Women's Studies International Forum 69 (2018) 49–55

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Women's Studies International Forum

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Concerned, meet terrified: Intersectional feminism and the Women's March T

⁎
Sierra Brewer, Lauren Dundes
Department of Sociology, McDaniel College, United States

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The first US Women's March on January 21, 2017 seemingly had the potential to unite women across race. To
Women's March assess the progress of feminism towards an increasingly intersectional feminist approach, the authors collected
Trump and analyzed interview data from 20 young African American women who shared their impressions of the
Clinton Women's March that followed Donald Trump's inauguration during the month after the march. Interviewees
White feminism
believed that Trump's election and his sexism spurred the march, prompting the participation of many women
Intersectional feminism
Pussy hat
who had not previously embraced feminism. Interviewees suggested that the march provided white women with
Race a means to protest the election rather than a way to address social injustice disproportionately affecting lower
Gender social classes and people of color. Interviewees believed that a racially inclusive feminist movement would
Intersectionality remain elusive without a greater commitment to intersectional feminism.
African American

Introduction shaming of Latina Alicia Machado, crowned Miss Universe in 1996)

“If I see that white folks are concerned, then people of color need to
be terrified.”
In the above quotation, Women's March co-chair Tamika Mallory
acknowledges that social locations shape reality (Cullen, 2017;
Michaud, 2017; Tolentino, 2017), including how the intersection of
race and gender relates to reactions to the first Women's March on
January 21, 2017. The march occurred subsequent to the November 8,
2016 US election of Donald Trump, despite his blatant sexism
(Darweesh & Abdullah, 2016). These events raise the question of
whether a diverse group of women can unite and prioritize goals
without making oppression specific to African American women in-
visible.
Media coverage of the Women's March, which drew over two mil-
lion participants around the globe (Przybyla & Schouten, 2017), fea-
tured women wearing woven pink “pussy hats” as a symbol of their
outrage about a Trump presidency. Trump had been elected even after
bragging that male celebrities can do anything they want to women
with impunity, including, to “Grab them by the pussy,” a 2005 state-
ment Trump dismissed as locker room talk. For many women, this
comment that was taped on a hot mic and leaked by the media in
October 2016 (Fahrenthold, 2017) seemed to be the tipping point to
rally against the unacceptable treatment of women. News of the hot mic
comment spawned t-shirts and pink “pussy hats” (Pussy Hat Project,
2017) that helped galvanize women, at least white women, in a way
that other sexist revelations about Trump had not (e.g., Trump's body
(Chozick & Grynbaum, 2017). Indeed, the 2005 hot mic comment ap-
peared to be a principal focal point of the march for white women
galvanized by Trump bragging that fame allowed him to be sexually
aggressive with women without their consent. Yet media coverage of
the march left unanswered whether the causes célèbres for many white
women had resonated in the same way for African American women
whose goals were arguably at odds with the imperial feminism of the
losing Democratic candidate in the 2016 presidential race, Hillary
Clinton. Some believe that Clinton's approach to feminism constituted
imperial feminism that centers on white narratives, depriving women of
color of agency (such as ignoring how fair pay and child care affect
women's reproductive decisions) (Eisenstein, 2016; Featherstone,
2016).
Disproportionate attention to the voices of white women at the
march (Hancock, 2016; Rose-Redwood & Rose-Redwood, 2017) ex-
acerbated racial fault lines that were fueled by Trump's campaign
rhetoric. Trump was well known for promising to protect Americans
from Mexicans whom he labeled criminals, part of his election strategy
in which immigrants were portrayed as threatening invaders who pose
a financial burden (Ngo, 2017; Perez Huber, 2016), rhetoric that ar-
guably warranted as much attention as Trump's pussy comment (as our
data will reflect). The racial fault lines were clearly apparent in signs
carried at the march that belied inter-racial cohesion.
There was some media coverage of signs that women of color car-
ried that revealed fissures in the feminist movement. Tag lines included,
“Being Scared Since 2016 Is Privilege,” “White Women Elected Trump,”

⁎
Corresponding author at: Department of Sociology, 2 College Hill, Westminster, MD 21157, United States.
