As a teenage girl living in a patriarchal society, I often encounter conversations about feminism and the misconceptions surrounding it. Many negative comments stem from the belief that feminism promotes man-hating or misandry – the opposite of misogyny. However, according to Britannica, feminism is simply “the belief in social, economic, and political equality among the sexes.” It began as a movement advocating for women’s voting rights, gender and reproductive rights, and equal economic opportunities. Yet, modern criticisms often focus on misconceptions rather than addressing the actual issues within Western feminism.
Western feminism primarily centers on the experiences of women in Western societies, often focusing on the struggles of white women while overlooking the diverse experiences of women of color and those from different cultural backgrounds. Historically, Western feminist movements achieved significant successes, but progress seemed to stall once white women gained freedom from many aspects of Western patriarchy. This left behind women of color who faced not only sexism and misogyny but also racism, ethnic cleansing, war, cultural erasure, and other systemic oppressions.
Today, while some feminists celebrate their privileges, countless women worldwide are still fighting for basic human rights. The issue with Western feminism is that it often stems from a place of privilege, leading to ignorance and exclusion. When white women in the West began their fight for equality, they primarily confronted sexism and patriarchy. In contrast, Black women and women of color faced compounded struggles, including segregation, lynching, genocide, and racial discrimination–on top of sexism and misogyny. They could not prioritize gender equality when they were still denied basic human rights. Entrenched in this paradigm is anti-blackness, a visceral assault against Black identity, both covert and overt, which diminishes the worth of Black bodies, propagating global dehumanization.
Elma Akob highlighted this issue, stating, “The problem with feminism is that it is individualistic. It tries to be representative of an entire gender group,” ignoring the cultural, racial, and ideological differences among women. Western feminism often caters to the needs of white women while claiming to represent all women. In doing so, it partners with patriarchal systems that continue to oppress women of color and non-Western women.
For example, Western feminism frequently ignores issues like misogynoir, the sexual violence against women in Congo, the suffering of women in Palestine, the displacement of girls in Sudan, the oppression of women in Afghanistan, the racial disparities in maternal mortality rates in the U.S., and the 230 million girls affected by female genital mutilation worldwide.
Fannie Lou Hamer said, which was reinforced by Maya Angelou, that none one of us can be free until we are all free. To achieve true equality, we must advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves and see outside of our own circumstances. Silence makes us complicit in ongoing injustices. Instead of continuing with Western feminism, we should embrace intersectional feminism, which acknowledges that oppression is multifaceted – shaped by race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and age. Intersectional feminism recognizes that women experience sexism differently, moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to gender equality.