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Original poster

Is "being an ally" really all that women can do if they don't also belong to another at risk group?

56 replies

TinselTwins · 24/01/2017 21:27

It seems to be according to the comments on every viral post about politics on twitter and facebook over the last couple of days..

Women who aren't trans or gay or non-white……. are they not still a supressed group in their own right ? Seems the popular consensus is that role is either "ally" or "part of the problem". That's it?

I get that "just" being a woman provides far less hurdles in life than being a woman AND non-white, ore being a woman & disabled, or being a woman & queer, but it still makes you more at risk than you would be if you weren't a woman. Am I guaging the tone of social media correctly that most involved in acivism at the moment believe that woman who are not any of the above should not push "their agenda" and should only get involved as a ally?

I mean, feminism is not done yet? Did I miss something?

OP posts:
DeviTheGaelet · 24/01/2017 21:45

It's bonkers OP. It's like the insult "white feminism".
While I have no doubt that white feminism is a thing, and probably a very annoying thing to those who aren't white, it's been coopted by mainly male SJW types to tell women to shut up. Grrrrrr

Original poster
TinselTwins · 24/01/2017 21:44

That's what I always understood it to be Wyf
But that's not what I'm seeing

What I'm seeing is that women talking about their OWN suppression, in the context of issues that do affect them directly, are being treated like the landed gentry whinging about their tea being cold while the village folk starved.

OP posts:
WyfOfBathe · 24/01/2017 21:41

In my mind, all women can consider themselves suppressed/oppressed when it comes to matters which affect all women.

But if you're talking about something which doesn't affect you personally, you're an ally. That's what ally means. So an able bodied person who campaigns for wheelchair access is an ally, because they don't have personal experience with needing wheelchair access. A straight person who campaigns for LGBT rights is an ally, because they're not LGBT.

Sometimes it's not as clear cut, e.g. a woman in the UK campaigning for women's rights in Saudi Arabia. I would say that she was an ally, because she's never lived under that regime. Other people would claim that she wasn't an ally, she was one of the oppressed/suppressed people.

I suppose my view over all is:

  • these rights affect me directly = not an ally
  • these rights don't affect me directly, but they affect people I love or I'm passionate about them for another reason = ally
Original poster
TinselTwins · 24/01/2017 21:38

Being a woman, speaking about being oppressed by the patriarchy, is not a "position of privilege" in the context of a discussion about patriarchy???? or is it? it is? but HOW did this happen and WTF is going on? The very people/groups that I thought would be building women up are inverting everything on them!

OP posts:
Original poster
TinselTwins · 24/01/2017 21:36

yeah. How widespread is it? am I just following the wrong pages?

I mean there was one about a white woman telling her experience of patriarchy, and it was unanamously shot down as her only caring about her position of privilege, and she only cares about things that affect her. But isn't everyone bringing their own agendas too? I don't look at a gay rights marcher and think "he's only marching because it affects him, entitled selfish privilidged snowflake man" ?

OP posts:
AyeAmarok · 24/01/2017 21:33

You're not wrong.

Women are no longer allowed to discuss, campaign or protest against anything without considering how it affects or impacts other groups and how their plight is what we should be focusing on.

Interestingly, it's usually men who complain that we women aren't being inclusive enough.

And yet, those men who say it don't seem to be bothered enough to campaign or protest about the issue themselves, they just think women should be doing it.

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