E-mail address: ldundes@mcdaniel.edu (L. Dundes).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2018.04.008
Received 30 March 2017; Received in revised form 9 April 2018; Accepted 19 April 2018
Available online 30 April 2018
0277-5395/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Brewer, L. Dundes
“White Lives Matter Too Much” and “I'll see you nice white ladies at the
next #BlackLivesMatter march, right?” (Richardson, 2017, paragraphs
9 and 10). There were also media reports questioning the genuineness
of white women's commitment to feminism given their palpable ex-
citement surrounding participation in the march, as noted by Ijeoma
Oluo (editor at large of feminist website The Establishment): seeing
white women “so excited — buying plane tickets, knitting hats, doing
all of these things, getting ready to get out and march in the street, and
you're wondering, ‘Where was that need to get out and say something
when we were being shot?’” (Richardson, 2017, paragraph 11). Oluo's
comment about the urgency to act when Black people are “being shot”
coincides with research showing that many African American women at
the march prioritized issues of racial justice like police brutality (Fisher,
Dow, & Ray, 2017). These examples suggest concerns that white fem-
inists lack motivation to prioritize issues that disproportionately affect
Black communities, including those spearheaded by the Black Lives
Matter movement.
This paper provides context for the dissension between white and
Black feminists, including historical background about the role of race
in feminism. We explore African American interviewees' perceptions
that white women focused on Trump more so than on broader issues of
social justice, views that highlight the importance of intersectionality.
These viewpoints expose a lack of cross-racial unity that fuels distrust of
white women allies which in turn suggests the need for a more inclusive
agenda in the modern feminist movement.
Historical basis of the divide between white and black feminists
The racial divide in the perspectives of white and black feminists
dates back to both first-wave feminism (that includes the women's
suffrage movement) as well as second-wave feminism of the early 1960s
to early 1990s. Hallmarks of second-wave feminism, Betty Friedan's The
Feminine Mystique (1963), the founding of the National Organization for
Women (NOW) (1966), and women's consciousness-raising in the late
1960s, reflect the movement's focus on the goals of middle-class white
women seeking equality with men (Breines, 2006; Collins, 2002;
Crenshaw, 1989; hooks, 1982; Roth, 1999; Silliman, Fried, Ross, &
Gutierrez, 2004; Thompson, 2002). Nevertheless, women of color were
part of second-wave feminism although their contributions are some-
times overlooked, e.g., the southern Californian multiracial feminist
Califia Community, formed in 1975, that was committed to the edu-
cation of all women, independent of their sexual orientation, socio-
economic status, race, or ethnicity (Pomerleau, 2013).
Valk's (2008) exhaustive study of archival sources, publications, and
oral history about activism in Washington, D.C. from the mid-1960s to
1980 details how Black Power organizations in the 1960s played an
important role in the feminist and other social movements, doc-
umenting that the feminist movement involved Black women. Never-
theless, racial differences among feminists have been called hierarchical
rather than interdependent, prompting an enduring sense of invisibility
among women of color beginning in the second-wave feminist move-
ment (Moraga & Anzaldúa, 2015).
The way in which information about the feminist movement has
been reported also complicates conceptions of feminism among people
of color. For example, crucial achievements of women of color have
often been incorrectly presented as occurring after the gains of white
feminists or ignored completely (Roth, 1999; Thompson, 2002). White
feminists portrayed black abolitionist Sojourner Truth as a “strong and
folksy ex-slave” in violation of Truth's preference for self-representation
as “a middle-class lady” (Craig, 2002, p. 7). The social construction of
hegemonic second-wave feminist accounts became “the official stories”
of the white women's movement (Sandoval, 1991, p. 5), prompting
women of color to demand that feminism expand recognition of the
implications of social class and race (Thompson, 2002). In particular,
Crenshaw (1989) has brought attention to the legal system's failure to
redress compounded discrimination based on both gender and race.
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Women's Studies International Forum 69 (2018) 49–55
Crenshaw developed the concept of intersectionality in her capacity
as a Harvard Law School graduate and professor at UCLA and Columbia
Law Schools. In particular, she decried an appeals court decision,
Degraffenreid vs General Motors, 1977, in which five black women sued
General Motors for both race and gender discrimination. Citing legal
precedent, the court decreed that claims of race and gender dis-
crimination must be examined separately. Crenshaw objected to the
finding that race and sex discrimination must be assessed as separate
entities, without consideration of compounded discrimination. She
worries that overlooking how the intersectional experiences of Black
women differ from both white women and Black men makes Black
women invisible while in plain sight (Crenshaw, 1989).
