I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual

by Luvvie Ajayi Jones

Feminism might not have started any wars, but it has been cruel by not equally prioritizing—and in some cases actually working against—the issues of women of color, and women who are not heterosexual, and basically any woman who isn’t straight and white. It has upheld a system of white supremacy by primarily serving that group, and it has made others invisible in its battles and on its front lines. It might not be the reason for World War III, but it is culpable and complicit in how some women are still marginalized and struggling while others are uplifted as the ideal of womanhood. I understand why some women of color have deep issues with it and refuse to identify as feminists. Feminism hasn’t started any wars, but its battles are mostly fought by self-righteous white women who don’t even realize that their work often only benefits people like them. When the big F has not cared about your unique issues, has not fought the extra layers of oppression that nonwhite, nonstraight women face, and has undermined your own efforts at seeking equality and freedom, you are probably in no rush to put yourself under its unwelcoming umbrella. I am a feminist in spite of all this, but many of my friends identify as womanists, understandably. Like Alice Walker said: “Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender.”