How Feminists Need to Stop Worrying & Learn to Embrace Critique in the Post Women’s March Era
Erasing a history due to your lack of respect for the sacrifices of the marginalized
It goes without saying that the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t some extra curricular activity. It was a movement that grew from one of the most violent eras of our nation’s history. Civil Right’s leaders put their lives and safety on the line, literally, for black folks to be seen as human beings & full citizens. Civil Rights leaders were assassinated for working to make the invisible humanity of black folk, visible. Many of the issues the leaders called in to question still persist and contribute to black death and injustice. The Million Man March. Million Women March and the March on Washington are all events that have happened for black liberation. The Womens March on Washington, previously titled the Million Women March, obviously lifted inspiration from the work of black activists in the past. Whether or not you support the march, ignoring the fact the movement was co-opted, or acting like it “doesn’t matter” erases the work of Civil Rights leaders, is disrespectful and racist. FULL STOP.
In the same vein, A Day Without A Woman, despite whatever international examples you’re reaching to present, was inspired by the recent A Day Without Immigrants. (This has been verified by the organizers.) This was a very specific collective act designed to counter the violent anti-immigrant narrative in our country right now. Our country’s xenophobia is violent, harmful, and is splitting families apart. Yet our country also pretends that it doesn’t have a dependency immigrant workforces, while we paint immigrants as violent, lazy scourges on society. A day without immigrants was designed to counter xenophobic language and highlight humanity. Once again, co-opting this erases that point - and whether or not you plan to strike you simply CAN NOT close your eyes & ears and ignore that this erasure is very real. Denying this only cements the erasure and devalues the initial message even more.
These aren’t just nit-picky examples. This is to explain that this is a very important trend that deserves to be acknowledged. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away and it makes it impossible for future events to reflect any type of genuine self awareness.
The invisible labor of marginalized solidarity
Despite the obvious evidence of the Womens March Co-Opting and erasing the labor and efforts of Civil Rights leaders, many black women attended the march. Even I have posted speeches given by black women at the Womens March, and followed it very closely. It is a false narrative to assert that it is mutually exclusive for one to be critical of a movement or event as well as supportive of its parts, some attendees, or learn from the fruits of its existence. As a black female who attended a PWI, I am no stranger to this. For 4 years I learned at an insutition that fundamentally came at odds with my marginalized identity in most ways. (Unsurprisingly my classmates and I were also faced with the response of “you should be grateful to be here” whenever we voiced dissent and critique - so way to be consistent y'all). But to my earlier point, there were many who came out in droves to support and participate in the women’s march who’s identities may not have been represented, celebrated, or fully recognized by the leadership/crowd of their local march. This is not new to the marginalized and it does not have to be explained to us, especially to black women, that in feminism you often are asked to join in and support a cause that may not support or respect the individual intricacies of your identity.
When feminist communities mirror abusive relationships
Perhaps there is a belief that a movement can only grow to represent and support you and your needs if you stand inside of it, put in work and push it to grow. The main problem with that framework is that often times it gets written as this: Put in labor and work if you expect us to validate your humanity. Don’t expect us to want to help you if you keep criticizing what we’re doing wrong. How do you expect me to respect your humanity if you don’t present me your research and annotated bibliography, & an action plan? When unchecked it is wildly abusive, and as the voices of the marginalized are silenced it is poisonous. It loses support, and those who leave for their own mental health, humanity and self value are seen as nefarious detractors who are dividing the movement.
Pedagogy of the oppressors
At the end of the day, this poison looks like marginalized folks speaking out and having their very valid, well documented experiences & critique dismissed as ignorance and naivety. There is this nefarious idea within the greater movement that any dissent is a threat and needs to be taken down. There is also the condescending undertones of “if I don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s obvious unintelligent babble.” Even in instances where someone is merely minding their own business and expressing a thought that exists in the margins of greater feminism, white supremacy comes out of THE WOODWORKS to silence, gaslight and beat down.
Here’s just a brief breakdown of the different, racist & condescending ways others tried to silence me yesterday when I briefly spoke about mere reservations towards the way “A Day Without a Woman” co-opted “A Day Without Immigrants” and how the Womens March on Washington was also co-opting and erasing Civil Rights work.
- Imply my points are overused and doesn’t really matter (that the “movement” matters over our humanity, those who want their humanity recognizes are whining)
- Question my basic understanding of what the definition of a strike is and how it has worked through history (if she disagrees, she must be ignorant & I must educate her in all my glorious privilege)
- Tell me to stop “nit-picking” and “get involved" (calling for critical thought about the erasure of marginalized groups is merely unimportant nit-picking. That I need to stop complaining and continue to provide free labor to those who don’t respect my humanity)
- “we all must make sacrifices” (because my black ass doesn’t know what sacrifice is. read: YOU need to sacrifice your humanity for US)
- (My personal favorite) I care about what you’re saying, but I think you need to explain this a little more and provide more analysis. (I apparently didn’t care enough to go back and read the 5 other times you already answered this question and explained your point. I think you’re an unintelligent and I’m hoping that if I question you, you’ll realize you’re unintelligent)
Full disclosure, I’m not saying anything that is particularly ground breaking. I think this is why I’m so surprised that the negative responses came out at full force last night. I really didn’t think that these things needed to still be explained in 2017, but I heavily underestimated the twilight in which people get engrossed into mainstream feminist movements and activities. I’m not telling you to stop supporting to women march, I’m not telling your not to strike. I honestly don’t care what people do either way, i’ll respect your decision one way or another. But what I don’t respect is this willful ignorance and desperate desire to shout out dissent within a movement.
So just one last reminder: If your movement tells you anyone in the margins of it that poses a critique or challenge needs to be shot down or silenced (as opposed to understood or listened to) - you really need to stop worshipping that movement. Back away from the keyboard, avoid hitting that reblog button, and go do some research.