Although there has been great variation in the multilayered feminist
movement, some white feminists have been unable to see their status as
“both oppressed and oppressor.” As a result, a number of feminist
women of color have viewed the politics of white women as bourgeois:
“narrow at best and frivolous at worst” (Thompson, 2002, p. 342). This
class and race “unconsciousness” among some white feminists (Roth,
1999, p. 99) resulted in second-wave feminist treatment of sexism as
the ultimate barrier without adequate consideration of how it intersects
with class, race and hetero-normative-based oppression, an insensitivity
with lasting repercussions for a more racially united feminist move-
ment.
There have been many obstacles keeping white and black feminists
apart, however the failure to recognize how race and class intersect was
“the key obstacle” to more complete cross-race acceptance of second-
wave feminism (Roth, 2004, p. 101) At times, instead of reaching across
differences in race, class and sexual preference in order to bond over
shared political beliefs, white feminists have controlled the movement
to facilitate their entry into the capitalist patriarchal power structure,
seeking to become part of the same system they decried as oppressive
(hooks, 1982; Yancy, 2000).
Some black women also feared that second-wave feminism would
subsume the black movement (Breines, 2006; Newman, 1999). In re-
sponse, groundbreaking movements like the Combahee River Collec-
tive, a Black feminist lesbian organization (1974 to 1980) that split
from the National Black Feminist Organization, demonstrated the cri-
tical role of identity politics and multiple interlocking oppressions that
revealed how the white feminist movement was not sufficiently in-
clusive (Breines, 2006).
The Women's March provides a contemporary opportunity to ex-
amine racial solidarity during a time of socio-political tumult. The
event has spawned calls for dialogue about the ability of women to
unify despite divisive politics of difference (see Moss & Maddrell,
2017). To aid our understanding of the extent to which African
American women felt excluded from the feminist movement, we ana-
lyze interview data from 20 young African American women asked to
share their view of the 2017 Women's March in the month following the
event.
Methods
Our study of African American women's perceptions of the Women's
March was shaped in part by anecdotal observations of our Facebook
newsfeeds in the days surrounding the march, and particularly the day
of the march, January 21, 2017. Posts by numerous white women
supporting the march sharply contrasted with an almost complete lack
of commentary, positive or negative, about the march by either author's
African American female Facebook friends.
The first author, an African-American college student, conducted
Institutional Review Board-approved interviews of a convenience
sample of 20 of her African American female friends, most of whom
were college students at several different colleges, the majority of
which are located within 1 h of Washington DC, where the largest
Women's March took place in 2017. These friends were contacted via
text message and asked to reply to the first author if they were willing
S. Brewer, L. Dundes
assist her in an independent study project examining African American
women's views of the Women's March. Although no questions specifi-
cally addressed interviewees' political orientation or connection to
feminism, the majority of interviewees did not reveal any connection to
a feminist group.
Two of the 22 friends contacted did not respond to the initial (and
only) text message soliciting participation. Eighteen agreed to meet in
person for an interview while two were only available to answer
questions by phone. The in-person interviews were conducted in a
private space by the first author alone and lasted about a half hour. All
of the interviews were completed within one month of the January 21st
march (in 2017). Interviewees replied to an open-ended question, asked
in a neutral tone of voice to avoid any suggestion of a desired response:
“What did you think of the recent Women's March?” All interviewees
are anonymized in this paper with randomly assigned pseudonyms.
While the original plan was to tape and transcribe the interviews,
none of the interviewees were comfortable being recorded. Instead, the
first author typed notes on her laptop. Although the response rate was
91% of those contacted, it is notable that the topic was sensitive enough
to preclude recordings, despite that the interviewees knew that data
would be anonymous, and despite them having a personal connection
to the interviewer. The interviewees' unwillingness to be taped reveals
the sensitivity of the topic and underscores the need for members of the
African American community to document a perspective that might
otherwise go unreported.
Data analysis consisted of the first author transcribing all of the
interviews and assigning pseudonyms. The second author then read
through all of the interview data to compile a list of themes that were
relevant to intersectionality. Emergent categories were extracted and
honed until thematic saturation was achieved and no new themes could
be identified. The authors then selected examples of statements illus-
trating each theme from among the interviewees (see Merriam, 2007).
This technique allowed for inclusive representation of the views of the
20 interviewees in order to most accurately reflect the total sample.
