Before I say anything, I just want to make sure everyone understands this is based on my OWN experience and subjective views based on the society around me. I do not mean any of what I say in a malicious manner, nor do I intend it to be hurtful to anyone. I apologize in advance if it doesn’t settle well with you. I don’t expect everyone to agree and that’s okay.
What is Feminism? According to the Oxford dictionary, “the belief and aim that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men.” I, completely and absolutely support this— I definitely stand in favour of this. Then why don’t I support feminism as a female? Well, it is not feminism itself that I don’t support, it’s what it has become that I don’t advocate for. From my own experience and worldview, the people within the movement have become very malignant and have gone astray from feminism’s original motives. Rather than fighting for equal rights and opportunities, they fight for superiority and dominance over the other sex, thus, I wouldn’t even consider calling those people “feminists”. It has progressively become a liberal white feminist movement, and I have felt the effects of it. Maybe other POC may relate, but this Western feminism is definitely not inclusive and does not validate women of different ethnic and racial backgrounds at all.
When I say white/Western feminism, I do not mean the racial status of women, but rather the white feminists who do not want to acknowledge the racial patriarchy and the racial privileges that has immensely plagued the movement. “You also can be brown or black and still be a white feminist, in that you can still be supporting the larger systematic architecture of racism,” (González-Ramírez, 2021). When you bring this issue forth, they are quick to dismiss the concern— calling it “internalized misogyny,” or labelling one as “anti-feminist,” as they are not ready for that talk. It genuinely makes me question the movement’s credibility and integrity. “The problem is the well-meaning liberal white women are not malicious in their individual actions. But there’s also no tabulation of the cost of their good intentions, the cost they impose on other women, the space they take up, and the paternalism of the way they want to essentially keep the white feminist saviour role for themselves,” (González-Ramírez, 2021). In all honesty, the feminist movement is in a dire need of recognizing and fixing their own shortcomings before jumping in to advocate for other women at a global level; they need a reform.
Just on a ending note, I do want to restate that I absolutely stand in solidarity with women fighting for equal rights and opportunities (the original motives of Feminism), as I, myself, advocate for that. However, personally, I don’t stand with (western/white) feminism anymore as they haven’t done much to fight for women of colour other than bringing down minorities and talking over them.