I found this reading particularly interesting because I am very much interested in 21st century social movements. The “hashtag” movements or “hashtavism” has been heavily discussed in some of my other government courses about social movements and protest. Loza starts her article discussing the #solidarityisforwhitewomen hashtag from 2013, where it went viral and started a conversation about white feminism. Loza uses this example to illustrate her question as to whether mainstream feminism is still in the hands of only white women. Some could argue that the Internet and hashtags give minorities the opportunity to share their experience and help white feminists better understand the experiences of others. However, it can also be argued that it the Internet has been swept up by white feminism, and that tweets “against” white women end up meeting a lot of backlash and critique. White feminists may feel that they are being attacked by these WOC-led twitter campaigns, and the results end up become more polarizing rather than a healthy discussion ending in solidarity. Personally, I have witnessed both take place, however, I believe that overall digital feminism is a way for white women, such as myself, to learn about the experiences of others. It is incredibly important, however, that as white women we listen to other women of color, and make a conscious effort not to speak over them or speak for them.
WMST 488X: Senior Seminar in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. University of Maryland College Park. Spring 2019. Dr Alexis Lothian.
Definitely! This made me think of the way white feminists can take over social media movements, like the #MeToo movement, which was started in 2006 to promote “empowerment through empathy” among women of color who have experienced sexual abuse. While I think where the #MeToo movement ended up is an important place, it definitely strayed from its origins of being for and by women of color and became largely about white female celebrities who had endured sexual violence in Hollywood.