Feminism, racism and bfp
After the recent row over ‘intellectual theft’ - explained here:
http://highonrebellion.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/intellectual-theft-is-still-theft/
- and here:
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2008/04/10/this-has-not-been-a-good-week-for-woman-of-color-blogging/
- and here:
http://guyaneseterror.blogspot.com/2008/04/thats-all-she-wrote.html
- and her resulting blog closure:
http://brownfemipower.com/
- brownfemipower has written this:
http://bfpfinal.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/3/
Posted by Helen G on 17 April 2008, at 9:58 PM | Comments (4)
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Izzy said:
Hey there,
As I understood it, the work of issue wasn't Full Frontal Feminism, but rather an immigration article by a different feminist blogger.
Posted on 18 April 2008 at 12:49 AM
Helen G said:
Izzy, thank you.
My mistake - fixed now, I hope.
Posted on April 18, 2008 8:24 AM
Jennifer-Ruth said:
I've been following this because I have been a long-time reader of bfp's blog. I think her last post should be required reading for all who identify as feminists. It is vital that we white feminists remember the privilige we have.
Everything is interconnected. To be truely feminist you must be able to think about *all* women and realise that their experiences are not always equal to yours. Bfp said that feminism is also about "equality between women" regardless of class, race, sexuality, ability, or anything else. If we take anything away from this, that is what we should remember.
Posted on 18 April 2008 at 11:04 AM
Helen G said:
I keep coming back to bfp's final post, reading and re-reading it. And so many of the things she says resonate with me, not only in terms of my own particular privileges, but also in terms of the "feminist movement" in general...
There is no "feminist movement" because the work being done is not just conflicting with the work of other "sisters"—it's directly negating it.
For me, this shit has all been about community. I did not expressly state this in my original post. I was angry enough at the time that I really didn't flesh out my ideas fully. Having since had the time to think things through more carefully and surf around several of the blogs that are talking about this—part of what I was trying to say was that feminists have a choice in deciding what community they belong to. And they are implicitly choosing to stay away from and otherwise distance themselves from communities that make them uncomfortable or worried for any reason.
[...]
"Feminists," on the other hand, are not movement building, they are actively destroying women and blaming those women for the destruction. They are saying the point of feminism is "equality with men" without even thinking to acknowledge that “"equality with women" is just as admirable of a goal and maybe even possibly the first step to achieving the goal of equality with men. They are saying, Just do it, just do it, JUST FUCKING DO IT.
And so I withdraw myself from this "movement".
And I reject and rebel at the label "feminist."
I reject and rebel at the label "feminist" because I reject and rebel against silence and erasure.
Read it and weep. The revolution will not be televised.
Posted on April 20, 2008 11:23 AM