This week's post was supposed to be about 'Our Shared Shelf' (OSS), a book club created by Emma Watson, the UN's He For She ambassador. Now, don't get me wrong, its not that I didn't that it was a good blog post or that it wasn't 'important' enough for my blog, its just that I have come across something far more important for me to talk about: my white privilege. In the scheme of feminists I believe we're all on the same side, and we all have the same goal, which is equality of the sexes. But, after reading an article on Al Jazeera, and another article on everyday feminism, and yet another on Bustle I realised that I am a feminist who benefits from white privilege. I have obviously read about, and realised, white privilege, hell I've even conversed with others about how ridiculous I think the whole concept is, and I accept that thinking that white privilege is 'ridiculous' is ridiculous in itself, and just plain wrong. After reading these articles, I realised how unfounded my blog post on OSS was. I was writing about a book club that I liked, as a white female, spear headed by a white female [Watson]. I can't pin point why I liked OSS, I would hope it would be because I liked what it stood for, not for the fact that I related to the creator based upon gender and skin colour. I read these articles, and realised two things, a) that I am highly privileged and need to start accepting, appreciating, and being aware of that and b) that my goals for feminism/equality are highly different to those feminists of colour. The article on Bustle was the one that really didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point highlighting the privilege that white feminists benefit from. One quote that really made me self-aware was, "The plight of a middle-class, straight, white, American woman is not the same as that of an uneducated, gay, American woman of color. While the former fights for equal pay and paid maternity leave, the latter is more concerned with stopping race-related police brutality, acquiring better funding for inner-city public schools, and developing more comprehensive treatment programs for HIV.". I [almost] fit the description of the first type of feminist, meaning that its likely that I don't relate with the latter type of feminist, which is absolutely true. And I don't feel bad about the fact that is who I am, that isn't this article's aim, I do however feel more self-aware of what I'm expecting the success of feminism to emulate. I'm educated, and plan on studying at a tertiary level, and my main goal for my own personal feminist vendetta is for equal pay and international education for all women. Which probably is different to a woman of colour in a lower socio-economic class than myself. In no way am I trying to explain how it feels to be a feminist of colour, because that is something I obviously cannot speak truthfully about, but I am trying to take responsibility about my ignorance about white privilege and white feminism. I will never try to speak from the perspective of feminist of colour, but I do believe that feminists of colour need a platform on which to speak on feminism for people of colour. It is extremely important that this happens. What I have derived from becoming self-aware about my white feminist privilege, is that it is [from my point of view] that feminists of colour quite possibly feel the way that I do when men 'mansplain' things that they have no idea about, when white feminists talk on feminism when it concerns anyone who isn't of the same cultural background as them. Yet still, I know that I will never fully relate nor understand to a feminist of colour's struggle. I will however attempt to see see life from their perspective. On another feminist note, I really wanted to draw attention to one of my favourite feminists, Amber Rose. I find her approach to feminism straight forward, if not a little brash, but its highly effective. It gets her perspective and point across in a way that isn't difficult to understand, unless of course you just don't want to listen. I have a real problem with victim blaming when it comes to sexual assault. A women should be able to dress how she likes, and feel completely comfortable walking down the street. Women don't dress for men, they dress for themselves. Just because a male thinks that a woman's skirt is so short she's 'asking for it', does not mean that she is. Unless a woman specifically opens her mouth and asks for it, then she doesn't want it. I suggest you watch the video below for a briefer explanation. I think its highly important for fellow white feminists like myself, to become self aware of our privilege as it means that our fight is different to those women of colour. Being aware and considerate is what will ensure that feminism doesn't become just another machine in the patriarchy. - C
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