White Feminism
editWhite feminism is a recently coined term for a pattern in mainstream feminism where white women in the movement neglect to consider the needs of women of color. More broadly, it is also used to refer to a type of feminism that only has the needs of white, able-bodied, cisgender, middle-class, heterosexual women in mind.
The term “white feminism” has been used often in social media conversations on sites such as Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook.
Put simply, white feminism is feminism that ignores intersectionality.[1]
In Popular Culture:
editThe fact that white female celebrities such as Lena Dunham, Taylor Swift, and Emma Watson have recently been championed as the "faces" of feminism has been cited as an example of how whitewashed current culture's perception of feminism has become.[2]
Political Movements:
editIn recent history, there have been several feminist political movements that began in the name of empowerment for all women, but were criticized as being "white feminist" movements that did not have the needs of all women at their heart.
One activist group that has been noted as a white feminist group is the Ukrainian based "sextremist" group FEMEN.[3] In 2013, FEMEN called for a "Topless Jihad Day", where they staged public protests against Islam and women being forced to wear a burqa or headscarf. As is typical for their protests, FEMEN demonstrated topless, holding signs that read "Muslim women get naked with us" and shouting "Better naked than in a burqa".[4] This was criticized in the larger feminist community as being a clear example of "white feminism" as it involved white European women speaking and protesting on the behalf of Muslim women. It also infuriated many Muslim women, who saw it as white European women assuming they knew what was best for them. Following the protests, a Facebook group entitled "Muslim Women Against FEMEN" was created, and it has over 16,000 likes.[5]
In History:
editWhile the term "white feminism" itself is relatively new, the concept of white women excluding women of color from political movements is as old as feminism itself.
- ^ "Why We Need To Talk About White Feminism". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
- ^ "THIS → The trouble with (white) feminism". this.org. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
- ^ "About Us | FEMEN". femen.org. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
- ^ "Why As A Feminist I Will Never Identify With FEMEN - HeadSpace". HeadSpace. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
- ^ "Muslim Women Against Femen". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2015-11-16.