BlogHer - Racism in the Feminist Movement - Comments

Thanks for posting this.

GreyDay — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:56:17 -0500

I don't think it's something feminists want to talk about. As a black woman I have never felt part of the feminist movement. Even though I am passionate about equal rights for woman I don't feel comfortable calling myself a feminist because I am not white.

I should fight for equality for feminists when they won't do the same for me? No, I don't think so.

An entertainment & culture blog for women of color
http://GreyDaySoul.blogspot.com

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Very true

Suzanne Reisman — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:52:00 -0500

Ditto to what you said.

Suzanne Reisman, Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Oth

Utterly horrifying

Suzanne Reisman — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:49:21 -0500

I think she was reflecting her education. But her education was sorely lacking.

I think that is very generous of you to say. I only took one women's studies class, and at 19 years old, I didn't have enough critical analysis skills or life experience to really question why certain people and ideas were included and why others weren't. I'd like to think that if I chose to go on and make that my career, I'd learn different evaluation skills, and begin asking questions. The fact that this well-intentioned woman did not - and did not step outside of what she knew to think about things in new ways - is clearly the crux of the problem. It's really hard to do, and it doesn't always work, but people have to try. I haven't always thought this way, but as I learn more, it just strikes me as so obvious.

Suzanne Reisman, Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

I hope so

Suzanne Reisman — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:39:51 -0500

Thanks for your comment! Yeah, growing up in Wilmette is pretty screwed up. I'm not sure how my sister and I managed to get out of that place without being completely brainwashed, and both of us try hard to undo the rest of it. My goal is to do what Megan said in her comment above - really listen. After listening, I process the information and use it to re-shape my views to include what I heard. Finally, I'm learning to not presume that even though I've listened, I can speak for others. Maybe this is not always as effective as I'd like, but I hope that others can commit to it as well. I'm definitely looking forward to the changes that will be coming forth as the population of the US changes in the ways that you mention.

Suzanne Reisman, Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Oth

Thanks for this post

Mata H — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:52:27 -0500

Thanks for addressing the behemoth in the living room that so many folks just walk around. We do not leave the realities of the world -- good or bad -- behind when we call ourselves feminists. We bring all that brokenness right along with us.

"Feminism" (or liberalism) isn't a cure for racism or classism or ageism (for that matter).

~~ Contributing Editor, Mata H. also blogs right along at Time's Fool

I really appreciate this post

Kim Pearson — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:30:40 -0500

I remember a conversation that I had with two Women's Studies professors at a conference on Feminisms and Rhetorics a few years ago. I noted that Patricia Hill Collins' Black Feminist Thought begins its discussion of black feminist theory with the 1830s writings of Maria Stewart, while Stewart seems to be largely left out of the Women's Studies curricula I'd seen. Stewart is notable not only for her analysis of the combined impact of racism and sexism, but also because she was the first woman to speak before "promiscuous" (mixed sex) audiences. My colleague explained to me that while Stewart was a notable individual, she wasn't really important to the history of the feminist movement.

I don't think she was being racist. I think she was reflecting her education. But her education was sorely lacking.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

A Brave and Thought-Provoking Post

Fly Girl — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:20:05 -0500

I think that this post will help unearth some of the denial and cowardice that is inherent in feminism. You can't be a product of privilege and power and not be tainted by it in some way, no matter that you don't reap all of its benefits. No, white women did not start feminism but their privilege allows them to be the most visible and acknowledged members of the movement. Western society as a whole is founded upon class and race privilege. That foundation has been crumbling over the last 20 years and whether you cite the upcoming presidential election, the racial and cultural unrest in France or the fact that people of color will soon be the majority in this country, the power structure is being forced to address those whom they have traditionally ignored. Yep, Suzanne, I think growing up in Wilmette probably has affected how you deal with your privilege but it doesn't mean that you haven't done anything to change the situation. I think that offering opportunties for discussion and refusing to let feminists ignore racism is a great way to move toward change.

Farsighted Fly Girl: http://rosalindcummingsyeates.com/blog

More discussion would be great

Suzanne Reisman — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:17:10 -0500

I hope that it does lead to a longer conversation. We started to talk about it a teeny bit at the BlogHer conference Feminism & Gender meet-up, but in 40 minutes, we just barely had time to get past introductions. I feel like what I heard there and am reading online really changed a lot of my thinking on how feminism works - and doesn't work.

Suzanne Reisman, Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

Thanks For A Great Post!

