Feminism and race
This is an intermittently edited collection of ideas for a panel on "Feminism and Race" I ran at femmeconne. As such it's aimed at feminists/women, though anyone else is welcome to read it. I put all the links I found (and there's some really good stuff) in a separate post, since it's important that my argument can stand on its own (I can't give people links in person!)
My plan is was to briefly cover the basic ideas and then get into a moderated discussion where all I'll do is keep things on topic and inject the odd new idea or possible sub-topic, since I'm pretty sure people will have as much to explain to me as vice versa.
EDIT: I discussed what happened at this panel here. Overall it went ok.
Summary
This just covers the stuff I didn't write in dot-points to start with :)
-this panel is about the nature of race and racism, their history and how they interact with gender and feminism, and what we can do to fight racism as women.
-Open fluid discussion, I'm no expert and also have fried brain, will go through my main points and then we can discuss whatever
RACE
-race is a made up concept, but has power anyway and can't be ignored. Current form largely a creation of european colonialism, though xenophobia/predjudice etc are hardly new.
-racism=power+predjudice
-part of underlying social structure, creates white privilege.
-ALL racist. All white people have privilege and a responsibility to counter it, not our fault and no need to feel guilty, need to accept it, understand it, try to act as non/anti-racist as we can.
-to deal with racism we need to understand how it works and it's history
WHITENESS (equivalent of patriachy)
-invisible: see ourselves as "normal", the default, ie "australian"=white. Culture clash/racism is seen as a problem with "them", rather than a product of white culture.
-see anything from a white POV as objective, everything else as subjective (so we are "better qualified" to make decisions than anyone else)
-see our own privileged position as natural, anything which attacks that as "reverse racism"
-see non-white POV/experience as uniform (and less important) our own important and varied/individual
FEMINISM
-both have similar goals, but white women are still racist, and nonwhite men still sexist, so feminist and civil rights movement have rocky history. Tend to see their own cause as paramount, ignore experience and joint loyalty of those caught in the middle ie nonwhite women.
- tend to think we know best, make maternalistic decisions for nonwhite women rather than letting them have any power/voice
-"for all women" but mainly seems to notice the problems of white middle class women
NOT ALL BAD!
-Feminism (and society in general) has gotten a lot better over the past hundred years.
-white people can be strong and useful allies against racism *if we listen to what non-white people actually want* (at least that's what I tell myself)
Anti-racism 101
I'm going to assume we all agree that racism is bad. In my opinion, we white feminists are the worst sorts of hypocrites if we demand that men take our needs seriously without taking the needs of other disadvantaged groups just as seriously ourselves, and racism causes an awful lot of disadvantage.
So, first off I'm white, and don't really know that much about feminism or race, I'm just an interested amateur, so to speak. If you have any additions or corrections etc please speak up! EDIT: thankyou to everyone who's offered me advice! Please read the links and comments to see all the fine brains I picked to write this :)
A lot of non-white people overseas use the term "people of colour" or "women of colour" etc, but like a lot of australians the word pings as skin-crawlingly racist to me, even though I know that in that context it's not. I'm genuinely unsure as to what term non-white australians prefer as a rule, but I know some do identify as people of colour and don't like the term "non-white", and this is very true of americans, so that's something to keep in mind.
Also, I have HUGE problems following the "shut up and listen to non-white people" precept, since shutting up is completely against my nature, but I am going to make a really concerted effort not to speak over any non-white people who have something they want to say on this topic (I'll also try not to talk over the white ones too much as well :))
Feminism and racism
Feminism and anti-racism have had somewhat of a love-hate relationship. On the surface the two look like they should go together: they're both about fighting for legal and social equality for a historically oppressed group, and use similar principles, arguments and theory. After all, a lot of women are not white, and half of all non-white people are women.
Unfortunately, while some white feminists have been staunch supporters of the civil rights movement, on the whole white women are just as racist as white men, and mainstream feminism has had a pretty rocky history when it comes to race.
In the same way that history tends to be written about men, feminist history tends to be written about white women, and the many contributions of non-white feminists, and the specific history of the ways in which non-white women have been and are oppressed and mistreated, tend to be ignored. (This is even more true if they come from a non-western country) For example, in the late 19th/early 20th century white women were often directly responsible for the mistreatment of their aboriginal servants, who were basically treated as slaves.