Results
Overall support for the Women's March was tepid at best, with all
interviewees expressing reservations about the progress that could re-
sult from the march; only two interviewees attended the march. Many
were outright critical of white feminism and what they saw as insincere
or self-serving efforts that white women considered feminism. A
number of themes in the data relate to interviewees' concern about the
lack of intersectionality and how black women must compensate for
their marginalized status in society. These interview data point to race-
based fissures in the feminist movement that reflect the need for a more
inclusive modern feminist movement. The following themes are dis-
cussed: recognition of the importance of self-advocacy, racially-di-
vergent reasons for attending the march, lack of cross-racial unity in
priorities, distrust of white women allies and calls for a more inclusive
and relevant feminist movement.
Recognition of the importance of self-advocacy
Interviewees expressed the importance of their identity not just as
black women, but also as part of a group that cannot count on white
women to promote their interests. Monique, one of the two women
interviewed who attended the march, appreciated the chance to be part
of the movement but with an acute awareness of challenges facing black
women:
I'm a big advocate for women's rights, so I was extremely happy as an
African American woman to speak up about my oppression not only as a
woman but as an African American woman. We are looked down upon
most of the time by society. This march gave me a voice.
Monique clarified that having a voice requires self-advocacy:
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Women's Studies International Forum 69 (2018) 49–55
Nobody can tell if you as a woman are struggling with something if you
are unable to speak up and stand up for yourself. The march is only a
platform for women, regardless of their race, to speak up about their
issues.
Monique appeared to see the march as only a platform to air issues
but not necessarily as a likely means to prompt any action on those
issues. Patrice echoed the view that black women can count only on
themselves:
As an African American woman, we need to stand up for ourselves. The
white, Hispanic, or Asian race isn't going to help us for our own fight.
Patrice's statement harkens back to first-wave feminism, in which
the co-existence of anti-slavery and women's suffrage movements
complicated the relationship between black and white feminists, espe-
cially after the 1870 enfranchisement of black men before women.
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton devoted themselves to
women's suffrage, but then renounced their commitment to racial jus-
tice and excluded black women because they resented black men
gaining voting rights before white women (that finally happened in
1920, 50 years after black men) (Stansell, 1992), foreshadowing a black
man's ascendancy to the US presidency prior to a woman. Furthermore,
interviewees' awareness of how the interests of women of color can be
subverted support Crenshaw's argument that both antiracist and anti-
sexist movements failed Black women.
The other interviewee who attended the march, Quiona, recognized
the impetus for the march was not related to black women per se, but
was nevertheless welcoming of any gains, even if prompted by white
feminism:
I feel good about it. I think it's good women are standing up for what they
believe in… The march was more white feminism but these issues can still
apply to us.
Her statement reflects optimism yet she still mentions that white
feminism took center stage at the march. These data suggest that in-
terviewees recognize the need for people of color to self-advocate. In
particular, they are aware that as African American women, they
cannot wait for others to embrace causes that are important to them,
but rather must work against oppression that affects their demographic
group in particular.
Racially-divergent reasons for attending the march
Many interviewees noted that Trump's win in the presidential race
against Hillary Clinton spawned the march, even though the election of
a white man who made flagrantly sexist—and racist–remarks is only a
symptom of the disproportionate power held by white men. Quiona
remarked:
Trump was the cause of the Women's March. If Hillary Clinton had been
elected, I don't think the Women's March would have happened.
Sheila specifically noted how motivation to attend the march varied
by race:
Women of different races had different reasons for partaking in this
march. Once racism, prejudice, etc. are no longer a serious problem, then
maybe women of different races can come together and fight for the same
goal.
Sheila viewed racism and prejudice as a wedge between white
women and women of color that stymies unity. Implicit in her state-
ment is the expectation that only if racism and prejudice abate will it be
possible to join forces, implying that white women will not fight
alongside them for these goals that do not directly affect them. Even in
the event that the problems of racism improve, Sheila's use of the word
“maybe” connotes her uncertainty about cross-racial unity.
Two other interviewees, Fia and Gladys, were also generally
S. Brewer, L. Dundes
positive, but believed that Trump's disrespect for women had spawned
the march and thus questioned whether it signified a commitment to
ongoing feminist activism and issues of intersectional social justice or
was simply a vehicle to protest Trump's election.
Other interviewees emphasized that the march was not only more
about white women's anger over Trump's election, but also provided a
chance to re-direct attention to complaints prioritized by white women.
For example, Chanelle said:
I feel like it's pointless. They wouldn't have had the Women's March if
Trump hadn't been elected president. So is that real feminism? Um, no–
that's not real feminism. That was white feminism trying to take over the
media spotlight.
