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A review by frances_frances
When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins
1.0
Neoliberal white feminist point of view
It's totally fine for someone to write a book about feminism that centers white/straight/cis women's stories and perspectives, but the author should make that explicit. Saying you're writing about "women" when you're really writing about a very specific group of women is a form of erasure.
I do not think that women occupying the types of powerful positions that white men have historically held is necessarily progressive or positive. Representation in politics is useless if the powerful positions themselves require its occupants to favor profit over people, and performative displays of respect over meaningful acts of solidarity.
In the words of bell hooks: "As long as [...] any group defines liberations as gaining social equality with ruling class white men, they have a vested interest in the continued exploitation and oppression of others".
It's totally fine for someone to write a book about feminism that centers white/straight/cis women's stories and perspectives, but the author should make that explicit. Saying you're writing about "women" when you're really writing about a very specific group of women is a form of erasure.
I do not think that women occupying the types of powerful positions that white men have historically held is necessarily progressive or positive. Representation in politics is useless if the powerful positions themselves require its occupants to favor profit over people, and performative displays of respect over meaningful acts of solidarity.
In the words of bell hooks: "As long as [...] any group defines liberations as gaining social equality with ruling class white men, they have a vested interest in the continued exploitation and oppression of others".