Radical feminism is failing because it’s too racist

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[–]Diversity_Racket 27 insightful - 1 fun27 insightful - 0 fun28 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

What actions do you hope radfems take to support women of colour? (Not asking in a snarky way)

[–]unexpectedly_local 20 insightful - 1 fun20 insightful - 0 fun21 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

Cultural competence training/practice is a great first step, it is extremely hard to build understanding with someone if you don't actually understand where their perspective is coming from. It seems to me like a lot of white feminists pull the "we are all women, we're all fighting for the same thing" concept without actually trying to see where the WoC perspective is coming from. Oftentimes the same crimes against WoC and white women are motivated by different cultural factors.

One thing I recommend all white feminists is to read chapter 4, "Racism and Feminism", of bell hooks' "Ain't I A Woman?" (you can Google it for a free pdf). If you can read the whole book, it's an interesting perspective on the historical-cultural context of the specific oppression of black women in America. It will probably upset white people/women a lot though (those of you who instinctively feel defensive around race topics, it is pretty unapologetic), so please please please try to keep an open mind.

Edit: As a disclaimer, I'm not saying that you have to agree with everything in the chapter to be a good ally. But I would say the main job as a white ally of WoC is to simply open your mind to their ideas and perspective, to consider their position and how it shapes their perspective, as well as to consider your own position within their perspective. WoC by default as minorities are forced to fit ourselves within the white perspective since day 1 in a white society, the least we can ask of you is a bit of reciprocation.

[–]Diversity_Racket 29 insightful - 1 fun29 insightful - 0 fun30 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

I used to work in this field (nonprofit/social justice) for several years and we had extensive training. In my experience it has failed miserably, and continues to fail. Based on the feedback: 1) people don't like being told what to think, 2) the trainings are Western-centric - by this I mean, people are thrown these confusing, new SJW terms that no one understands and are expected to just accept blindly. And if they do have questions about the term, it takes up so much time to actually explain that nothing gets done. 3) There is so much focus on who is the most oppressed, and rarely anything is said about practical things everyday people can do to support POC, 4) self-censorship is strong because people are scared of saying something phobic or racist, so open and honest discussions are rare. You would need a really, really good facilitator to be able to lead these discussions - and most of these facilitators I've come across are wayyy too identity politicky. (Example: In one of the trainings, a participant was called out BY the facilitator for calling the facilitator the wrong pronouns that day. The facilitator identified as both "she" AND "they." I mean, really??) Also, I'm in Vancouver, so I admit it's 100x worse here.

I don't know what would work to increase understanding/awareness, but the trainings just aren't it. And just to add, this condescending/cringey social media BLM campaign isn't it either (ex: "hey guys, tell me which Black creators/businesses I should give a shout to/follow!") It's awareness for the lazy.

To the OP: I haven't been on Spinster long, but I've never seen anti-POC/WOC rhetoric. I've actually seen a couple people reference bell hooks (though I wish I had the links now!)

Thanks for the recommendation, I will look up that chapter right now. It would be nice to see people educate themselves through you know, books, but you can't really expect many people to read on a good day...

[–]unexpectedly_local 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'll admit, I've never taken a cultural competence training course, but it was a term I thought encompassed the general idea of cultural curiosity. Most of what I know about other women and the plights of other women is merely reading, watching, listening, and most importantly, critical thinking. I don't think you need a formal course to do all of that, and I definitely agree that anything led by the identity politics side of things is not the way to go.

Here is an article regarding the South Korean radical feminist movement. It's a great look at how the idea of "we're all women fighting for the same things" falls short of cultural context and perspective. What they are fighting for and most importantly why they are fighting is deeply rooted in their culture and history. We as Western radfems can really learn a lot from their perspective, imo, especially in an age where Western feminism has completely lost the plot and become whatever it is now. https://www.feministcurrent.com/2020/06/15/the-south-korean-womens-movement-we-are-not-flowers-we-are-a-fire/

[–]CaliforniGinger 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Heh, I think I actually found that article FROM r/GC!