Consistent with critiques of second-wave feminism, Chanelle saw
white women unduly taking credit for progress in the feminist move-
ment and monopolizing media attention (Mellinger, 2013; Newkirk,
2002), a view echoed by Aria:
A lot of news sources interviewed white women and not the black women,
even if a black woman was in their group. And wearing the pussy hat.
Interviewees were concerned that white women's attendance at the
march was more about protesting Trump's election and did not signal a
commitment to sustained activism. Furthermore, some believed that
white women's credibility had resulted in the media's focus on their
point of view, even though interviewees saw white women as lacking
awareness of or solicitude about issues critical to African American
women.
Lack of cross-racial unity in priorities
Some interviewees admitted to disillusionment with white feminism
that made them dismiss the importance of the march.
Ella: I really didn't keep up with it or look it up. I didn't see much of it on
social media. I wasn't interested in it. I don't have a feeling towards it.
You just saw bunch of white women marching. It didn't apply to me—it
was white feminism.
Tia also commented that race can prevent meaningful interpersonal
connections, noting that both race and social class can create divisions:
You can't really connect to someone of a different race on a deep per-
sonal level. Or you're not going to have things in common if you're poor
and someone's rich. You won't have the same issues.
Ophelia saw the march as reflecting white feminism but also re-
cognized the need for more racial sensitivity across the board, including
among black women:
This march focused more on white women's issues and rights over your
body rather than equality rights for all women. We're not listening to
other women's issues. The white women probably don't know the black
women's issues and black women don't know Latina women's issues.
Another interviewee, Aria, cited transgendered women as those
excluded, also noting the focus on Trump's crass statement:
I think it's a good concept to have all different women coming together
but I feel like the march excluded a lot of African-American and trans-
gendered women because most of the signs were talking about Donald
Trump's statement, ‘Grab her by her pussy.’
Darlene also acknowledged the exclusion of the LGBTQIA+ com-
munity:
I would have liked to show my support to people that attended the march
but it didn't apply to them. For example, trans people were at the march,
but they kept talking about ovaries and vaginas a lot and I know they
would have felt uncomfortable or didn't have a place.
In addition, some interviewees thought that the pussy hat theme
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Women's Studies International Forum 69 (2018) 49–55
detracted from the event's credibility. Belinda believed that it trivia-
lized feminism and contrasted it with Black Lives Matters protests that
are monitored by police and constrained by restrictions.
The Women's March was for white feminism because most of them just
reacted to the Trump statement, “I'm going to grab her by her pussy.” It
was just childish to me; the pussy hat makes fun of real feminism. It's a
protest—not a fashion statement. They're saying, “He's not my pre-
sident.” Meanwhile, you're still on that one phrase, with the focus on the
pussy hats.
The jovial mood of the “protest” as carnival-like (Hu, 2017) may
have contributed to Belinda's disdain. Furthermore, resignation about
the failure of the women's movement to make Black women equal
partners underscored the plight of disenfranchised constituencies in
general, triggering what Collins (2002) calls collective agency. This
mindset is consistent with the commitment of feminist activists of color
to “work for the common good and for a common cause,” in opposition
to the US's culture of individualism (Roth, 2004, p. 229). For example,
Nina opined:
Women of different races can unify but it is up to those who have a
platform to help those that don't. Neither black nor Latina women's issues
were presented. Latina women are looked down on because most
Americans believe they shouldn't be in America. They believe they all
come from another country. It's really hard for them, especially since
Trump is president with his idea of building a wall.
These statements illustrate that respondents were concerned about
not only about race-based divisions but also about sexuality-based
marginalization. The focus on the pussy hat as a symbol of solidarity at
the march was therefore alienating to some respondents. As a result,
some dismissed the pussy hats as irrelevant to the serious issues facing
disenfranchised populations.
Distrust of white women allies
Many of our interviewees noted the irony of white women focusing
on Trump's pussy comment while at the same time, over half (53%) of
white women who voted cast their ballot for him (compared to 4% of
black women) (CNN, 2016), giving Trump the unanticipated advantage
he needed to win.
Darlene: I appreciated how many people come out and show their re-
actions about the elections. I wish people had paid attention to him while
he was running. The majority of people there were white women and
statistics show that they were also the main ones who voted for him. It
was people that attended the march that voted for him and regret their
decision.
