Why Intersectionality Matters #2 - Barriers Facing Women of Colour that Are Invisible to White Women

This is 2nd Intersectionality Matters post and today I'm going to be discussing how White Feminism comes from a place of white privilege and supremacy and as a result is internalised racism. I'm going to be talking about the barriers that women of colour face that white women will never have to face and the fact that a lot of those barriers aren't highlighted in mainstream media.

1) The Pay Gap - It's no secret that there is still a wage gap in most industries and companies between men and women. White women earn 78 cents to the dollar that white men earn and that has been long argued about for decades. However, very few people discuss the fact that Hispanic women earn on average 54 cents, black women earn 64 cents and Native American earn 65 cents. This is due to a number of factors, including the fact that more WOC could only find part-time jobs than white women.

2) Beauty Standards - I know that every woman (and man) faces standards of beauty that are impossible to attain, but WOC face the fact that models of their skin colour are rarely seen in mainstream fashion media and messages are sent out (whether unintentionally or not) that if you're white then you can easily be beautiful. In fact, some magazines have even gone so far as to promote 'new trends' for white women to follow that have been used in various cultures for years.

3) Lack of Media Representation - Following on from my last point, there is a distinct lack of cultural diversity in pretty much all aspects of the media, whether it be film or TV etc., and I know that there is a lack of female representation overall, it's more so for WOC. While there has been a surge of more culturally diverse programmes being produced, Hispanic  actors make up 12.5% of characters, black actors make up 4.9% and Asian actors make up 5.3% yet they all account for around 50% of the movie tickets.

4) Racial Discrimination -   As you'll have seen in the news recently, more and more ethnic minorities are being killed in acts of police brutality, are being discriminated against in the workforce, and are being verbally and physically abused in the street. White people rarely face that on a daily basis, if at all.

And White Feminism chooses to erase all these things from their agenda and act like everyone started from the same point. But we didn't - some people are still a bit behind. So let's make a change. Feminism is for everyone - not just the elite.

Why Intersectionality Matters #1 - Gender isn't defined by Biology

Over the next few weeks, for my Feminist Fridays, I'm going to be discussing why we need to be incorporating intersectionality into feminism - I know a lot of people are doing this (me included)because we need to acknowledge that gender isn't the only factor in deciding what inequality is. And many people, prominent figures or not, are simply believing that every woman starts at the same point in life and marginalise many minorities i.e. Women Of Colour, Transgender Women, Queer Women, Disabled Women etc. and as a result Feminism is increasingly seen as this 'elite' movement (more on that another time) which we need to change now because it's socially harmful.

This week, I am going to write about the marginalisation of transgender people.

From an early age, and as we get older, we are taught what makes a boy and what makes a boy - a girl has a vagina and a boy has a penis. However, if you have a penis but identify as a female, like transgender women, than as far as I'm concerned, they're a female - just like if you have a vagina but identify as a male, then you're a male.

Biology should not be the defining factor in someone's gender, it's about what gender you identify with, and want to be and eventually become. And if you're cisgender i.e. you identify with the gender you were assigned at birth, you have privileges that transgender people can only hope for.

If you are cisgender, then you are statistically less likely to be verbally abused on the street, physically attacked, raped, killed and face discrimination. But you already knew that (it's common knowledge) and particularly if you are also a trans woman of colour, or disabled, or queer then you are at even more at risk.

Feminists haven't been the best advocate for transgender equality under the Feminist Umbrella of 'Issues We Need to Tackle' but it is changing, slowly. So let's speed it up.