Feminist theory and publishing focusses very much on the interests and needs of white middle class women and other voices tend to be lost. This generally isn't deliberate, but works in the same way that women's voices are ignored by male-dominated society: they're just not interesting or important enough, where these "objective" measures are of course based on the preferences and experiences of the privileged group.
Often non-white women are told that they should just follow mainstream feminism's lead out of solidarity with their "sisters", even if this lead ignores their actual needs, and if they instead (or also) choose to focus on issues of race then they are accused of factionalism or selfishness. But why should they be forced to put their gender above all the other aspects of their identity?
Many white small-l liberals, including feminists, have very simplistic and counterproductive attitudes towards "conservative" cultures/religions such as Islam, and tend to assume that they are incompatible with the general goals of feminism, thus alienating muslim etc feminists.
Anti-racist white people (including feminists) tend to decide whether or not something is racist, what should be done about it, and whether or not these actiopns are effective amongst ourselves without seeking out the opinions or experiences of non-white people.
Non-white women are seen as victims with no agency to be saved by white feminists. It is never considered that they might have their own feminist movements, or that their different experiences may lead to them pursuing a form of feminism with very different goals and approaches.
There is often an assumption that any woman who doesn't identify as feminist or criticises the woman's movement is either ignorant or a deliberate enemy of all women, and so any legitimate criticism of the movement is ignored as "petty factionalism".
Some examples of racism and the silencing/belittling of the voices of non-white people in the feminist movement:
From "Sister Girl" by Jackie Hughes (talking about attempts by the women's movement to recruit aboriginal women in the 1970s):
The white women's movement argued, for example, that compared to men, women in Australia were poorly educated and worked in poorly paid jobs. Yet Aboriginal women were better educated than Aboriginal men, and when they were able to be employed, they worked in better status jobs than Aboriginal men. The white women's movement was at that time concerned with sexuality and the right to say "yes", to be sexually active without condemnation. For Aboriginal women, who were fighting denigratory sexual stereotypes and exploitation by white men, the issues was more often the right to say "no". Where white women's demands to control their fertility were related to contraception and abortion, Aboriginal women were subject to unwanted sterilisation and continued to struggle against the loss of their children to interventionist welfare agencies.
Intersectionality
Even if you remove explicit racism from feminism, it is not enough to have anti-racism and feminism as two separate movements. There are specific issues and oppressions relating to non-white women which are not simply the intersection of the issues affecting white women and non-white men.
Feminism tends not to focus on these issues at all, and often works counter to them.
For example, as far as I can tell the accepted wisdom in the feminist movement is that the best way to deal with crimes against women is tougher sentencing and more powers for police. This ignores the hugely problematic relationship many non-white women have with the police, especially if they're poor or immigrant etc.
Firther complicating things are the other intersections with nationality, class, etc. Poor non-white women from non-western countries are not paid an awful lot of attention by mainstream feminism, except perhaps as faceless voiceless "victims" to pity.
Some particular issues which affect non-white women:
Australian issues
So the main places I've learned about this stuff have been on the internet, and thus have had a very american slant. I actually know embarrassingly little about the specifics of australian feminism, let alone as it relates to race.
I have heard it said that the australian women's movement in particular focusses very much on compromise and working within the staus quo. This makes us particularly prone to complicity with the existing social order in it's other aveniues of oppression ie racism, homophobia etc.
But some issues that come up here:
Immigrants
Aboriginal issues
And of course we shouldn't only care about the problems of australian women, white or otherwise. There are many very significant problems faced by women (and men!) overseas, on issues like rape as a weapon of war, reproductive freedom, and rights as basic as the vote.
Fandom
There have been so many arguments about racism in fanfic fandom (which it's important to note is very women dominated and has a significant feminist presence) that it's spawned it's own terminology: "Kerfuffles" and "imbroglios". Over and over, the pattern is that someone politely expresses a problem with something they feel is racist only to have the person they're criticising take it as a personal insult, and have all their friends rush to their aid and defensively attack anyone on the "other side".
