It has really started to alarm me lately how white women and women of colour who both identify themselves as feminists spend such a lot of energy at going at each other. One would think that feminism is all about how well women can bash each other as opposed to women trying to free ourselves from male domination.
While it is true that white women and women of colour may have different needs the fact remains that we are all women and we are all oppressed by men.
All women are under the boot of the male. This is not to suggest that racism does not exist. It does and it is very real. But here we must understand that at the top of the hierarchy is the white male, below are men of colour and below them are women.
White women need to understand that they do not have any power over any men. If this was the case then why are so many white women victims of rape by men of colour. White women have no power. It is possible many may think that because they are white this gives them some power. If white women believe this then they need to have a reality check. The power they think they have is not theirs and is only conceded to them by the white male. White men want women to stay divided so by making white women think they have some power, white men are able to use white women to propagate racism and division.
When the white males arrived in the USA they convinced the white women that the Indians where savages that would rape and murder them if the white male did not protect them by committing genocide. Sadly many white women have believed these lies.
Women need to stop seeing each other as the enemy and start seeing each other as as fellow sisters who are being oppressed, abused and raped by men.
Women, irrespective of race must start respecting each other for the unique human beings we are and put their differences aside. We need to understand that as long as we are going at each other we will never be united. If we are not united how are we to stand up to male supremacy.
Women of all colours will always be oppressed, abused and raped until we can totally destroy male supremacy. We also need to understand that men have no interest in giving up their privileged position which means they will never be our allies. This makes it even more important that we are able to stand as one against this evil male dominated world.
While i agree with this post, I feel that all women are not oppressed in the same way.
ReplyDeleteThe reason we bicker at each other, is because white middle class women are oppressed simply because of being women, yet those such as women of color will not only be oppressed because of just their sex, but because of their skin color. The oppression experienced by a white woman is not the same as that of a poor black woman.
And this goes for able-bodied vs. disabled feminists.
I think the main problem is white privileged feminists not checking their privileges, and often ignoring voices below them. That's why we se much fighting, because more privileged feminists refuse to acknowledge us and our concerns.
We can't just ask everybody to get along, if that worked, why not just ask men to stop oppressing women? We have to confront the power structures within the movement, and call out those "leaders" of the movement who are unapologetically racist ableist and classist.
Which is why we must do away with the white middleclass centeredness of feminism. Because otherwise the movement will be stuck on a repeat of pointless anti-trans warfare, while indigenous women are being raped in slums, and socially subjected to violence.
While all women are oppressed you are totally correct that different women are oppressed differently or even less than others. White women have never had to put up with being on the wrong end of racism like black women did.
ReplyDeleteTo me feminism should be about fighting racism, sexism and homophobia and all these other nasty isms irrespective of our colour or anything else. Yes you are right the more privileged feminists need to be called out when they start believing and trying to show that their special privilege makes them better than the rest of us.
While I think that women should support each other to promote feminism and end this destructive system that patriarchy created, I think it's important to take into account that different issues still play out within that (i.e. sexism, health care disparities, race, poverty level, education). A white woman will not have the exact same experiences or priorities as any woman of color, and to ignore that is insulting. These are issues that shouldn't separate us, but should encourage and teach us that we can fight for the same cause but also have specific issues within the larger movement that we prioritize. Feminism is a multi-faceted movement, and instead of attacking each other, we should acknowledge our differences and how that affects what we fight for, but we must also recognize that as women, we ALL are a part of historically subordinated group.
ReplyDeleteHi Inquisitive Bibliophile
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. As feminists are human we each have our own problems based on race and even geographical region. While these differences are very important to us we should never embrace a selfish view by assuming that our own form of oppression is the only real form of oppression. We need to show respect and empathy for all women who are oppressed which is basically all women irrespective of their race, language, nationality or religion. If we don't we will never be united and our efforts will have limited impacted. Imagine all feminists despite our differences where able to unite. Now that would be a force to be reckoned with.