Why I am Not a Feminist, or “My Anti-Feminist Manifesto”
READ IT ALL. 1. Being a woman, and being a woman of color, and being a Muslim, I choose to not be a feminist or in any way have the term feminist applied to my person, my choices, my thoughts, my writings or my art. I reserve the right to self-identify as I see fit and to define myself in relation to my culture and my ideals. I do not wish to take
( Read more... )
I strongly disagree with:
c. I do not feel the need to make myself a part of something where I am not wanted. It is my personal belief that women of color trying to stuff ourselves into the feminist movement does us an injustice. We do not need to broaden the acceptance of our experience into formal feminist theory. We do not need to make feminism “our own”. We can create our own revolutions, not jump on the bandwagon of that of another and then cry when we are pushed off.
First of all, I'm not going to tell any women who thinks like her that she's doing herself an injustice so I'd appreciate it if a) she wouldn't put all WOC in a box and b) told me that I'm doing myself an injustice. I understand that a lot of these women are white privileged middle class able bodied etc
A lot of what I resent is the tone of "it's not made for you" and "these women need to be educated." It's also as if the problems that people point out frequently aren't good enough? I'm a young girl who's been battling self-loathing my whole life. I have an ED, I'm overweight, I often feel inadequate so what's very important to me are beauty norms and challenging i. There's nothing wrong with that.
I realize that as a black woman I am different and I am marginalized but I'm also privileged in my own sense ("straight" privilege-ish, cisgendered, upper middle class, able bodied.) It doesn't have to be as them v. us as she's making it seem. But I do have to agree that racism is as big a problem as sexism. It won't ever stop being that. I do think that when people say that it's so so wrong.
Then there’s Gloria Steinem, Erica Jong, Jessica Valenti, Amanda Marcotte, and any number of white feminists from the second and third wave that really ruin feminism for the rest of us. If they’re not insisting we put aside our “of color”-ness in favor of our woman-ness, they’re busy using their white privilege to marginalize, dismiss, silence, or otherwise treat us the way those pesky white men they’re so angry with do.
I'm not really familiar with any of these people's works (save for Jessica Valenti who I am not a fan of at all) but that's probably one of the most insulting things someone could ask me to do.
Anyway, in all these paragraphs I mean I really get what she's saying and why she's saying it. She doesn't have to call herself a feminist but she does have mostly feminist beliefs which puts her in a hard place.
EVERY TIME I POST I WRITE A MILLION PARAGRAPHS YET I CAN'T WRITE A DAMN FRENCH PAPER.
Reply
Reply
Oh btw you're on wiwt2 right? I see you comment there I think~
Reply
and yes ma'am! i'm a temp mod over there too
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment