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

[TinselTwins]

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?

MagicalRealist

Hope you do, so far you're one of the few making any sense.

Ever the Charming Man, cadno.

If you are disabled and white woman, you are in a worser position in society compared to a white woman without any form of disability. If a disabled white woman complains, they are probably talking about being in small group that most people might never even care they exist let alone being a woman.
Dose her problem only apply to disable people or should it be a feminist issue if it affects groups of women who are disabled?

Surely it's only specifically a feminist issue if it's something that disproportionately affects women? Which does cover an awful lot, actually...

Saw a completely infuriating post on fb from a mansplainer saying that the real issues in the world were about class/financial inequality and racism ... oh yes, obviously, because these thing affect men too! So white middle class women can't possibly object to anything for themselves, as women, because that particular struggle doesn't matter in it's own right. Apparently.

Is anyone a member of an activist or campaigning group outside of feminism? I am and haven't felt any kind of pressure to be 'intersectional' within this, yet within feminism it is such a big thing currently. I'd be interested to hear if any other groups experience this.

I sort of suspect that the nature of sexual oppression is that it's easier to identify first, not as a woman, but as part of the many other groups we fit into. In the same way that nationalism often trumps class solidarity.

no, I mean take environmental activism. There's no aggression towards environmental activists assuming they never show up for anything else.

There's the understanding that basic environmentalism helps everyone else, so is worthwhile in itself

However basic traditional feminism helps everything/everyone else too.. but if that's "all you do" (and even if it's not, there's a lot of assumptions made about the white cis feminists being shamed, they may do a lot of other things..) it's not only not good enough/valid as a thing to direct you energy to.. it's become a slur. It always was a slur, but from the otherside, not from within.

I do wonder how much it has to do with the fact that most of us live our lives so connected to men that it is hard for many to feel solidarity with women ahead of that. I can't express it properly, but I can't think of an oppressed group who live outside of their own group, with their oppressors to compare it to.