Fantasy and science fiction have some seriously skeevy issues with cultural appropriation and exoticisation, and sff fans tend not to want to examine these to closely. (I have a lot to say on this topic as anyone whose read this lj for long will be aware :D)
I've heard a bit about non-white women feeling objectified and marginalised at american conventions, I don't know what it's like here but am sure similar stuff happens.
What can we white women do?
So, as far as I can tell the universally agreed first step in fighting against racism is to listen to the voices of non-white people. Which is to say, not me. I've got a bunch of links on the page to go with this panel to resources by non-white women talking about this stuff.
Now I'm white, and overall kind of clueless, so my interpretation should NOT be taken as gospel, but afaict beyond "shut up and listen" the general idea is:
My plan is was to briefly cover the basic ideas and then get into a moderated discussion where all I'll do is keep things on topic and inject the odd new idea or possible sub-topic, since I'm pretty sure people will have as much to explain to me as vice versa.
EDIT: I discussed what happened at this panel here. Overall it went ok.
Summary
This just covers the stuff I didn't write in dot-points to start with :)
-this panel is about the nature of race and racism, their history and how they interact with gender and feminism, and what we can do to fight racism as women.
-Open fluid discussion, I'm no expert and also have fried brain, will go through my main points and then we can discuss whatever
RACE
-race is a made up concept, but has power anyway and can't be ignored. Current form largely a creation of european colonialism, though xenophobia/predjudice etc are hardly new.
-racism=power+predjudice
-part of underlying social structure, creates white privilege.
-ALL racist. All white people have privilege and a responsibility to counter it, not our fault and no need to feel guilty, need to accept it, understand it, try to act as non/anti-racist as we can.
-to deal with racism we need to understand how it works and it's history
WHITENESS (equivalent of patriachy)
-invisible: see ourselves as "normal", the default, ie "australian"=white. Culture clash/racism is seen as a problem with "them", rather than a product of white culture.
-see anything from a white POV as objective, everything else as subjective (so we are "better qualified" to make decisions than anyone else)
-see our own privileged position as natural, anything which attacks that as "reverse racism"
-see non-white POV/experience as uniform (and less important) our own important and varied/individual
FEMINISM
-both have similar goals, but white women are still racist, and nonwhite men still sexist, so feminist and civil rights movement have rocky history. Tend to see their own cause as paramount, ignore experience and joint loyalty of those caught in the middle ie nonwhite women.
- tend to think we know best, make maternalistic decisions for nonwhite women rather than letting them have any power/voice
-"for all women" but mainly seems to notice the problems of white middle class women
NOT ALL BAD!
-Feminism (and society in general) has gotten a lot better over the past hundred years.
-white people can be strong and useful allies against racism *if we listen to what non-white people actually want* (at least that's what I tell myself)
Anti-racism 101
I'm going to assume we all agree that racism is bad. In my opinion, we white feminists are the worst sorts of hypocrites if we demand that men take our needs seriously without taking the needs of other disadvantaged groups just as seriously ourselves, and racism causes an awful lot of disadvantage.
So, first off I'm white, and don't really know that much about feminism or race, I'm just an interested amateur, so to speak. If you have any additions or corrections etc please speak up! EDIT: thankyou to everyone who's offered me advice! Please read the links and comments to see all the fine brains I picked to write this :)
A lot of non-white people overseas use the term "people of colour" or "women of colour" etc, but like a lot of australians the word pings as skin-crawlingly racist to me, even though I know that in that context it's not. I'm genuinely unsure as to what term non-white australians prefer as a rule, but I know some do identify as people of colour and don't like the term "non-white", and this is very true of americans, so that's something to keep in mind.
Also, I have HUGE problems following the "shut up and listen to non-white people" precept, since shutting up is completely against my nature, but I am going to make a really concerted effort not to speak over any non-white people who have something they want to say on this topic (I'll also try not to talk over the white ones too much as well :))
Feminism and racism
Feminism and anti-racism have had somewhat of a love-hate relationship. On the surface the two look like they should go together: they're both about fighting for legal and social equality for a historically oppressed group, and use similar principles, arguments and theory. After all, a lot of women are not white, and half of all non-white people are women.
Unfortunately, while some white feminists have been staunch supporters of the civil rights movement, on the whole white women are just as racist as white men, and mainstream feminism has had a pretty rocky history when it comes to race.
