~ All views are my own, we can agree to disagree. ~
I am standing in front of you as a person in the 21st century. I’m standing in front you as an activist. I’m standing in front of you as a young woman of colour. Today this speech is dedicated to those who aren’t the Emma Watson’s but rather the Yara Shahidi’s of this world.
I’m willing to enlighten you on a controversial topic regarding why I’m unable to identify with feminism. On how I believe women of colour are peripheral to what feminism fights for.
But firstly what is (mainstream) feminism. The dictionary definition states that feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of inequality of the sexes. Although I disagree that the fight against the inequality of the sexes is true when it’s standing in all creeds, shades and colours.
Feminism claims to advocate for women’s liberation and equality between the sexes: one way is via activism to reduce the gender pay gap. In fact the gender pay gap currently stands at its lowest ever level in the UK at just 18% according to GOV.UK. This means that for every £1 a man earns a woman would earn 82p. But that’s as long as you’re a white woman. If you’re a black woman in 2018 you’ll only earn 62p. You’d have to work for 8 more months to get the same wage as a white man did 8 months earlier. This is even more worrying when over half of black children live in single parent – usually single mum households. I’d hate to think that my sex, my pigmentation and my hair texture could affect what I earn for doing the same job. I’d hate to play catch up.
Whatever happened to woman unity? The ‘your fight is our fight’ notion? White feminists suddenly become silent partners. Surely if feminism truly has integrity for equality it would be fighting for equal pay for ALL women in all complexions, socio- economic backgrounds and all in statures. This is why I cannot call myself a feminist.
Another point is that more often than not the faces of feminism are dominated by if not solely are white women. An obvious example is Emma Watson who gave a speech to the UN on her battle with sexism during her career and why she is a feminist. Her 14-minute-long speech has over 7 million views and kudos to her. She was also given the privilege of being the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and the figurehead of the HeForShe campaign.
But why wasn’t this platform shared between or given to a woman who resembles me? Someone who I can relate too.A feminist who identifies with my experience? After all by 2050 non-whites will be a majority in the US and Europe. Surely this is the reality of the future, the future of feminism.
The truth of the matter is that if there is a chronic lack of women of colour at the forefront of feminism. So, it’s inevitable that there’ll be an underlying divisiveness in this community. Look at the over-popularized social media hashtag me too movement which became synonymous with women and in some cases, men breaking their silence as victims of sexual harassment and vying for change. Although there were a few women of colour such as America Ferrera and Gabrielle Union to popularize this hashtag. But undoubtedly the users of this hashtag to receive the most clout are you guessed it white women to reel off a few names Lady Gaga, Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan.
What’s particularly interesting is that in Time magazine’s person of the year cover there was a suspected erasure of Tarana Burke’s photo from this front cover. Despite the fact that Tarana Burke founded the hashtag ME TOO movement to shine light on sexual assault survivors in underprivileged communities, a decade ago without it gaining full recognition then. This just goes to show how the levels of privilege within feminism and that women of colour are much too often shunned from the realms & heights of feminism.
There’s also no doubt that the experiences of white women who are the pedestal of feminism are polarized to those of black women for instance. So there will almost, never be a common denominator between us. Between white ‘feminiazis’ and the ordinary black woman standing before you. Unless we start a dialogue to build on the femininity, unity and love for women’s liberation that we all possess. I’ll be honest with you. I can’t separate my colour and my gender. These two variables are intersectional and pivotal to every aspect of my being. When I enter and leave work spaces, social spaces and intellectual spaces I am and always will be a black woman. Not just black and not just a woman. But a black woman. So therefore I want a movement which recognises this. I want a movement which values this. I want a movement which doesn’t try to trivialise this. So if feminism fails to do this I’ll take my consumerism somewhere else. Because what about hashtag me too !
A.A blogs 