Congzhi Jiang, A01, Week 3

Congzhi Jiang


A01


Week 3





As our professor Vervalde mentioned in her book, it is common for people to be unaware of their own discrimination towards other minority groups. In other words, the oppressed can be unconsciously an oppressor. I have seen this form of discrimination continuously. I have seen African-Americans who hate Africans, non-Chinese Asians who hate Chinese, Asian men who hate feminism, and so on. This form of discrimination is quite ironical, but it can be seen everywhere. This even reminds me of the term of White Feminism which refers to false feminism that only focuses on the struggles of white women without addressing distinct forms of struggles faced by women of color and other women lacking privilege. White Feminism is criticized, because it shuts down the issues of the patriarchy, members of the LGBTQ community, women of color, the disabled, and otherwise marginalized persons. As much as I understand the criticism, I also understand how and why it happened. Naturally, people are more emotionally attached to social issues that are related to them. It is not that everybody wants to be selfish, but that everybody has their own lens of experience that defines the world. I believe intersectionality plays an important key to solve this problem. We should extend ourselves beyond the narrow confines of our own experience.

[HuffPost]. (2015, Sep 3). Why We Need To Talk About White Feminism [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNdZcegK1lQ