Is It Really a Fight for Equality? Hierarchies in the Feminist Movement
Swetha Nakshatri 1851. The Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio. After a tone of acceptance shifts to one of exclusion, African American abolitionist and activist Sojourner Truth gives a speech with no name. Only a pleading question: “Ain’t I a Woman?” 1974. The first meeting of the Combahee River Collective. Finding that they struggled with white women regarding race and black men regarding gender, a feminist coalition forms in recognition of the black woman’s struggle in both race and gender hierarchies. 2013. The modern Twitterverse. In a moment of self-described frustration, Mikki Kendall starts a hashtag which ends up trending in 61 US cities, with an estimated 7 million participants. #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen Three centuries with the same sentiment. Feminism is, and cannot continue to be, an exclusive movement, with power struggles within the fight for equality almost definitively placing white women on top, uncontested. Progressive leaders often ignore the intersections of people within their movements, neglecting that identity politics is a result of racial divisiveness, gender inequality, classism, and separatism. Doubly marginalized groups should not be forced to choose between their identities and forcibly assimilate to normative stereotypes of one group or the other. However, due to racial politics, feminism does not give women of color the opportunity to ultimately end their individual oppression and subsequently creates further divides. Feminism has been a bastion for remedying social inequality but within itself has established positions of clear leadership. While leadership in any organization is essential for efficacy, a problem in feminism surfaces with the basis for the assignment of leadership as well as the enormous amount of power that follows this unofficial “appointment.” The leaders of the feminist movement overwhelmingly were and still are white, straight, able-bodied females. With their conceived power, they set the feminist agenda. What results is a movement for equality whose focus does not necessarily reflect the goals of the entirety of the participants and whose progress is often dependent on the silencing or exploitation of minorities. This is evident in both historical and modern contexts and the lack of progress is evidence that female oppression cannot solely be analyzed through an exploration of gender constructs. Before exploring these contexts, there are two important distinctions pivotal to our understanding of white vs. intersectional feminism and the power structures associated with them. We should note that white feminists are not racist. They are simply susceptible to playing into an already established racist system without recognizing it. Additionally, being white does not exclude someone from being an intersectional feminist, just as being male does not exclude someone from being a feminist. When I think about feminism, there are naturally issues that come to mind. …show more content…
Issues like the wage gap, reproductive rights, and domestic and sexual violence are often put on the feminist agenda by those in positions of power. While it is true that feminists should be discussing these inherently “female” issues, there comes to be a divide between the goals of white feminism and intersectional feminism. White feminism is seemingly content with finding a “one-size-fits-all” solution for these issues and proceeding onward. However, feminism can’t be “one-size-fits-all” because “woman” does not have a homogenous definition. Through studying these historical contexts, I’ve found that as much as we would like to simplify things, there is no “real” woman, and there is no real women’s issue. Feminism is as individual as it is collective, and we need to recognize that in order to explore new, relevant issues as well as truly understand the current issues. One of the major goals of the feminist movement is abolishing the wage gap, or the systematic underpayment of women in similar roles as men, despite equal qualifications and performance. However, in discussions of the wage gap, “white feminists” fail to recognize that economic inequality is derived from racism as well as sexism. According to McCrayer’s wage statistics, while a Caucasian woman makes 77 cents to every dollar that a Caucasian man makes, African American women make only 64 cents. Native American women make 60 cents and Hispanic women make 54 cents. Although some of this may be attributed to a lack of educational opportunity, research from the US Census Bureau indicates that even for African American and Hispanic women with
Swetha Nakshatri 1851. The Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio. After a tone of acceptance shifts to one of exclusion, African American abolitionist and activist Sojourner Truth gives a speech with no name. Only a pleading question: “Ain’t I a Woman?” 1974. The first meeting of the Combahee River Collective. Finding that they struggled with white women regarding race and black men regarding gender, a feminist coalition forms in recognition of the black woman’s struggle in both race and gender hierarchies. 2013. The modern Twitterverse. In a moment of self-described frustration, Mikki Kendall starts a hashtag which ends up trending in 61 US cities, with an estimated 7 million participants. #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen Three centuries with the same sentiment. Feminism is, and cannot continue to be, an exclusive movement, with power struggles within the fight for equality almost definitively placing white women on top, uncontested. Progressive leaders often ignore the intersections of people within their movements, neglecting that identity politics is a result of racial divisiveness, gender inequality, classism, and separatism. Doubly marginalized groups should not be forced to choose between their identities and forcibly assimilate to normative stereotypes of one group or the other. However, due to racial politics, feminism does not give women of color the opportunity to ultimately end their individual oppression and subsequently creates further divides. Feminism has been a bastion for remedying social inequality but within itself has established positions of clear leadership. While leadership in any organization is essential for efficacy, a problem in feminism surfaces with the basis for the assignment of leadership as well as the enormous amount of power that follows this unofficial “appointment.” The leaders of the feminist movement overwhelmingly were and still are white, straight, able-bodied females. With their conceived power, they set the feminist agenda. What results is a movement for equality whose focus does not necessarily reflect the goals of the entirety of the participants and whose progress is often dependent on the silencing or exploitation of minorities. This is evident in both historical and modern contexts and the lack of progress is evidence that female oppression cannot solely be analyzed through an exploration of gender constructs. Before exploring these contexts, there are two important distinctions pivotal to our understanding of white vs. intersectional feminism and the power structures associated with them. We should note that white feminists are not racist. They are simply susceptible to playing into an already established racist system without recognizing it. Additionally, being white does not exclude someone from being an intersectional feminist, just as being male does not exclude someone from being a feminist. When I think about feminism, there are naturally issues that come to mind. …show more content…
Issues like the wage gap, reproductive rights, and domestic and sexual violence are often put on the feminist agenda by those in positions of power. While it is true that feminists should be discussing these inherently “female” issues, there comes to be a divide between the goals of white feminism and intersectional feminism. White feminism is seemingly content with finding a “one-size-fits-all” solution for these issues and proceeding onward. However, feminism can’t be “one-size-fits-all” because “woman” does not have a homogenous definition. Through studying these historical contexts, I’ve found that as much as we would like to simplify things, there is no “real” woman, and there is no real women’s issue. Feminism is as individual as it is collective, and we need to recognize that in order to explore new, relevant issues as well as truly understand the current issues. One of the major goals of the feminist movement is abolishing the wage gap, or the systematic underpayment of women in similar roles as men, despite equal qualifications and performance. However, in discussions of the wage gap, “white feminists” fail to recognize that economic inequality is derived from racism as well as sexism. According to McCrayer’s wage statistics, while a Caucasian woman makes 77 cents to every dollar that a Caucasian man makes, African American women make only 64 cents. Native American women make 60 cents and Hispanic women make 54 cents. Although some of this may be attributed to a lack of educational opportunity, research from the US Census Bureau indicates that even for African American and Hispanic women with