The fact that the subsequent Women's Marches in 2018 drew no-
tably smaller (although still substantial) crowds more than a year after
Trump's election (Talbot, 2018) potentially serves as a reminder that
within the constituency of white women, some supported Trump in
spite of his pussy comment while others were motivated only because of
the crass comment. For the latter group, their commitment to “fem-
inism” may have abated over time. In other words, the smaller crowds
in the second year could have stoked concerns that feminist issues be-
yond protesting Trump's election lack the same urgency, calling into
question white women's commitment to feminism.
Channelle also shared her distrust of white feminists:
If Hillary had been elected president, the people that was out there
wouldn't have been out there. Some of them voted for Trump. Matter of
fact, they wouldn't even probably have celebrated Hillary for making
history. A lot of white women didn't even like Hillary. Meanwhile, they
claim they're for feminism. Okay, if the people at the March was really
for feminism, then Hillary would have been president.
Chanelle's suspicions about white women's commitment to
S. Brewer, L. Dundes
feminism and potential hypocrisy reveal an unwillingness to trust them.
Although it is unclear how many white women who had attended
the march were in fact Trump voters, Darlene's and Chanelle's state-
ments nevertheless reflect distrust of white women who seemingly
could afford to be lackadaisical about Trump when he was running for
president. Belinda also speculated about white women's support of
Trump:
This march just focused on white women's issues, because I didn't see a
sign like, “Equal rights” or “Same pay,” etc. And most of these women
out here probably voted for Trump.
Belinda's remarks coincide with complaints that second-wave fem-
inists insufficiently prioritized issues critical to the most disen-
franchised such as worries about employment and income (see BLS,
2014). These concerns are exacerbated by the belief, that several in-
terviewees expressed, that white women “look down on” black women.
These kinds of comments about white women's lack of respect for
women of color likely drove distrust of white women and skepticism
about their commitment to feminism:
Hadia: Women came together and protested for a common right. I do feel
like some people went there just to say they attended. I don't think that
many white women actually believe or stand up for women's rights. White
women supported Trump just couple months ago.
The belief that women attended the march in order to pay lip ser-
vice to feminist causes in the absence of a true commitment to effect
social change reflects the view that White women can opt out of fem-
inism at will in contrast to non-white and/or poor women's need to
embrace the feminist movement as a matter of urgency (hooks, 2000;
Roth, 2004).
Some interviewees specifically articulated their sense of margin-
alization and disconnection from white feminists:
Cicely: I do not think we can all fight for the same goal. I think it needs to
be acknowledged that there are several extra walls that women of color
have to overcome to get the same rights as a white male.
Interestingly, Cicely does not demand that the walls be dismantled,
but rather that they be “acknowledged.” Her choice of words reveal a
certain amount of resignation about the slow speed of progress for
women of color that underlies the historical and sociopolitical context
for many Black women's lived experiences (Breines, 2006).
Jackie was more direct about her lower expectations for the inclu-
sion of issues important to Black women:
Black women's issues aren't talked about in society. We just have to live
with it.
Interviewees were clear about their lack of confidence in white
women's ability or motivation to fight for change. Disaffection resulted
both from white women's lack of understanding about the experiences
of Black women as well as their unwillingness to subvert the gender
hierarchy, with its disproportionate impact on women of color.
Table 1
Six most pressing concerns.
Concern
1. Negative stereotyping and stigmatization of black people (e.g., lazy, incompetent, less educated, loud, angry)
2. Raising sons and fearing for their lives due to police brutality against black people
3. Underrepresentation of black people in media and high powered jobs
4. Unemployment, drug abuse, pregnancy, divorce, survival on a single mother household income, lack of property ownership
(and equity)
5. Wage inequality affecting both black women and black men
6. Limited job opportunities for black women and need to work harder than white women to prove worth
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Women's Studies International Forum 69 (2018) 49–55
Calls for a more inclusive and relevant feminist movement
On top of feeling alienated from feminism due to the legacy of
historical exclusion of Black women, some interviewees were upset by
what they saw as the modern feminist preoccupation with trivial mat-
ters in the face of pressing concerns of African Americans:
Darlene: Feminism focuses on little petty events in America like, “I don't
want to shave my underarms” or ‘I want to show my nipple.’ These things
cater to a small group of women and in my opinion are petty things to
decide to protest about.
When we make others aware of a lot of issues that we're facing, these
people try to make our concerns seem invalid. Regular feminism directly
affects only white women, just as in the past when minorities were ig-
nored and neglected when fighting for equality.
