*Fifteen years ago, feminist icon Gloria Steinem appeared on the cover of BUST magazine, dressed in a black T-shirt emblazoned with “F Word” and standing with her hands on her hips. The mag has covered Ms. Steinem regularly ever since, even awarding her the BUST Golden Bra award at its 20th anniversary party.
Now, for the Dec/Jan 2016 issue, the publication is chatting with her once again, this time about her latest book, “My Life On The Road,” and Gloria dishes on racism, queers and modern day feminism, telling BUST that she credits black women for starting the movement.
“Nothing in this country is not affected by racism and sexism and class, it’s not as if one can be exempt from those influences,” she said. “But in my experience, the women’s movement was less subject to them than any other large group that I’ve been part of. We all have different experiences and this probably wasn’t true from everyone, but I learned feminism disproportionately from black women.”
Some may side-eye Gloria’s comment, believing the movement has primarily prioritized “the experiences and voices of cisgender, straight, white women over women of color, queer women and those who fall outside this narrow identity.”
Do you agree?
As Batty Mamzelle Cate Young told Mic, white feminism is essentially “any expression of feminist thought or action that is anti-intersectional.”
Back in 2013, The Root’s Joycelyn A. Wilson wrote: “I am more convinced that a theoretical framework created by white women for white women cannot justifiably articulate, critique, heal or celebrate the complexities of black women’s perspectives without dropping the ball at some point.”
Many black female activists believe the feminist movement hurts black women more than it helps them, and you don’t have to throw a stone too far to find a black man who will shout to the Gods that the feminist movement helped to destroy the black family back in the 60s/70s.
Over the years, many mediocre white feminists have used their voice to attack and minimize the legit concerns black women deal with in this racist society.
Jewish, feminist “journalist” Rebecca Griffin once wrote: “When black women attack ‘white feminism,’ they are forgetting who made it possible for them to have rights — as women. And, they are racist.”
So did we (black women) start the movement, or must we fall to our knees in worship of white women everywhere for giving her all to ensure that we are allowed the same basic rights to life as she has?
What are your thoughts on the modern day feminist movement?
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