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[–]Rationalmind 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I think we should get rid of the concept, it only divides women. I’d rather we have radical feminism include women from all backgrounds with particular emphasis for helping poor women.

[–]cherryfemme 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I’d love if we could get rid of the concept but women aren’t immune from being racist or ableist. There are plenty of libfem and radfem groups that focus mainly on issues that affect white women since they are the majority and ignore issues that don’t affect them. So in this instance I don’t mind a call for some inclusivity since we’re already being divided.

[–]MarkTwainiac 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

There are plenty of libfem and radfem groups that focus mainly on issues that affect white women since they are the majority and ignore issues that don’t affect them.

This is interesting, but unfortunate. I am so sorry to hear it's the case. Can you give the names of some of these groups and where they are?

BTW, do you think only white women/people can be racist? And that white women/people are more likely to be ableist than women/people of all other races and ethnicities?

My own view is that racism is not exclusive to white people. What the Chinese are doing to the Uighyrs right now seems to come from racism, ethnic prejudice and animus based on religion and culture. There's tons of racism in the Middle East from all sides, including from Arabs in SA and the Gulf states towards people from east Asia, south Asia and much of Africa who are being used there as slave labor at this moment.

At the same time, lots of people in/from south and east Asia are racist towards darker skinned persons from their own part and other parts of the world. I know persons with black skin from Africa and from the US who are racist towards Asians and Hispanic people, people from South America - especially Brazil and Argentina - who are racist towards black people regardless of their country of origin and also to persons of indigenous heritage from their own continent as well as Central America.

Whilst I also acknowledge that lots of white people are ableist, I don't think white people have a monopoly on ableism. There's long been a huge amount of prejudice towards kids with inborn disabilities and medical conditions, as well as acquired ones like FGM and malaria, in countries like China, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and various parts of Africa. The custom in a lot of these places has been to just let kids like that die, to hide them away, to turn them into beggars, and/or to shame and punish them - or to try selling them off.

The US and other predominantly white countries are home to many charities and medical institutions that help children from all around the world born with a wide variety of diseases and disabilities, or who have acquired such in the course of life. St Jude's, Shriner's and Long Island Jewish, for example. People from all across the globe bring their children to be treated at such places coz there's no help for such kids in their home countries. Similarly, surgeons and doctors from North America, the UK and Europe have a long tradition of going to other countries to help people, especially kids but also adults, with inherited disabilities and acquired medical conditions that are disabling and/or potentially fatal.

I think if you were to look into the history of what's happened all over the world to people with inborn conditions like cleft palate, club foot, sickle cell, cystic fibrosis and so on - as well those with acquired diseases like polio, leprosy, smallpox, Ebola, HIV-AIDs, and many more - you'll find that ableism isn't the exclusive province of white people.

To paraphrase ML King, content of character is the key element - not color of skin or the creed or nationality into which one was born.

[–]cherryfemme 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I’m mainly talking about online groups such as r/gc which had instances of racism that went unchecked. I also never said that white women can only be racist. Just that when the majority of a group is white it’s mostly going to topics that affect white women. When racist women do post subtle racism this is also unchecked and dismissed as a non-issue by other members when an offended party speaks up.

Also never said that white women are more capable of being ableist than women of other ethnicities, just that I’ve seen it used as a reason for why intersectional feminism is needed for disabled women.