Tia relates these same concerns to a lack of white commitment to
the Black Lives Matter movement:
The Women's March was a cardinal example of how the exclusive,
predominantly white women's movement takes to the streets and protests
issues that directly affect them [while] many of these same “nice white
ladies” are nowhere to be seen or heard at Black Lives Matter protests or
any other protest about important race issues.
Tia's indignation is consistent with findings that compared to other
demographic groups, African American college women are most upset
about shootings of unarmed black people (Robertson & Dundes, 2017).
Darlene asserts that the solution is promoting womanism, as op-
posed to “feminism,” a term associated with white women to the ex-
clusion of women of color (Hudson-Weems, 1998):
If we held a campus march for womanists, we wouldn't exclude any
women of any color. That's the beauty of womanism—it's for everyone;
anyone on campus can feel included.
Darlene's highlighting of the feeling of inclusion was underscored by
interview data about general problems interviewees deemed paramount
(see Table 1). Interviewees most commonly cited microaggressions,
manifested as the expression of negative stereotypes about Black
people.
Discussion
As conveyed in the epigraph at the beginning of this paper, what
may be abstract concerns for some white women can be terrifying
realities for women of color. Table 1 reflects that most the issues
mentioned by the interviewees involve some combination of race,
gender and social class. The intersectionality of the concerns connotes a
specificity that suggests that they are less hypothetical and more im-
mediate. More importantly, the table also demonstrates the disjunction
between the focus of the women's march and issues of concern to the
interviewees.
The concerns in Table 1 also suggest that Black women are held
responsible for the uplift of other black people in need. In concern 4,
interviewees raise “survival issues” (Roth, 2004, p. 45), or problems
Number of interviewees that mentioned concern
16
4
4
4
3
3
S. Brewer, L. Dundes
that underlie the need for intersectional feminism. In fact, survival is-
sues prompted Black female activists in the 1960s to prioritize the role
of class more so than gender or race (Roth, 2004, p. 100).
These survival issues drive women's dual commitment to group
survival and institutional transformation that incorporates how schools,
housing, employment, and government reflect intersecting oppression
(Collins, 2002). The range of challenges indicates that Black women
face significant pressure to extend their efforts beyond women's issues.
Feminism that does not aim to emancipate every woman has been
called mere “self-aggrandizement,” according to feminist Barbara Smith
(Thompson, 2002, p. 340). In line with this characterization, many of
our interviewees questioned whether white women who see themselves
as feminists truly care about issues that do not directly affect them.
Interviewees advocated intersectional feminism, but felt disconnected
from the feminist movement. The need for white feminism to take into
account the impact of race is critical, but bell hooks surmises that the
racial hierarchy will persist because of its historical roots: “Prior to
slavery, patriarchal law decreed white women were lowly inferior
beings, the subordinate group in society. The subjugation of black
people allowed them to vacate their despised position and assume the
role of a superior” (hooks, 1982, p. 153).
The sincerity of white women in their avowals of the need to fight
inequality is seen as suspect, as they did not appear to recognize how
spending money to travel to the march and missing work to do so was a
luxury less available to women of color, especially single parents. White
women posing for selfies in pussy hats (Obie, 2017) and posting self-
congratulatory material on social media could come across as simply
parroting rhetoric about changing the status quo or recognizing their
white privilege, when in fact some seek to protect their own interests
and social standing. Calls to recognize the need to work towards a more
intersectional feminist approach in the 2018 Women's March (Dupuy,
2017; Solis, 2018) suggest that a racial divide persists, although there
was reportedly some attention to the perspective of groups that felt
excluded in the 2017 Women's March (Compton, 2018).
There was a recurrence of this same uneasiness about white wo-
men's loyalties less than a year after the Women's March in the after-
math of an Alabama special senatorial race on December 12, 2017 in
which a controversial Republican, Roy Moore, lost due partly to alle-
gations of sexual misconduct (as well as suspected racism). Despite the
election occurring in the midst of the #MeToo movement that high-
lighted the societal need to confront “a climate of serial sexual preda-
tion” and the recognition of the “Silence Breakers” in Time magazine's
“2017 Person of the Year” (Gilbert, 2017, para 5; Zacharek,
Dockterman, & Edwards, 2017), there was evidence of an explicit di-
vide between African American and white women; any signs of inter-
sectional feminism were conspicuously absent: 27% of white men and
35% of white women versus 93% of Black men and 98% of Black
women voted for Moore's opponent, Doug Jones (making him the first
Democrat elected to the Senate from Alabama since 1992) (Meza,
2017). African American columnist Dahleen Glanton credits Black
women for defeating Moore, noting their perspective derived in part
from knowing that: “knights in shining armor don't come for us [while].
