ABD-ELHAMEED: Your white feminism has no value
This article was inspired by two phenomena: "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig and actress Margot Robbie not being nominated for individual awards at the upcoming 2024 Academy Awards and Taylor Swift. In January, there was a burst of "industry outrage" that refueled the pro-Palestinian movement.
Why? Gerwig and Robbie had not been nominated in their respective individual categories at the Oscars, and all the "feminists" suddenly woke up to talk about it.
But they did not care to use their voices and speak up for Palestine or anything remotely important.
More explicitly, many so-called "feminists" expressed outrage over rich, white women not getting enough awards while not giving that same energy toward the women of Gaza, Congo, Sudan or women anywhere in the world who are facing persecution.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was among those women who immediately took to social media regarding the "news" of Gerwig and Robbie.
In a post on the social media platform X addressed to "Greta and Margot," Clinton wrote, "While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you. You're both so much more than Kenough."
Two mothers are killed every hour since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza. Meanwhile, Clinton has strongly rejected a ceasefire.
The complete disregard and apathy from Clinton and other "feminists" toward the women of Gaza is truly disgusting, shameful and rather dystopian.
If you felt outraged for Gerwig and Robbie but were apathetic to the reality that miscarriages of Palestinian women have increased by 300 percent or that Sudanese women are currently being subjected to "kidnap, slavery, rape and sexual violence," then you are simply adhering to white feminism.
These are the same white feminists who worship Swift and claim women's rights but can still justify silence during a genocide.
Swift's deliberate and deafening silence about Gaza and urgent humanitarian issues is not representative of feminism just because she sings about not owing men anything and "shaking off" the "haters."
The pop singer has absurd influence, but she cannot even muster some dignity to positively influence her fans while journalists from Palestine and across Africa are struggling to fight Meta's biased algorithm.
If you think otherwise, then take a look at these numbers.
A study from QuestionPro estimates that Swift's "Eras Tour" generated an "estimated $5 billion in economic impact, more than the gross domestic product of 50 countries." Many economists have said that the singer "almost single-handedly" pulled the U.S. out of a "borderline recession."
Meanwhile, women of Gaza are using tent scraps as menstrual pads. But I guess this is less of a feminist issue to some.
It is critical to never underestimate the influence of someone like Swift.
For example, Huda Kattan, an Iraqi-born makeup artist and founder of Huda Beauty, posted a since-deleted photo on Instagram of her and her partner wearing "Freedom Melon" sweatshirts from the clothing brand Wear The Peace.
Within one hour of the photo being posted, Kattan was able to raise more than $2,000 in funds for the "Freedom Melon" sweatshirt, which goes directly to the people of Gaza. Note that Kattan has 4.1 million Instagram followers — approximately 1.4 percent of Swift's following.
This movement of selective feminist outcry reminds me of the West's reaction to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022. Amini was an Iranian woman who was killed by authorities in Iran for improperly wearing her hijab, according to Iran's mandatory hijab law.
Iran's civil uproar and the Western world's outrage at her unjust murder spread rapidly across mainstream and social media. As expected, white feminists expressed their anger toward Amini's death, which sparked discussions of women's rights around the world.
The problem, though, is that there is never the same kind of outrage whenever Western countries, such as France, decide to impose new laws against Muslim women.
In August 2023, Gabriel Attal, former French Education Minister and current French Prime Minister, announced the ban on the abaya in schools. In 2004 and 2010, the country banned headscarves in schools and the wearing of a full-face veil in public, respectively.
But, of course, there was silence from the Western world and white feminists.
Additionally, this kind of white feminism can take the form of imperial feminism, which refers to the Western need of "saving" or "liberating" women of the East. It is this same colonialist mentality, whether conscious or subconscious, that fueled France's occupation of Algeria in the mid-20th century.
The symbol of the veil as oppressive was imperative as the unveiling of women represented progress toward women's emancipation in colonial Algeria.
Even further, to show unity between the French settlers and the colonized Muslim women, large gatherings and unveiling ceremonies were hosted to demonstrate the "success" of the French in liberating these women during Algeria's War of Independence.
The emphasis is supposed to be on governments forcing women to dress a certain way. But yet again, it becomes another classic example of white and sometimes imperial feminists focusing on the wrong thing.
Let us actually turn our attention to real feminist issues for once.
Naaima Abd-Elhameed is a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in journalism and media studies and minoring in Arabic and international and global studies. Her column, "Something to Think About," runs on alternate Tuesdays.
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