White feminism
Primarily used as a derogatory label, "white feminism" is typically used to reproach a perceived failure to acknowledge and integrate the intersection of other identity attributes into a broader movement which struggles for equality on more than one front.
[4] This criticism has predominantly been leveled against the first waves of feminism which were seen as centered around the empowerment of white middle-class women in Western societies.
While the term white feminism is relatively recent, the critics of the concepts it represents date back to the beginning of the feminist movement, especially in the United States.
At its origin, feminism in Western societies was represented by white educated women primarily focusing on the right to vote and political representation.
[12]Kimberlé Crenshaw, Columbia scholar and Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, has championed Black feminism movements and provided the foundational framework for the idea of intersectionality.
[citation needed] As race and gender intersect, Black women are subjected to racist and misogynistic treatment, simultaneously.
The intersection of non-white ethnicity and female gender identity compounds the harmful, unjust, discriminatory actions against members of these groups; women of color.
[citation needed] Crenshaw's application of an intersectional lens to analyze the experience of Black women remains relevant and useful in considering the presence of white feminism in activist movements today.
[citation needed] The first wave of feminism began in the late nineteenth century, and focused on the equality of political and economic rights.
[24][25] For example, as early as 1851, Sojourner Truth, a former slave, delivered a speech "Ain't I a woman" in which she calls for what would be later on described as intersectionality.
This time period focused on women in the work environment, owning sexuality, reproductive rights, domestic violence, and rape.
[30] The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, stands as one of the most striking examples of the essentialization of women in the figure of the white bourgeoise mother and hence disregard for other forms of oppression such as race or sexuality.
[33] hooks argued that white women should recognize the fact that they, like ethnic minority men, occupied a position of being both oppressed while also being oppressors.
[38] The third wave was inspired by the post-modern society, in which women worked to reclaim their own power over derogatory words men have used to shame them, like 'whore' and 'slut'.
[41] Despite this, some have argued that feminist media continues to overrepresent the struggles of straight, cisgender, able-bodied, middle class, white women.
[42][28] Nevertheless, in recent years, authors like Kimberlé Crenshaw have developed the theory of intersectionality, a clear opposition to white feminism.
[45] Shire's position contrasts with intersectional feminist activists who view pay equity, social justice, and international human rights as essential and inseparable commitments of feminism, as articulated in the Day Without a Woman platform that "[recognizes] the enormous value that women of all backgrounds add to our socio-economic system – while receiving lower wages and experiencing greater inequities, vulnerability to discrimination, sexual harassment, and job insecurity".
