Is it a cause if it’s not yours? Privilege should have no place in feminism

Feminism is often I topic I try to avoid in my writing due to the raga raga drama I often see circulating on the TL over what is and is not feminism. From debates around #MenAreTrash, to debates around clothing/style defining one’s political/moral views. It just seemed like a world I wanted no part of due to social media’s discussion of the movement.

• Do I believe in the right to safe abortions, equal education, and affordable menstrual products – Yes
• Do I believe in equal pay and job opportunities – Yes
• Do I believe in girls being raised to be ‘likeable’ – No
• Does it bother me that I hear school girls saying that they could never end up with a man that earns less than them – Yes
• Do I believe in boys being raised to link their masculinity and consequently, their self worth to money – No

So then what I assume my true qualm is, like any social or political movement, the blanketing nature of it. The dominance of specific aspects of a cause although labelled in a sweeping manner, giving the illusion that the cause is for all when it is really for a few.

Girls was a popular TV show by Lena Dunham which was created to reflect the average life of a group of young, female New Yorkers. Highly acclaimed for reflecting the ‘average girl’, despite pretty much all of the main characters being white in one of the most (if not the most) diverse cities in America. Reni Eddo-Lodge highlighted in her recent book ‘Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race‘ that some critics wrote that it would be pure tokenism to write in a black or other ethnic minority character for the sake of diversity.

This caused outrage among numerous black feminists due to the argument that black lives are not ‘normal’ lives which deserve to be shown in a setting which claims to be ‘the norm’. Many of those who spoke out were labelled as ‘angry black women’ in passive ways during interviews and review articles on their statements. Reni Eddo-Lodge summarises the ‘angry black woman’ brilliantly, displaying why so many who are labelled as such subsequently feel angry even if they weren’t at the start, simply because this label automatically shuts down the potential for that woman’s voice to be heard without the listener having a filter over their ears which echoes:

 “The angry black woman cannot be reasoned with. She argues back. She is not docile, sweet or agreeable, like expectations of white femininity. Her anger makes her ugly and undesirable.”

From the perspective of many black feminists, caught between the prejudice which comes with their gender and race combined, it is frustrating to think that we live in a time where the world is a tap and scroll away from us, so how can we solely on the feminist issues which affect our own existences?

Have we become desensitised, selfish or lazy in our thinking, actions, and words against prejudice in a cause we so claim to be advocates for? – But this question is not solely for mainstream feminists. It is for every person calling themselves a feminist in the western world.

The last international feminist issue I remember nations from around the world gathering behind was the abduction of the Nigerian girls by the Boko Haram back in 2014. The story dominated headlines for weeks and gained the support of notable people such as  Michelle Obama. Why was this case particularly notable in the media? I can only think it was due to the scale of girls abducted and the recent western uprising against the Boko Haram as the new terror group of focus. Of course I am glad that the world took the lives of these young, black, Muslim girls seriously, however, there are so many more noteworthy cases which should take the media by storm my often.

For as much as it frustrates me when I see women protesting against voice assistants such as Alexa having a female voice, or outrage over the lack of ‘walking women’ lights on traffic lights; I have to think about my own privilege and consequential outrage over issues such as the lack of acceptance of black hair in professional and educational settings, or a lack of nudes for my skin shade in the make up aisle of Superdrug or the tights section of Zara. From FGM, a practice which  is usually performed under unsterile conditions and without anaesthetic and can cause permanent health problems, severe pain, and death; to force-feeding in Mauritania due to the standard of beauty and perceptions of a healthy child-rearing woman; to the denial of education, driving, adequate healthcare etc etc etc, our level of care for such issues seems to be from a selfish perspective. Like “I care about this because it affects me”. But this perspective is very much in contrast to what social causes stand for.

As MLK said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. And as Desmond Tutu said “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”. Although these quotes are overly rinsed in the world of Instagram posts, they hold true to how we should perceive and support social causes such as feminism. Yes, the injustices we face in our daily lives are significant and deserve voice and actions to address them, but we shouldn’t forget or dismiss the struggles which millions of women around the world are facing on a daily basis and do not have the resources to give a voice and action to either. The equality of women in first world countries alone cannot be considered a victory.

@CillaHope_

TheMoveHub.com