In the same way that history tends to be written about men, feminist history tends to be written about white women, and the many contributions of non-white feminists, and the specific history of the ways in which non-white women have been and are oppressed and mistreated, tend to be ignored. (This is even more true if they come from a non-western country) For example, in the late 19th/early 20th century white women were often directly responsible for the mistreatment of their aboriginal servants, who were basically treated as slaves.
Feminist theory and publishing focusses very much on the interests and needs of white middle class women and other voices tend to be lost. This generally isn't deliberate, but works in the same way that women's voices are ignored by male-dominated society: they're just not interesting or important enough, where these "objective" measures are of course based on the preferences and experiences of the privileged group.
Often non-white women are told that they should just follow mainstream feminism's lead out of solidarity with their "sisters", even if this lead ignores their actual needs, and if they instead (or also) choose to focus on issues of race then they are accused of factionalism or selfishness. But why should they be forced to put their gender above all the other aspects of their identity?
Many white small-l liberals, including feminists, have very simplistic and counterproductive attitudes towards "conservative" cultures/religions such as Islam, and tend to assume that they are incompatible with the general goals of feminism, thus alienating muslim etc feminists.
Anti-racist white people (including feminists) tend to decide whether or not something is racist, what should be done about it, and whether or not these actiopns are effective amongst ourselves without seeking out the opinions or experiences of non-white people.
Non-white women are seen as victims with no agency to be saved by white feminists. It is never considered that they might have their own feminist movements, or that their different experiences may lead to them pursuing a form of feminism with very different goals and approaches.
There is often an assumption that any woman who doesn't identify as feminist or criticises the woman's movement is either ignorant or a deliberate enemy of all women, and so any legitimate criticism of the movement is ignored as "petty factionalism".
Some examples of racism and the silencing/belittling of the voices of non-white people in the feminist movement:
- all the handwringing about how "unfeminist" it was for black women to vote for Barack Obama instead of Hillary Clinton, without any mention that it would be equally "racist" of them to vote the other way.
- In "In Our Time" Susan Brownmiller talks about how important white women were to the civil rights movement and how hurt they felt when they were later excluded, without seeming to have any sympathy for men being excluded from the feminist movement.
- Germain Greer's book "On Rage" blames the problems of aboriginal australia on the racism-caused rage of aboriginal men, without showing signs of having discussed her ideas with or even having met actual aboriginal australians.
From "Sister Girl" by Jackie Hughes (talking about attempts by the women's movement to recruit aboriginal women in the 1970s):
The white women's movement argued, for example, that compared to men, women in Australia were poorly educated and worked in poorly paid jobs. Yet Aboriginal women were better educated than Aboriginal men, and when they were able to be employed, they worked in better status jobs than Aboriginal men. The white women's movement was at that time concerned with sexuality and the right to say "yes", to be sexually active without condemnation. For Aboriginal women, who were fighting denigratory sexual stereotypes and exploitation by white men, the issues was more often the right to say "no". Where white women's demands to control their fertility were related to contraception and abortion, Aboriginal women were subject to unwanted sterilisation and continued to struggle against the loss of their children to interventionist welfare agencies.
Intersectionality
Even if you remove explicit racism from feminism, it is not enough to have anti-racism and feminism as two separate movements. There are specific issues and oppressions relating to non-white women which are not simply the intersection of the issues affecting white women and non-white men.
Feminism tends not to focus on these issues at all, and often works counter to them.
For example, as far as I can tell the accepted wisdom in the feminist movement is that the best way to deal with crimes against women is tougher sentencing and more powers for police. This ignores the hugely problematic relationship many non-white women have with the police, especially if they're poor or immigrant etc.
Firther complicating things are the other intersections with nationality, class, etc. Poor non-white women from non-western countries are not paid an awful lot of attention by mainstream feminism, except perhaps as faceless voiceless "victims" to pity.
Some particular issues which affect non-white women:
- being fetishised and seen even more as just sex objects than white women are (see for example the stereotype of the "hot asian woman")
- never included when society values/protects "The Family", "The Virtuous woman" etc.
- not included in mainstream ideas of attractiveness. In general, are unable to take advantage of the few avenues of "feminine power".
