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Aug. 17, 2015 - Sargon of Akkad - Carl Benjamin
04:56
White Feminism vs Racist Feminism
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You might have heard the term white feminism used lately.
Of course I have, and I'll tell you why.
Because I am a shitlord and I educated myself.
Because I have listened to feminists and believed what they said.
So tell me what's wrong with white feminists.
After Nikki Minaj and Tara Swift's Twitter exchange or when people critique HBO's girls.
You see, these should be red flags right here for feminists.
If the people who are commanding the feminist dialogue are Nikki Minaj and Taylor Swift or Lena Dunham's fucking TV program.
My point being, if Christopher Hitchens had had a big blowout with Richard Dawkins, it would be worth talking about.
If Taylor Swift and Nikki Minaj have a little Twitter spat, it's not.
But what does it mean?
It means that Western feminists have no greater issue than what some dipshit says to another dipshit on Twitter.
Yes, yes, I know that you are talking about what does white feminism mean.
Go on, go ahead and be racist.
Basically, white feminism is feminism that ignores intersectionality.
Then why call it white feminism?
Why not just call it simple feminism or basic feminism?
Why don't you call intersectional feminism feminism plus or something?
So not all feminists who are white are white feminists.
Yeah, I can see where the confusion's coming from.
But I mean, I understand what you're saying.
But most white feminists are white.
Because white people just don't have to think about things like race on a daily basis.
Unless you're a progressive and then you have to think about race constantly.
And we're not just pulling the race card.
You see the expression and the way you've done that?
It tells me that you are just pulling the race card.
White feminism excludes the experiences of basically anyone who's not white, fist, and straight.
And female.
But go on, tell me why that's problematic.
Here's why that's so problematic.
Sorry, tell me why it's so problematic.
First, it assumes the way white women experience misogyny is the way all women experience misogyny.
Could you try to have a slightly more judgy, entitled expression and tone of voice, please?
With a little bit more condescension.
And then please go on and tell me how each individual's experiences slightly differ due to their own circumstances.
And that's just not true.
I believe you.
White feminism aims to close the wage gap between men and women.
But what it fails to recognize is that most of the time, Latina and black women make even less than white women.
Yeah, but that doesn't change the stated goal because, believe it or not, black and Latina women are still women.
God, I can't believe I'm defending white feminism.
And police brutality should be viewed as a feminist issue.
Um, what, in the same way that, like, animal rights are a feminist issue.
But it doesn't affect white women the way it affects women of color.
If Sandra Bland had been a white woman, would a simple traffic stop have resulted in an arrest?
Categorically, yes.
Here is the footage from Sandra Bland's arrest.
Get out of the car now, or I'm gonna remove you.
And I'm calling my mother.
I'm gonna yank you out of here.
Okay, you're gonna yank me out of my car?
Okay, all right.
25, let's do this.
Yeah, we're going to.
Don't touch me.
Get out of the car.
Don't touch me.
I'm not under arrest.
You don't have the right to say.
You are under arrest.
And compare that to the footage of a white woman being arrested during a traffic stop.
Alright, well, you're not free to leave.
You're gonna take the bag off.
No, no, I'm not.
Take the bag off.
No, I'm not!
This is fuck!
You're raping me!
This is race!
This is rape!
This is right!
Okay!
Relax your arms!
It's relaxed!
Stop fighting me!
It's relaxed!
Stop fighting with me!
These women weren't being treated in this way because they were female, because they were black, or because they were white.
They were being treated this way because they were challenging the cops' authority.
And if you hadn't noticed, female privilege isn't working here.
They're being treated like a man.
White feminism ignores the role that whiteness plays in creating things like beauty standards.
For example, this is okay, but this isn't.
According to who?
By what standard?
You know that the content warning on the album cover isn't actually to do with the cover and to do with the content within it.
White women are most often the faces of feminism.
Tina Faye, Tara Swift, Amy Schumer have been able to break into industries that have been dominated by cis white men.
But black women, women of color, we face barriers that white women don't.
Only if you're saying the entire industry that you're trying to get into is racist.
Being a white feminist doesn't make you a bad person.
It just means you have a lot to learn.
Yeah, I mean, racism isn't something people are born with.
It does have to be learned.
The most important thing any white feminist can do is educate herself and listen and engage with the experiences of women of color without silencing them.
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