White Feminism

The unity of Women is important and has helped women gain rights and inspired women globally to fight for equality. While unification Is an important part of feminism, White Feminism takes away from this unity from women of color, especially Black women, in the second wave, by not providing a safe space for them to fight for their rights and by choosing. To remain ignorant and only fight for feminist movements that benefit their group. This paper argues that while white feminism is a new term it has been going on for centuries, and it creates a further divide between White women and Black women stopping Black women from progressing as far or further than White women. To argue this, I will be focusing on second wave feminism in the United States and discuss what White feminism was, the intersectionality that impacted black women as they had to fight racism and patriarchy, and how the lack of unification of all women held Black women back from progressing as much as White women did while discussing how they could have used their white privilege to build black women as their equals.

White feminism is a term used describe the form of the feminist movement that mainly addresses white women and their struggles while leaving out the struggles of minority groups who were put behind white women for years. The official definition of it being “the label given to feminist efforts and actions that uplift white women but that exclude or otherwise fail to address issues faced by minority groups, especially women of color and LGBTQ women” . While both parties’ movements are fights for feminism and female power, they are both very different as they are concerned with extremely different issues and white feminists are usually already moved past issues minority BIPOC are still working towards such as suffrage, the rights to their own bank accounts and power over their own bodies. White feminism has even been argued to be a form of white supremacy because while they use gender as a mark of oppression once race is involved, they turn a blind eye or simply do not want Black women being a part of their progressive movement, simply pushing the white supremist agenda while also using the White feminist movement to appear as a move forward when it is only a move forward for one group of people . In a way, this makes feminism more appealing to those in power, even if they are white men, because while they may not have wanted women to vote allowing white women to have rights was much more acceptable than allowing all women to have these rights. Voting was a major example of this because once White women fought for and gained their suffrage rights they left Black women out and did not want to fight further for them, however, that takes place in the first wave of feminism, to focus in on the second wave the example of reproductive rights will better show how the lack of White women fighting for feminism for all is extremely harmful. Forced sterilization is a dehumanizing act based off eugenics that has been happening for generations, it is surprising to see it happening so recently in history and disproportionately affecting Black women and taking away their rights to reproduce. When segregation was coming to an end, taking control over the Black family was a sneaky way to assert white supremacy. Doctors were forcibly sterilizing Black women based on the narrative that Black women were not good parents and that they must live in poverty so they should not have children in those conditions, these were backed by White people in power as there was government funding in place to pay for these non-consensual sterilizations . While many women felt shame about what had happened to them and did not tell anyone, some started lawsuits and spoke out on the crimes done against them, such as a woman now known as Bertha Dale Hymes, a 20-year-old Black woman who was a single mother of one had her reproduction fate decided in the basement of a courthouse where they decided that she should be sterilized without her consent, and they did so without her consent, only the signature of her caregiver. To get away with this they simply used racist stereotypes claiming she was aggressive and unable to take care of her children, she was one of many victims of these eugenic practices that attempted to end the Black family . Reproduction is one of the many rights Black women still did not have in the second wave of feminism, and while this also impacted other people of color and disabled people forced sterilization happened in much higher rates to Black women, White feminists lack of concern for this shows how White feminism never served a purpose for all women and simply White women, it is fair to believe that if the White feminist movement in the second-wave was fighting for Black women’s reproduction rights the rates of these forced sterilizations would have declined.

Intersectionality is also an important factor to consider when discussing the White feminist movement in the second wave. The term is defined by Oxford dictionary as “The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage; a theoretical approach based on such a premise. ” It is also used to explain how our multiple identities that exist at the same time hold different weight depending on our environment. These Black women and White women had other identities too such as mothers, sisters, wives, doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, students, and so on which all held different weights depending on their situations. For example, a Black woman holds the identity of being Black and a woman so while she would likely want to fight for feminism, she also must consider what her fight would be as fighting next to White feminists, who are not looking out for her best interest, would not benefit her fight as a Black woman. Another way we see this is Black women finding themselves separated from the Black power movement because it had sexist tendencies and the women’s movement as it was radically white, white women choosing to be ignorant and ignore racism that was very evident was one of the most upsetting issues. Black women then developed The Combahee Collective's 1977 “A Black Feminist Statement” as a feminist movement where Black women could express their issues and fight for the change, they want both as members of the Black community and as women . Intersectionality also took precedent, in the late 1970’s, when Black women and White women would come together for certain movements that impacted them both severely, such as violence against women which allowed these issues to progress and be brought forward as a movement much faster . These instances showed that the feminist movement could have progressed faster if White women made their feminist spaces safe and fight for Black women they could have progressed faster as a group

An important aspect of getting any movement to progress forward is people, there is power in large numbers of people and that is why unification of all women would have made it more likely that these human rights were given to Black women as much as White women. While racism is not only still alive today, but it was also much more evident during the second wave of feminism, and while White women could have mad secure spaces for Black women they typically chose to remain in their comfortable racist ways. This prevented them from becoming unified and fighting for common goals, even today there is this divide because certain groups of White women still do not want Black women being equal to them. It is agreed that the more people fighting for their common interests the more power they hold to make the change that they desire to see, it creates a collective agency and echo’s their concerns . In this creating an identity of “we” rather than “them verses us” is important so goals can feel more universal. It can make asking questions about identity easier, such as what we stand for or what our views are. It is fair to say Black people and all women were oppressed, to different degrees, during the second wave of feminism so unifying would have benefitted them all in theory . In reality, this would also work however there are many more circumstances to consider such as, would Black women want to work beside White women during this time period, could White women put the years of racism they know to fully support Black women? these are both unlikely. However, it is no question that White women creating safe spaces and community to join Black women that more would be accomplished, as mentioned in pervious paragraphs White feminism was used as a tool to keep white supremacy stronger than ever.

In conclusion, White feminism during the second wave of feminism harmed Black women from advancing with their movement. White feminism, being the feminist movement that focuses on uplifting White women while it ignores the empowerment of Black women is harmful as it allows White women to choose ignorance in situations where others do not have that choice and their very lives are relying on their fight. It is seen how harmful White women choosing to remain ignorant on non-white issues can harm others entire lives with the example of reproductive rights, where Black women were sterilized without their consent based off the racist notion that they were unable to take care of their children or could not afford them, this shows white supremacy’s attempt at ending the black families lineage and not allowing them to produce as fast as white families especially with this taking place as black people are getting rights post-segregation . Intersectionality is a major reason Black women could not feel safe in the presence of White women during this time, while they choose to be ignorant they ignore their similar fight, for the power of women, however white women had the privilege of being white and therefore were too blinded to see that a win for black women could have been a win for women everywhere. Black women needed to make their own movement because of their lack of focus on gender in the Black power movement and the racism towards Black people in the feminist movement led by White women . Unification of both groups of women could have assisted women as a whole accomplish their dreams and set precedent for future generations by creating a “we” rather than a “them” vs us mentality” and showing how there is more power in more numbers . It is clear to see that White woman choosing racism and white supremacy over the unification of women, in order to bring all women to the same level at the same time caused Black women to suffer and have less rights for most of history and have to still fight a separate fight for feminism today.

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