. . White women have the choice to opt out whenever they choose”
(Glanton, 2017, para 24, 26).
Despite racial differences among feminists, it would be inaccurate to
dismiss the efforts of white women in general, either historically or
contemporarily. Feminist scholars have advocated for recognition that,
“the struggles of some white women against racism does not belittle the
contributions of women of color or undercut the need for white women
to continually challenge racism, even if those challenges were pitifully
small in relation to what needs to be done” (Kennedy, 2008, p. 511). In
other words, despite conflicting positions on the meaning of feminism,
the wish to effect positive change and to work through differences al-
lows for progress towards unity, even in the presence of divisions by
class, race, and sexuality (Valk, 2010).
Laudable models for feminist action, however, can provide fodder
54
Women's Studies International Forum 69 (2018) 49–55
for devising strategies to address inter-racial dissension (Mattsson,
2014; Smith & Dundes, 2016). Black Feminist organizations from 1968
to 1980 made headway with “constant negotiation between separatism
from and coalitions with white feminists and black liberation activists
and organizations” with most of their impact at the grassroots level,
including neighborhood health fairs (Springer, 2005, p. 90). The fem-
inist women's health advocacy group, the National Women's Health
Network (NWHN), offers an additional exemplar that is extremely
sensitive to issues of race and class. NWHN emphasized organizational
support for activists of color from the outset as well as a critique of
health care that repudiated racism, classism and sexism. While exposing
such divides engendered deep disagreement, the dialogue within
NWHN ultimately resulted in a more inclusive process designed to
improve access to quality health care across race and social class
(Palmer & Sass, 2013; Silliman et al., 2004). Its initiatives, such as
Raising Women's Voices, demonstrate how feminist efforts that take
into account race, ethnicity, social class, immigration status, disabilities
and sexual or gender identity help ensure equitable health care access
(Raising Women's Voices, 2017).
Limitations
Our sample consisted of a small group of African American mil-
lennials drawn from the first author's social circle and is therefore not
representative of Black women; it is likely that 20 African American
women who attended the march would have had different views. In
addition, references in this paper to black or white feminists might
incorrectly imply that each group comprises a unified or homogenous
entity when in fact each group has variation in social class, educational
opportunities, health issues, LGBTQIA+ considerations, etc. that play a
role in the degree to which women feel connected to feminism. We
cannot generalize the perceptions expressed by our interviewees to
young women from different ethnicities, social classes, and sexualities,
critical variables that merit attention in future research. Finally, fruitful
initiatives like NWHN, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo should be
studied to determine their ability to attract women from a wide range of
backgrounds.
Conclusion
Our interview data reveal that African American women did not see
the Women's March as part of the feminist movement. Instead, the in-
terviewees felt that Trump's election, and especially his pussy comment,
spurred the march and the participation of many women who had not
previously embraced feminism. Specifically, the march was perceived
as a means to protest the election rather than a way to address social
injustice disproportionately affecting the lower social classes and
people of color. The subtext of many interviewee comments was that if
the pussy comment galvanized white women, but longstanding in-
equality of African American women and police shootings had not, then
a truly racially inclusive feminist movement remains elusive.
These findings suggest that addressing these concerns requires a
more visibly intersectional feminist approach to social issues. The need
for visibility raises the question of how to make the movement more
inclusive. These findings are also relevant to the #MeToo movement
that was attributed in part to reactions to Trump's leaked mic comment.
African American Tarana Burke, #MeToo movement originator, is one
of a number of African American female voices calling for racial
equality in the attention to and treatment of sexual assault survivors of
color (Hill, 2017; Krischer, 2017; PBS News Hour, 2017; Zacharek et al.,
2017).
Although it may be unrealistic to expect the imminent elimination
of racial divisions among feminists, it can only help to acknowledge and
discuss differences in perspective and encourage mutual support among
those seeking change. White feminists cannot afford complacency in
cases where Black women's voices are marginalized, overlooked or
S. Brewer, L. Dundes
appropriated. We urge attention to the disillusionment of young African
American women whose energy can help invigorate a movement cap-
able of bringing about imperative social change.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the editor and the reviewers for their extensive
and helpful feedback.
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