Intersectionalism is the worst thing to happen to feminism.

submitted by medium_tomato from (self.GenderCritical)

sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]MenAreFragileBabies 25 insightful - 1 fun25 insightful - 0 fun26 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

I don't think intersectionalism in itself is bad. But intersectional arguments that black women have it so much worse, for example, do really take the wind out of white women's sails.

White women are particularly harmed by gender stereotypes of white feminity-- that we are coddled, babyfied, weak, and we are even more sexually objectified than black women are. Yes, it gives us some privilege over black women which is not right, but it also harms us more in other ways.

It is also much less acceptable for us to stand up for ourselves than it is for black women. I think sometimes black women take advantage of that. Other times, they are right that white women weaponize their femininity against black women. It would be nice to get back to basics and just be respectful of differences.

[–]Marsupial 17 insightful - 1 fun17 insightful - 0 fun18 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

I don't think you could have been more wrong tbh. It's a fact that there are variances to how women are percieved in different cultures. I believe few women are as priviliged as white women. White women are still hurt by sexism but I believe it is inaccurate to portray it as white women having a more difficult time overall than WoC.
It's not a competition. Feminism includes all women. Different cultures have different problems. Different groups have different ways of oppressing women, it's the misogyny that's universal. White women are exposed to sexism but are NOT the most vulnerable group of women.

[–]Realwoman 7 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

White refers to so many different ethnicities in so many different countries you can't generalize. Are Ukrainian women privileged?

[–]odateya 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Now come on, don't do that. Black women have globally been spat on for hundreds of years, please list all of these countries where black women's voices are actually valued. If I, a black woman go to Ukraine will I suddenly be swimming in privilege greater than a white woman's? If not there, then please tell me where this magical country is located. White woman are globally regarded as the most "respectable" voices among women and you know that.

[–]Anna_Nym 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think you're illustrating the OP's point, though. Sexism disadvantages us all, which is what feminism is supposed to focus on. It's also frustrating to see these conversations get reduced down to black and white, as though those are the only two options in the world (if we're going to play Oppression Olympics, why don't we talk much more about Native American/First Nations women for example? Why don't we acknowledge Asian women's economic success in the US?). I also don't think it makes sense to speak of black and white like these are homogeneous categories when there are many differences within them.

Our goal should be to understand the ways in which our various identities make our experiences of sexism specific. But to do that, we need to actually listen to each other rather than project beliefs onto each other. My personal experiences with feminist spaces is that "intersectional" spaces instead do encourage Oppression Olympics. (The actual concept of "intersectionality" does not do this, but the term has come to be used very differently than what Crenshaw originally wrote about.)

[–]Realwoman 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Are you American? If so, you live in the richest country on earth. You would never need to go live in the Ukraine because why would you live in an impoverished country with a war next door? You have an American privilege. The vast majority of Ukrainian women will never reach your affluence level and will never get a chance to live in an affluent country. Even poor Americans have a better quality of life than many middle class people around the world. Your American privilege outweighs any racial privilege by a lot.