The idea that radical feminism is just for white women and that all radical feminists talk about is white women is so laughable to me. I hate to break it to these people but equating the idea of a fight for gender equality with white western culture and labelling the misogynistic elements of non western cultures as progressive and based is actually so harmful. I care about all women, I’m not going to turn a blind eye to women of colour being oppressed by their own cultures out of fear of being labelled a racist sorry.
As a woman of color, I appreciate the solidarity and am glad that so many women and girls, regardless of race or culture, feel this duty to speak up for each other! ❤
For many women of color, "radical feminism" is just what we call feminism, because most of the concepts promoted by other types of "feminism" or other ideologies, weren't feasible to us and doesn't help at all. Only radical feminism addresses the root of our oppression and inequalities.
Also, I do feel like it's important though that we never forget about how there are also still many white women and girls who suffer so much under the patriarchy and poverty, who end up forgotten. As a woman of color from a more "conservative" culture who's faced a lot of obstacles in obtaining freedom and independence as a direct result of the more misogynistic elements of my culture, my feminism is similarly meant to fight for the liberation of all women and girls, and that does include the white girls & women who are suffering too, wherever they're from. And it also includes women and girls from other cultures and religions who are being silenced by their governments and countries. We need to continue to speak up for them and to elevate their voices and their struggles.
I feel that it's such a shame that radical feminism is so demonized or assumed to be for white women only, because liberal feminists and antifeminist women need to understand that for some societies with oppressive regimes and misogynistic governments where women and girls have close to zero power or say, especially Islamic governments, women and girls won't be able to get anywhere close to being treated as equal for as long as Islamic rule exists. All religions are patriarchal and are not on the side of women and girls. It's pretty gross and upsetting when liberal feminists try to defend and protect outdated misogynistic elements of foreign cultures out of the misguided intention of being progressive, while ignoring that by doing this, they are helping undo the work and progress made by the many (deceased/murdered) feminists who belong to those cultures who'd been openly critiquing and trying to change their cultures and societies for so long).
For reasons like these, I had always thought of liberal feminism as "white feminism", to be honest. It just peeves me so much when I hear false claims like "radical feminism is white feminism", when radical feminism is literally just feminism. It's what feminism was always meant to aim for, for all women and girls around the world.
It's a privileged position for liberal feminists from wealthier/middle-class non-abusive upbringings to be able to dismiss and put down radical feminism, since only radical feminism is able to acknowledge and address how so many of these gender equalities come from lack of access to money, knowledge, education, a support system, etc. In my opinion, I think that poverty, lack of access to education, and unstable corrupt governments are the biggest issues that need to be addressed to be able to feasibly liberate some of the most oppressed women and girls in the world.
