Feminism as a structure is one that can be used as a tool to uphold white supremacy and the status quo, rather than just existing in a vacuum as a resistance group to the patriarchy. White women have co-opted the feminist movement and turned the conversation back towards themselves, thus silencing the voices of other marginalized groups, specifically Women of Colour (WOC). The way white liberal feminists overtook the feminist movement and shifted the conversation away from Women of Colour is an exercise of power and white privilege by white women. Note, that the term “white” will not be capitalized, while terms such as Women of Colour (WOC) and People of Colour (POC) will be capitalized when referring to groups in racial, ethnic, or cultural terms. This is because these terms encompass a sense of shared identity and community. Meanwhile, white, when used in the same context, risks emulating white supremacy, due to the implications of power and inherent privilege given to the term white.

White feminism is an ideology that preaches the importance of individualistic success and conceives a notion of equality as something that primarily white women can achieve through the exploitation of other marginalized women and People of Colour (POC). Primarily, the goal of white feminism is not to alter the systems that oppress women, i.e. the patriarchy, capitalism, and imperialism, but instead to succeed within them. This idea of feminism is inherently and fundamentally exclusionary, as Women of Colour cannot reap the same benefits that white women can in a white supremacist culture that is inherent to the patriarchy itself. This form of feminism focuses on individual gain rather than collective liberation. For white feminists, there is no examination of the way white supremacist culture works to exploit People of Colour and uphold patriarchal structures that continue to oppress women.

White women are taught that the answer to their struggles and oppression as women is for them to be more like white men. They strive to be equal to white men. That is why many white women wear the behaviours and attitudes of white men in the way that they treat People of Colour; they abuse, exclude, and exploit People of Colour, and then tell POC that it is “not all white people,” even though this is the same rhetoric as “not all men.” Intersectional feminism strives to ensure that the default or standard model of society that we are taught to emulate shifts from those of white men, to those of a diverse set of people across race, gender, sexuality, ability, and socio-economic status. The goal of feminism should not be to become like the oppressor. Instead, it should be to change the way we understand and exercise power so that there is no more oppression. Becoming more like white men is not liberation. 

Audre Lorde’s famous quote, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” says that those in positions of power in post-colonial Western society cannot be removed from their dominant positions through the use of the tools upon which they built it. Women who are privileged in society, such as white women or heterosexual women, are not rejected from the “master’s house” entirely—though they do not hold the same power as the master, they still are in positions higher than WOC, queer women, and other marginalized women. So, despite the oppression that white women face, they are still given access to the “master’s tools” through white privilege. When white women choose to remain inside the master’s house and maintain their privilege, they consciously ignore the ways in which Women of Colour are oppressed by colonialism and racism, as well as sexism and patriarchy. 

White is not the default standard experience of how life takes place. Women of Colour are viewed as “distracted” by their intersecting oppressions, while a white woman's issues are the best issues to be considered universal as they are supposedly not about race or class. That white women's experiences are the blueprint of patriarchy and other women's are just variations or exceptions, and that racism, colonialism, etc., only incidentally involve misogyny. It is not a matter of excluding or barring white women from feminism, but expanding and allowing for feminism to encompass all women’s experiences. 

Within any space centred around a marginalized identity, white supremacy and colonialism still have significant effects. For example, because ableism is built into white supremacy, disabled white people do not have full access to their white privilege unless they are in a disabled space that neutralizes their disability and accentuates their whiteness. The same goes with LGBTQIA+ spaces; they can end up perpetuating colonialist culture when white people in those spaces assume that their methods of coming out and living in their identity are the only ways that exist. Meanwhile, People of Colour can and often do, have totally different but still perfectly valid ways of living within and expressing their identity. Again, white supremacy has homophobia built in, so white queer people do not have full access to white privilege unless they are with other queer people, or in spaces where their queer identity is neutralized. As a result: if an individual picks an identity that they have power over, then they are bringing all of those power dynamics to the table in their representation. Even if that individual shares a marginalized identity with another person, one aspect of discrimination is not an understanding of all discrimination. Identities are all intersectional. Representing multiple axes of marginalization is much more difficult because one will have to unpack one’s own power and realize how many other ways of existing there are. 

White is not neutral. White feminism replicates the exact same structures white supremacist culture does for POC. Some white feminists believe themselves to be the main victims of the patriarchy, without acknowledging the way the patriarchy and intersecting oppressions such as racism and classism affect other individuals on a collective scale. White feminists need to understand that, while they are part of an oppressed group (women), they are not the be-all and end-all of patriarchal oppression, and can still very much contribute to white supremacy and racism. One is not exempt from that because they are a woman.

Equality does not necessarily equal liberation. When one focuses entirely on the inclusivity and diversity of people within positions of power, one forgets that the problem is with the positions themselves. They exist to exploit and abuse other people, specifically marginalized individuals. Empowering marginalized groups to exploit others like they themselves have been exploited does nothing productive in the long run. With white feminism and the idea of a girl boss, these ideologies focus so much on becoming like your oppressor, and feeling powerful instead of focusing on deconstructing these power constructs as a whole.

 As Audre Lorde said, “Your silence will not protect you.” Silences have done nothing but make individuals complicit in their own oppression, and the oppression of others. Silence will not build a liberated future. Speaking out makes an individual vulnerable. But it also makes them strong. White feminism currently emulates oppressive regimes through white supremacy, while intersectional feminism should work to uplift the voices of all women and highlight the oppression of marginalized WOC to dismantle oppressive hierarchies such as patriarchy and white supremacy. The goal of feminism should not be to be able to get away with the worst of what terrible white men can get away with.

‍