#correctly applied intersectionality

[barbies-modern-cousin]

I knew that the general populations of tumblr hated non-white women with a burning passion only matched by their love of shipping two white guys together but after reading the Kimberlé Crenshaw essay that originally coined "intersectionality" and seeing the way its been bastardized on here legitimately has me seeing red. The way something as simple to understand as, "women who exist on multiple axis of oppression, i.e. black women, often have their unique experiences erased when separate discussions of anti-black racism and misogyny are had" has been warped into "marginalized white people and men face unique discrimination on account of them being [insert marginalized identity] + white/men and if you disagree ummmm haven't you ever heard of intersectionality? *links wikipedia page* checkmate, bigot!"

Like, I am just at a loss for words. I don't know how to explain to these people that marginalized white people and men are not oppressed or neglected on the basis of being white/men, so it's quite silly (and that's being generous) to assert that there is any type of intersection between their marginalized identity and their identity as a white person/man that makes them uniquely oppressed. In fact, in positing such notions you lend credence to fascist concepts such as "anti-white racism" or "anti-male sexism." And when I try to explain this, they will ignore me, hurl misogynistic and racist slurs at me, or most bewildering of all bring up white people and men with additional marginalized identities as a "gotcha!" of... sorts. Either you fundamentally do not understand what I'm trying to explain to you or you're being willfully obtuse, but either way you are twisting the writings of black feminists so that they can fit into your incredibly reactionary worldview and I refuse to engage with you ghouls any further on that basis.

TL;DR: Before you try to lecture anyone, let alone feminists of color or transfeminists (least of all feminists who are both!) on "not understanding what intersectionality is," you should probably read the original essay by Kimberlé Crenshaw first. This may seem like a no-brainer, but alas, it is not.

[barbies-modern-cousin]

in general I think a lot of damage was done when people started pushing for intersectionality as its own branch of feminism (see: "intersectional feminism"), rather then a framework for feminist analysis.

[barbies-modern-cousin]

i think it's really great that we've associated any and all feminism that is even a smidge deeper than "women are so hecking cool" with white cis american women. I think it's awesome that I basically always have to be on guard for being called white whenever I post about misogyny being a real, observable societal force that impacts my life and lives of all women every fucking day and not, as popular perception would tell you, a vague, ill-defined concept that has no real bearing or impact on our existence. I'm so glad misogyny is recognized among self-proclaimed leftists as a lesser oppression, something that is only ever taken seriously by evil privileged white woman. and of course this all has nothing to do with how we interact with and treat feminists of color or transfeminists or feminists not from the imperial core and all the other additionally marginalized feminist women.

[barbies-modern-cousin]

there's this insanely oversaturated genre of faux-progressive who is somehow able (or rather, pretends) to understand how violence operates on a systemic level, to point out micro-aggressions, and pick up on nuances in behavior of the oppressor towards the oppressed and vice versa UNTIL it comes to (trans)misogyny. then all of a sudden their brains cannot manage any higher-order thinking and you're "looking too much into it" and also probably evil.

for the best examples of this phenomenon, please see how the vast majority of the populations of Tumblr and other adjacent sites react when exposed to any feminist concept that is even a smidge more complex than "feminism is about letting women choose!" or "women are just so heckin awesome >_<"

[barbies-modern-cousin]

it's soooooooooo interesting being on tumblr because so many people on here will claim to hate TERFs and claim to be pushing back against TERF rhetoric, and that's good, but the longer you're on here the more and more you notice a) most people don't actually know what TERF rhetoric is or how to identify it and in turn b) don't know or care about the extent of the harm TERFs commit towards primarily trans women and non-white trans women especially but regardless of this c) will absolutely sling the words 'TERF' or 'radfem' at any feminist who dares to engage with feminist thought and theory on any level beyond "it is cool when women do things" and yes this includes transfeminists.

[barbies-modern-cousin]

if you have ever thought as yourself as useless just remember that there exists cis women who genuinely believe we have more in common with trans men (who are notably not women) than we do with trans women (who notably ARE women). Whose "trans-inclusive feminism" only advocates for trans men on this basis. And who truly consider themselves to be allies to trans people because of this.

[barbies-modern-cousin]

beyond disgusted by the (cis) feminists and women's organizations who are just blatantly unwilling to speak up and condemn the ongoing transfemicide happening across the globe

[barbies-modern-cousin]

once you do the reading yourself, it's pretty fucking easy to differentiate who has actually read the writings of black feminists and who merely gestures towards them in order to shut down conversations about women's liberation.

"uh that's not true, go read women, race, and class? it clearly proves (something angela davis never even mentions in passing) see how #woke I am!"

I actually think it's really fucking disgusting how people will deliberately twist the words of black feminists or just straight up lie about what they have to say and pretend it makes them a revolutionary or something. doubly so when it is done to silence feminists of color and/or transfeminists. you are functionally no different then some reactionary on fox news.