- a problematic relationship with "protective" forces like the police, government etc
- more likely to be poor, with all the associated issues
- being in a less powerful position, are more vulnerable to sexual assault and other abuse from those in power
- Different cultural standards mean they may be fine doing things white women would find restrictive and vice versa, but they are judged by white women's standards and seen as ignorant/oppressed if they don't act like a "normal" feminist (ie wearing the hijab can feel liberating and normal to many muslim women)
- muslim women in particular can have their lives severely curtailed when living in countries which are either non-muslim or anti-muslim, ie by restrictions on the wearing of headscarves, or even just the lack of gender segregated swimming pools
Australian issues
So the main places I've learned about this stuff have been on the internet, and thus have had a very american slant. I actually know embarrassingly little about the specifics of australian feminism, let alone as it relates to race.
I have heard it said that the australian women's movement in particular focusses very much on compromise and working within the staus quo. This makes us particularly prone to complicity with the existing social order in it's other aveniues of oppression ie racism, homophobia etc.
But some issues that come up here:
Immigrants
- There are apparently restrictive laws and expectations about the work migrants (especially dependent partners and women) can do.
- Being expected to "integrate" in all ways and reject their culture, while also getting a lot of rhetoric about how much more tolerant we are than their home country/culture
- Judged by australian standards of the traditional roles of men and women, which may not apply
- Women and familes are treated incredibly badly in detention centres
- Muslims vary in their attitudes toward gender as much as christians do, and do not see the religion as inherently sexist.
Aboriginal issues
- The stolen generation, women having their children stolen and families broken up
- Ditto the NT intervention, and welfare sanctioning. Parents are having their autonomy to raise their children taken away.
- See the list of problems I listed above
And of course we shouldn't only care about the problems of australian women, white or otherwise. There are many very significant problems faced by women (and men!) overseas, on issues like rape as a weapon of war, reproductive freedom, and rights as basic as the vote.
Fandom
There have been so many arguments about racism in fanfic fandom (which it's important to note is very women dominated and has a significant feminist presence) that it's spawned it's own terminology: "Kerfuffles" and "imbroglios". Over and over, the pattern is that someone politely expresses a problem with something they feel is racist only to have the person they're criticising take it as a personal insult, and have all their friends rush to their aid and defensively attack anyone on the "other side".
Fantasy and science fiction have some seriously skeevy issues with cultural appropriation and exoticisation, and sff fans tend not to want to examine these to closely. (I have a lot to say on this topic as anyone whose read this lj for long will be aware :D)
I've heard a bit about non-white women feeling objectified and marginalised at american conventions, I don't know what it's like here but am sure similar stuff happens.
What can we white women do?
So, as far as I can tell the universally agreed first step in fighting against racism is to listen to the voices of non-white people. Which is to say, not me. I've got a bunch of links on the page to go with this panel to resources by non-white women talking about this stuff.
Now I'm white, and overall kind of clueless, so my interpretation should NOT be taken as gospel, but afaict beyond "shut up and listen" the general idea is:
- Become aware of our own white privilege and the effect this has on our experience and behaviour
- don't expect non-white people to explain everything to you, or to heap praise on your for making a token effort at anti-racism. Anti-racism is hard work, but not as hard as being a victim of racism.
- Don't freak out and become defensive when you or your group is accused of perpetuating racism, instead take the criticism on board and see what can be done about it
- Don't focus on the sexism of non-white men, or blame all of non-white women's problems on sexism/non-white men/white men. Racism, and our part of it, is a major problem which should be our first priority.
- give non-white people autonomy, over their own lives and over the anti-racist movement. Our main goal should be to not get in the way, not take over and "help them". We should be fighting with them, not for them.
- be willing to give up power to non-white people. If they do not have the ability to make and enforce decisions we don't like, nothing will change.
- discussions of racism should centre on the experiences and opinions of non-white people, not on white people discussing their own experiences and opinions amongst themselves (like we're doing right now :/)
- Don't consider anti-racism an "added extra": it should be an inherent part of all political/social analysis and action. If you ever ask "What does this mean for women" then "What does this mean for non-white women" should always be part of your answer.
- Once you're aware of what non-white people are fighting for, support them in this
- Value the experiences and problems of non-white people as much as those of white people
- Work to fight racism in our local community. For me this means fandom, and in this context it also means feminism.