“My mother used to say that the black woman is the white man’s mule and the white woman is his dog.” Patricia Hill Collins argued, as many before and even more since have proven, we cannot have feminism without intersectionality. The comparison she makes is akin to that of slavery. The white woman is adored, favoured, warm, and welcome, while the black woman is cast off to the cold, gets mere leftovers, scolded, and is expected to prove her worth at every turn. The ‘Me Too’ movement was created for and by white women. While well-intentioned, the movement is dangerous. White women have a very different experience than that of their peers of colour, trans, or queer. Next, white feminism and its link to white supremacy. Finally, the white saviour complex and white feminism’s self-serving advocacy. 

‘Me Too’ was a program initiated in 2006 by feminist activist Tamara Burke to “help survivors of sexual violence, particularly young women of colour, find pathways to healing.” It gained momentum in 2017 when it became a viral hashtag on Twitter. This was followed by Donald Trump being elected President of the United States and the subsequent momentum women's rights protesters were gaining. One of the defining moments was the 2017 Women’s March held in major cities worldwide. 

Actress Rose McGowan wrote an op-ed about the abuse she had faced at the hands of men and it garnered national attention. It was used by white feminists as a call to arms and was part of the beginning of an outpouring of tales of abuse, especially in the entertainment industry. Rose famously said, at the Women’s Convention in Detroit, Michigan, “I have been slut shamed, I’ve been harassed, I’ve been maligned. And you know what, I’m just like you.” She, in fact, is not like all the women in that crowd, or the many women of the world who have been victims of abuse. All of these women coming forward (and there were many) were brave and helped bring  forward the abuse going on behind closed doors, absolutely. Yet, while well-meaning, it is and was a slap in the face to trans women, women of colour, and any self-identifying woman that wasn’t/isn’t CIS-gendered white. McGowan states that she’s just like them, but in reality that is absolutely not the case. 

McGowan (and all the others like her) doesn’t see the irony in her statement. She is not just like every woman, as she has not only socioeconomic privileged, but also white privilege. Most women, when they recount, or report to the authorities their abuse, are dismissed and scoffed at. Most women do not have a national platform and voice to bring about outrage and cries for justice from the public. When most women report abuse, especially women of colour, they are quickly dismissed and usually their character is brought into question. 

Me Too quickly became a movement for affluent white women to commiserate and tell their stories. It was a wonderful idea in theory, and some good work was done bringing down many abusers, especially in Hollywood. However, it neglected to address the many Black Indigenous People of Colour (BIPOC) or the LGBTQ2S+ women in dangerous situations who essentially had no voice. Not only is there no one listening and believing these women but many of them are in positions where it is dangerous to come forward. For the movement to be truly powerful and inclusive it must include ALL self-identifying women, not just white women of certain social and financial status. 

White feminism has long had links to white supremacy. In its nature, it is self-serving to the white woman. In the late 19th century when women’s suffrage was at the forefront, it was spearheaded by white women. It was inherently racist and classist at its core, fueling and perpetrating and pandering to the needs of affluent white women of the day. White women have always and continue to conveniently outright avoid the inherent privilege they were born into simply by being born with alabaster skin.

White feminists have always used their privilege to perpetuate their victimhood which is so intertwined with the ideology of white supremacy. White women's ‘tears’ have perpetuated privilege and racism as a whole. These women monopolize their struggle and trauma while blatantly ignoring the pain and trauma of their BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ sisters, as it were. By doing so they essentially erase women of color. These white feminists, while most well-meaning, shine a light on their experience, their day-to-day and their struggles, while valid in theory this completely takes away attention from the much different experience of the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+WOMAN thus completely alienating them from the feminist movement itself. 

When we pander to wealthy Anglo-Saxon women and discredit and bully the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ women, we are participating and perpetuating the white supremacist ideology that our white problems are much more important to those seen as less than, even sub-human. When we ignore the hundreds of missing Indigenous women, ignore that a black woman got shot while sleeping in her bed because of blatant neglect and racist actions of the police, we really must look at the root of it all. North America was founded by rich white men, thus it makes sense that the subsequent women's movements have been put in place, driven by, pandering to the needs of rich white women. 

One of the key issues with white supremacy in feminism is the subsequent erasure of women of colour. This then ignores their safety and doesn’t acknowledge the violence, sexual abuse, and socio-economic struggles of the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ women. It screams to them at every turn that they don’t matter, their voice will not be heard. This then lends to a lack of reporting said crimes, perpetuates poverty and trauma and isolates, It is a dangerous thing to starkly scream to all the women of the world unfortunate enough to have not been born white that their lives have never and never will matter. White feminism perpetuates the dangerous idea that it is only white problems and struggles that deserve attention and rectification. 

The white feminists' advocacy on the surface, at first glance, appears to be inspiring, commendable, and selfless. At its core, it is blatantly obvious that it is, in fact, the opposite. In the age of social media, we have been given means and a platform to share our passions, thoughts, and advocacy with potentially the entire world. We have seen a rise in activism for the sake of clout, fame, and sympathy. While “working-class and poor women of colour are confronted with the greatest levels of structural sexism and racism; they are super-exploited economically and are one of the most alienated groups from economic, political, and social institutions” they are almost always forgotten or left off of the white feminist advocacy. 

We see hundreds of media campaigns crying about injustice and the need for change and call to action, yet they almost always never highlight the struggles and needs of the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ women. There is an outcry about domestic abuse and sexual abuse, yet we negate to recognize how far the scales are tipped against the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ women, who just by being not white out the gate, have a higher chance of being exposed to violence or socioeconomic struggle. When we talk about domestic abuse, it’s always the white housewife in the suburbs portrayed, never the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ women trapped by lack of financial freedom and thus at higher risk. The men who perpetuate the crimes against these women know that it is most likely they will get away with it, as who’s going to believe the poor black woman living in the ‘hood’?

When white feminists do draw attention to such matters they do so to feel better, to feel like they’ve done some good so thus can justify them upholding an inherently racism system of oppression all while crying, ‘Poor me!’. The white saviour complex is crippling to the progress of feminist activism in today’s world. There are a great number of celebrities or ‘influencers’ 

who use trauma or calculated acts of charity or activism as a means to feel good about themselves. All the while, they actually cause more harm than good and turn people in need into objects, they use quick fixes for clout and likes rather than examining the heart of the issues and doing real good and making real tangible change. 

White feminism at its best provides a platform for change, at its worst is a system built on the oppression of any woman not fortunate enough to be born white and privileged. Hill Collins and many more who followed have brought about hope to the feminist movement. The idea and practice of a truly inclusive and intersectional take on feminism is the future the movement needs. We need to truly evaluate our practices and educate ourselves about how our genetically predisposed privilege has shaped our views and understanding of what feminism really is. We must understand that we must stand up for and champion experiences that are not our own. We need to listen to the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ women around us and learn what steps we can take to be truly inclusive in our advocacy. White feminism is a dangerous thing, but I have hope that the future of the feminist movement is in good hands in the future moving towards true intersectionality being the norm.