White feminism is a term which is used to describe expressions of feminism which are perceived as focusing on white women but are perceived as failing to address the existence of distinct forms of oppression faced by ethnic minority women and women lacking other privileges. Whiteness is crucial in structuring the lived experiences of white women across a variety of contexts. The term has been used to label and criticize theories that are perceived as focusing solely on gender-based inequality. Primarily used as a derogatory label, "white feminism" is typically used to reproach a perceived failure to acknowledge and integrate the intersection of other identity attributes into a broader movement which struggles for equality on more than one front.[1][2] In white feminism, the oppression of women is analyzed through a single-axis framework, consequently erasing the identity and experiences of ethnic minority women the space.[3] The term has also been used to refer to feminist theories perceived to focus more specifically on the experience of white, cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied women, and in which the experiences of women without these characteristics are excluded or marginalized.[4] This criticism has predominantly been leveled against the first waves of feminism which were seen as centered around the empowerment of white middle-class women in Western societies.
While the term white feminism is relatively recent, the critics of the concepts it represents date back to the beginning of the feminist movement, especially in the United States.[5][6] The label has recently increased in use, as intersectional theory has entered more mainstream national conversations in the US[a] since the late 2010s. Others question the label, claiming it is used to attack white feminists, whether or not they are inclusionary of minority women.[7][8]
^Coaston, Jane (20 May 2019). "The Intersectionality Wars". www.vox.com. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
^Frankenberg, Ruth (1993-01-01). "Growing up White: Feminism, Racism and the Social Geography of Childhood". Feminist Review (45): 51–84. doi:10.2307/1395347. JSTOR 1395347.
^Crenshaw, Kimberle (2018-02-19), "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics [1989]", Feminist Legal Theory, Routledge, pp. 57–80, ISBN 978-0-429-50048-0, retrieved 2023-02-20
^Breines, Wini (2002). "What's Love Got to Do with It? White Women, Black Women, and Feminism in the Movement Years". Signs. 27 (4): 1095–1133. doi:10.1086/339634. S2CID 144139580 – via JSTOR.
^Staples, Brent (2 February 2019). "When the Suffrage Movement Sold Out to White Supremacy". New York Times. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
^Thompson, Becky (2002). "Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of the Second Wave Feminism". Feminist Studies. 28 (2): 336–360. doi:10.2307/3178747. JSTOR 3178747 – via JSTOR.
^Noman, Natasha (2016-05-13). "Why Is 'White Feminism' Such a Dirty Phrase? A History of Feminism and Exclusion". www.mic.com. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
^Muller, Marissa G. (2018-01-10). "Emma Watson Addresses Her White Privilege and 'White Feminism' in Letter to Her Book Club". www.wmagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
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