A podcast for soul sisters

Episode 29. “White Feminism”

by

What is white feminism, and why is it a problem? In this episode we discuss our own revelations about white feminism, why it’s problematic, and how white women can take active steps towards allyship. (Look for a full list of resources at the bottom of these show notes.)

We begin by discussing a short video created by Zeba Blay, Senior Culture Writer at Huffington Post, and Emma Gray, Senior Women’s Reporter at Huffington Post, entitled “Why We Need to Talk about White Feminism.”

According to Blay and Gray, white feminism:

  • Ignores intersectionality
  • Assumes the way white women experience misogyny is the way all women experience misogyny
  • Excludes the experiences of basically anyone who is not white, cis, and straight

The video concludes with this.

The most important thing any White Feminist can do is educate herself, and listen, and engage with the experiences of women of color without silencing them. Because sometimes as white ladies, we just have to shut the F*** up.”

What We’re Reading and Listening To

Remember Cindy Brandt, our guest on episode 14 “Faith Shifting“? Katey read her soon-to-be released book entitled Parenting Forward: How to Raise Children with Justice, Kindness, and Mercy. This book challenges parents to live into their values and ethics in the way that they interact with their children, on both a minutiae level and on a much broader level. She calls us to push back against a parenting style of “power over” our kids and to treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve. Also, it’s a quick read, which for busy parents is a huge plus.

Speaking of Cindy Brandt, she recommended to us Jennifer Harvey’s Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America, which Ashley is currently reading. Harvey is a white women raising kids in a same-sex marriage, and she challenges us to examine the ways we were taught to think about race as children (i.e. “colorblindness”) and gives us concrete ways to do better with the next generation.

Kindreds of the Moment

There are so many people engaged in the work of intersectional justice that we couldn’t pick just one for this episode. Here are some of the folks who have been helpful for us personally, some of whom we’ve mentioned before and some others we’re recommending for the first time.

Resources We Mentioned