7-things-feminists-of-color-want-white-feminists-to-know