It is well understood that in today’s society the feminist movement is significantly prevalent in the media and has spread rapidly across the world. Social media has created a gateway for users to express their opinions and viewpoints on the topic freely through the use of hashtags. #ToTheGirls, #MeToo, and #EverydaySexism have caught the attention of society and encouraged both men and women to learn more about the movement and join it as well. The primary goal of a feminist is to magnify the importance of gender equality and establish it in every part of society. The increasing popularity of this movement has provoked the creation of a fixed stereotype of women participating in the movement. Flare magazine defines the term white feminist as
“…a brand of feminism that minimizes, forgets or wilfully ignores the experiences of women of colour. It looks at womanhood through a beige-coloured, middle-class lens and ignores the many ways that women’s issues specifically affect Black women, and Latina women, and Indigenous women, and any women who aren’t… well, white.” (Bero).
The idea of white feminism has restricted many participants from achieving goals that the movement has as a whole as well as excluded those who do not fit this fixed stereotype.
The Waves
Throughout history, there has been selected time periods where the feminist movement was very abundant. Each of the three past waves have all had very distinct goals in mind, all for the main need for gender equality.
The first wave of feminism, beginning in nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focused on legal issues, specifically the right for women’s suffrage. Beginning at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1894, hundreds of women came together in support of the movement. Resulting in the 19th amendment, granting women the right to vote.
From the 1960s going into the 1980’s, the second wave of feminism focused on gender equality in the workplace and reproductive rights. During the time period of World War II, women played a vital role in filling in the spots of jobs previously occupied by the men who were now serving in the war. Propaganda figures such as Rosie the Riveter, encouraged women to participate in some of these jobs, which included labor-intensive tasks not typically fulfilled by women. Coming out of the World War II, there was an immense sense of confidence among the community of women who took part in the war effort, setting forth the second wave. This specific wave strived to highlight the imbalance in pay among both men and women and sexuality and reproductive rights. The ultimate goal of this wave was to pass the Equal Rights Amendment which granted social equality.
“Universal womanhood” (Rampton) was the target of the third wave of feminism taking place in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. This wave focused “on the lip-stick, high-heels, and cleavage proudly exposed by low cut necklines that the first two phases of the movement identified with male oppression” (Rampton).
The goal of this wave was to have a pay balance between both men and women and to highlight reproductive rights as well.
With the drastic increase in the use of technology, it could be argued that society is experiencing a fourth wave of feminism that combines all the goals of the past waves and presents it through social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other forms of media that society interacts with on a daily basis. With the use of technology, more people are exposed to the voice of the movement and more people are able to join the movement as well. The recognition of the LGBTI community has allowed for wider public acceptance of the feminist movement, granting more room for participants to advertise their cooperation.
The Muslim Woman
White feminism has caused the exclusion of women from many races, cultures, and ethnicities, particularly the Muslim women. From Attitudes Towards Muslim Women in the West, it was only till the tragedy of September 11, 2001 that many people grew concerned about Muslim women because of their unknown. Islamophobia has become drilled into the brains of society through constant interaction with the current media. Through misrepresentation by the media, Muslim women have been forced to hide their culture to avoid political backfire and shame. Typically, it is Hijab people are generally apprehensive of because of that misrepresentation through the power the media has. With the capability of technology today, it should be very easy to access information about the religion in order to truly understand it, but the media has the power to give false and biased information in a very alluring way. Muslim women are excluded from the feminist movement because of their unknown components and what is known is false due to the voice of the media.
The veiling in the Islamic religion is indeed a choice that a member makes themselves. The stereotypes facing muslim women, such as the oppression they encounter for veiling, is completely false. One who decides to veil is veiling out of the respect for their own religion and culture, not for a political statement. Pew Research Center says that “about four-in-ten Muslim women say they always wear hijab in public…” (Greenwood). Many women fear the persecution resulting from the choice to veil, so the number of women who do choose to follow their religious practices is decreasing rapidly. As mentioned in the Attitudes Towards Muslim Women in the West, “We need to take their views seriously, even if not at face value” (Abu-Lughod). If Muslim women were able to answer the questions themselves, the feminist movement would not be so divided. For the feminist movement to thrive, unity needs to be instilled, and there cannot be unity if Muslim women are lacking self confidence due to questions being answered for them.
White Feminists
Not all white women are white feminists. A white feminist is a feminist that chooses to disregard all the concerns of other feminists who aren’t white. “If you don’t know what a white feminist is, then you’re probably a white feminist” (Rodriguez-Cayro). If one is truly a full feminist, one of the main concerns is blocking out discrimination and creating unity within the movement so that goals can be achieved. A typical white feminist will try to ignore current race issues happening in today’s society. Without the knowledge of current issues, the obstacles become larger and larger, and the goals become further and further out of reach. A white feminist will also try and reinforce beauty standards, by identifying white models as a norm, but non-white models are seen as going too far and unpleasing to the eye. Singer/Songwriter Taylor Swift is a good example of a modern day white feminist. On many occasions, she has refused to recognize her significant amount of white privilege, has exercised cultural appropriation in countless music videos, and defines feminism as just “equality” which doesn’t even begin the scratch the surface of the true meaning of feminism and what it stands for. White feminists neglect Muslim women and their struggles because they are so full of white privilege and high standards, that the struggles of others don’t even cross their minds.
Solution
In order stop the spread of white feminism in the movement, intersectional feminism needs to be promoted. As mentioned earlier, the fourth wave of feminism that society is experiencing now is being heard through the power of the media. If intersectional feminism can be widely promoted in social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.), there is a very high chance that society will recognize the need for unity and therefore, the movement will have a better chance of reaching their overall goal of total equality between the sexes. There are, of course, limitations to this broad solution. Not everyone has access to social media outlets, meaning that the campaign would not reach all of society. But today, many countries rely on media on a day to day basis, so a very high percent of the population would be exposed to the promotion of intersectional feminism. This solution has a high possibility of relieving the issue of white feminism and uniting the movement as a whole.
Conclusion
The involvement of white feminism has caused a great amount of division within the feminist movement itself. Muslim women in particular have felt excluded due to their lack of representation at the hands of the media.