Megan Smith — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:48:47 -0500

Hi Suzanne,

With all the sexism/racism issues that have bubbled to the surface during the Clinton/Obama primary season, I think this post is not only timely but a great jumping off point for discussion.

People need to continually remind themselves that just because they are not experiencing something doesn't mean that someone else is not experiencing it. There are women who experience sexism everyday. There are black women who experience sexism and racism everyday. We need to get over trying to figure out who has it worse on any given day and figure out how to constructively address our issues with one another.

That means acknowledging and valuing the many different experiences we all bring to the table. And above all, that means truly listening.

Megan Smith
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube
Megan's Minute: Quirky Commentary Around The Clock

Racism in the Feminist Movement

Suzanne Reisman — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:48:20 -0500

Last week, I asked people to point out great feminist writing on the internet. Liz Henry suggested two posts that address racism and feminism, On Feminism, Part 1 and On Feminism, Part 2 by The Angry Black Woman. If they haven't already done so, I hope that anyone who believes that feminism should be a movement in which all women are equal will read all the posts excerpted below in their entirety.

Regarding several racist incidents by prominent white feminists, Angry Black Woman notes:

...it seems like what white feminists want is to become white men. They want what white men have going on, up to and including privilege and the ability to ignore voices of color unless it suits them.

Some of you may feel this is an unfair generalization. And others of you are sitting at your computers right now shaking your head and saying, “Nuh uh, not me!” Maybe so not you, and maybe so I am being harsh. But you take a look around the blogs right now and tell me that the view from where I’m standing doesn’t bear that out. And take a good look at yourselves. Think about if you can honestly say that you’ve considered your own privilege when dealing with the issues of feminism and race lately. Some of you have, of course, but some of you absolutely have not.
...
I’m tired of having to decide if I want the label of “Feminist”, not because someone might think I hate men, but because someone might wonder why I would want to associate myself with people who think my voice and experiences are less important because I refuse to put my gender ahead of my race.

In her post about the lack integration in Women's Studies curricula, Brownfemipower at La Chola writes:

It’s time for all of us, but in particular, women’s studies departments, to stop pretending that these interactions between women of color and white women never happened or don’t count. It’s time to stop pretending that the voices of white women speaking about women of color is sufficient enough of a history for women of color. It’s time to stop pretending that universal agreement between women of color is necessary before white people can interact with an engage with a particular critique of women of color. It’s time to stop pretending that any critique by women of color exists within a timeless vacuum that demonstrates some ancient racism of a feminism from time past.
...
I’d like to know why “the personal is political” is a mantra pushed on us–and yet our (woc’s) personal is expected to be the same personal as white feminists.

And I’d like to know all this as a person who credits women’s studies as having changed my life.

Anxious Black Woman at Diary of an Anxious Black Woman looks at how racism affects the feminist movement from another perspective:

I do not now nor will ever believe that feminism belongs to white women. They did not start it, and even though it looks like they're "running things," that's simply not true. It's because I'm fully aware of the women's rights movement history why I will not disavow feminism, I will not find alternative "names" like womanist to define me, nor will I decide - whenever white feminists or Global North feminists (of which I'm one of them) or any other privileged woman does something heinous to another woman - to leave feminist movements. Instead, I will declare the guilty party to NOT be the feminist one, I will ask those culprits to "please turn in their membership card," and to get in line and treat each other with respect and equality, or get the hell out and don't let the door hit you.... We are the feminist movement, and it exists in the blogosphere, in the streets, in households, in community shelters, in classrooms, and everywhere there is a woman fighting for her right to just be.

I'm a white feminist. I grew up comfortably in a middle class household in an upper middle class community. I have an enormous amount of privilege in my life, but I became a feminist when I was young because I wanted to change society. I wanted to live in a world in which people could just be themselves; a world where no one was forced into a role based on the body in which he or she resided. My idealistic view was that this was exactly what feminism was about - removing stereotypical barriers of all kinds. When this is not the case - when feminism is reinforcing biases against others - I believe that feminism as a movement fails. Obviously, there are already individuals working hard to correct this ongoing wrong. But, if other feminists are not doing our part to "fix this mess," as Angry Black Woman describes it, what are we doing? Speaking for myself, I have never really written about racism and feminism before because I don't know how honestly I've dealt with my privileged status and how it affects my views and actions. At the same time, I never want to speak for people with different backgrounds than my own. As Anxious Black Woman says, it's time to stop pretending.

Suzanne also blogs about her life at Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants She is currently seeking submissions for an anthology of women's stories about menstruation at Congratulations, You're a Woman Now.