This book is my opening gambit, my ‘must read’ text as part of my feminist re-education because I am white, cis gendered, feminist-identified and middle-class. From these basic facts, I know that unless I understand my own positionality, I will never be able to learn more than superficially about feminism. Reading this book is part of my unlearning. This is part of opening my eyes to the feminist messages that I have absorbed over 45 years without realising the same messages weren’t being communicated to every other woman. Starting with this book is my first step to stripping back to basics, and understanding that the ‘feminist’ I have always believed myself to be may well be so flawed it could be called a sham.
Once you read this book, I don’t believe anyone could repackage themselves back into their previously held, diminished feminist form. Koa’s skilfull, erudite and comprehensive exposure of the history, capitalist brandification, and alternatives to white feminism is compelling, and will remain a ‘must read’ on my book list for this (self created!) curriculum. One key learning is recognising that oppressive women (let’s call them out as they still exist) who exclude or ‘other’ are doing exactly the same as patriarchal structures and misogyny have done to them.
Koa hits true and hard with her opening chapter on the centralising of white feminism, with other realities positioned as alternatives to being cis, female, white, white-aspiring, middle class, able bodied, young and straight.. Very quickly, we understand that white feminism has, as its core Ideology: personalised autonomy, individual wealth, perpetual self-optimisation and supremacy – centred in the accumulation of individual power rather than the redistribution of it. The kicker (not a spoiler, let’s be honest) is that women of colour, poor women, and ‘other’ women are being left behind, whilst issues that trap them are not considered ‘feminist’ issues.
White feminism positions the singular ‘you’ as the agent of change rather than a fight against structural bias. In this paradigm, there is no thought of putting collective rights ahead of an individual’s progress. I wonder if this was the extent of my own feminism which centred around attaining expertise and leadership in male–dominated fields, achieving a heterosexual marriage with a cis man, and believing I was fully ‘choosing’ to be a stay at home Mum.
I was not familiar, or seeking to become familiar with, the hurdles and adaptations required to exist, let alone advance, as a queer, biracial, disabled ot ‘other’ woman. I was focussed on my own self-development, and my own battle to be treated equally. Koa points out (with crystal clarity) that the core ideals of white feminism are; lean in (thank you Sheryl Sandberg, but isn’t that more ‘lean on’ other women?), money is feminist, abortion rights are central, having ‘it all is possible’, finding the best creams to make you look less tired in the boardroom, and singing the joys of gardening in times of crisis.
For a stark history lesson, Koa charts the path from early suffrage movements (in the US) where early marches, campaigns and groups failed to be inclusive of black suffragettes, along with excluding queers, trans and other groups. She explores how white groups were reluctant to cede control of their single issue (sexism) campaign, and feared any dilution or sacrifice required to include racial issues for women of colour. Gatekeeping the feminist narrative, white feminism met threats to their own agenda with fear, suspicion or dismissal.
The history continues on from the ongoing strategy of conquering male dominated spaces, to the emergence of self and second wave feminism with white feminists seeking to have it all and untether from the home. The most compelling point here is that women’s unpaid labour, work and care within the home that no one sees, respects or values, was handed over to other (hired) women (sometimes unethically). White feminism’s ability to advance depended on these other women to do the domestic work for them. This led to women with the upward economic mobility to become their own versions of 1950s men in the post-millennial age.
The latter throes of white feminism are charted via the ‘I’m not a feminist but…..’ phase much loved by celebrities keen to avoid vilification culture (see Taylor Swift), through to the #MeToo campaign and the growth of celebrity endorsement for feminism once commodification of the ideology was evident.
Throughout this book, Koa highlights how, instead of a protest vehicle, feminism has become a brand, how it has ‘gone corporate’ with feminist lifestyle hashtags, materialism and power.
Feminism = Capitalism = Patriarchy. She shows how Sheryl Sandberg’s lean in feminism begins and ends with the notion that it’s all about gender equality, enhanced productivity and women ‘overcoming’ within the existing social system, rather than unpicking the whole system.
Koa challenges us to think of ways in which we can remember what feminism was pushing for in the first place and if it is possible to be expanded to other marginalised areas? Areas such as LGBTQ+ rights, racial equality, disability rights, human rights, immigration reform, women’s rights, environmental protections. She challenges feminists to be wary of the false casting of the single hero – the one woman who will ‘save us all’ suggesting that it’s easier to relax if we can hope that someone is going to ‘sort it all out’’ for us
She points out that we need to think in terms of structures, policies, not managers and promotions and that to avoid white feminism, we need to incorporate points of view that this ideology doesn’t account for. She challenges with “If you are in a position of power and you are not doing this, what even are you doing?”
I end with this quote, which aligns so fully with that I am trying to do myself.
“But there is very little that you, the single person holding this book….., can do. The revolution will not be you alone, despite what white feminism has told you. There is only the resistance movements that you will build with other people. Across the women you work with, the other people in your neighborhood, and the communities you build digitally and nationally”.
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