The white woman is being hypocritical. She expects the guy to understand her particular case. She cannot use the same logic to understand the black women’s case.
The man is trying to paper over the issues that divide men and women, the same way the white woman is papering over the issues that divide white and black women.
I understand the comic is pointing out hypocrisy. But I also see it as illustrating how perspective can shift depending on where one stands, especially if one does not already have a clear understanding of what intersectionality is and can intellectualize it. Both the guy and the woman do not seem to be portrayed as evil people, just misguided.
The black woman still sees the same underlying point, and the white woman now feels “left out”. And perhaps she is next. In pops the Muslim woman.
Though this is clearly not the intended result, one must recognize that this is an underlying point of attack, an exploitable weakness. Bitterness can be created to break groups that otherwise have common interests apart, and without the overall coalition there is no power to enact change.
Ultimately, Black feminism is part of a broader feminist goal that is part of a broader humanist goal. We are together, we are aligned.
“Why do you have a label that excludes me?” scales up and to a virtually universal group and down to a specialized category with only three members.
It doesn’t really matter if you say that men are right to critique the label “feminism” or if you allow specialization all the way down to “Midwestern small city non-theater trans-male part-African part-Irish demisexual furry feminism”. Just so long as you’re fighting bigotry and applying your principles consistently.
(I much rather spend effort arguing that a man arguing against anti-masculine sexism is a cause worth supporting than bickering over whether or not his cause counts as “feminism”, even though I would casually include him in the label.)
I wouldn’t see it as being right or wrong. Both white folks in the comic would benefit from a broadening of perspective is all.
The white guy doesn’t understand why a unique space is needed for women and gets an explanation.
The white lady doesn’t understand why a unique space is needed for black women and gets an explanation.
Anyone with a cursory understanding of history, particularly modern colonial history, where Europeans and their descendants actively dabbled in propoganda/a worldview that white = human and nonwhite = non/subhuman (culminating in Nazism) would understand this but our education system often avoids these difficult topics. Women were not able to hold credit up until the 70s and so their financial security depending entirely on their husband, depriving them of agency.
Unfortunately we can’t just flip a switch and make this history and its legacy disappear. I don’t blame the people portrayed in this comic. I blame inadequate education.
I’m dumb, is the point the guy is wrong or that the white woman is wrong?
The white woman is being hypocritical in not applying intersectionality when it doesn’t affect her.
And the guy is wrong.
I’m still stupid, can you fix the multiple negatives so I can understand
ok. thank you.
The white woman is being hypocritical. She expects the guy to understand her particular case. She cannot use the same logic to understand the black women’s case.
The man is trying to paper over the issues that divide men and women, the same way the white woman is papering over the issues that divide white and black women.
thank you
I understand the comic is pointing out hypocrisy. But I also see it as illustrating how perspective can shift depending on where one stands, especially if one does not already have a clear understanding of what intersectionality is and can intellectualize it. Both the guy and the woman do not seem to be portrayed as evil people, just misguided.
The black woman still sees the same underlying point, and the white woman now feels “left out”. And perhaps she is next. In pops the Muslim woman.
Though this is clearly not the intended result, one must recognize that this is an underlying point of attack, an exploitable weakness. Bitterness can be created to break groups that otherwise have common interests apart, and without the overall coalition there is no power to enact change.
Ultimately, Black feminism is part of a broader feminist goal that is part of a broader humanist goal. We are together, we are aligned.
Yeah I think your last paragraph is vital to this discussion. Black feminism takes nothing from feminism as a whole, while adding quite a bit.
What matters is consistency.
“Why do you have a label that excludes me?” scales up and to a virtually universal group and down to a specialized category with only three members.
It doesn’t really matter if you say that men are right to critique the label “feminism” or if you allow specialization all the way down to “Midwestern small city non-theater trans-male part-African part-Irish demisexual furry feminism”. Just so long as you’re fighting bigotry and applying your principles consistently.
(I much rather spend effort arguing that a man arguing against anti-masculine sexism is a cause worth supporting than bickering over whether or not his cause counts as “feminism”, even though I would casually include him in the label.)
I wouldn’t see it as being right or wrong. Both white folks in the comic would benefit from a broadening of perspective is all.
The white guy doesn’t understand why a unique space is needed for women and gets an explanation.
The white lady doesn’t understand why a unique space is needed for black women and gets an explanation.
Anyone with a cursory understanding of history, particularly modern colonial history, where Europeans and their descendants actively dabbled in propoganda/a worldview that white = human and nonwhite = non/subhuman (culminating in Nazism) would understand this but our education system often avoids these difficult topics. Women were not able to hold credit up until the 70s and so their financial security depending entirely on their husband, depriving them of agency.
Unfortunately we can’t just flip a switch and make this history and its legacy disappear. I don’t blame the people portrayed in this comic. I blame inadequate education.