Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
39 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
"White Women Elected Trump" (Original Post) yallerdawg Jan 2017 OP
Key point to this... HopeAgain Jan 2017 #1
No FBI and Putin triron Jan 2017 #3
Good Article Gothmog Jan 2017 #2
Any resistance must be intersectional n/t snpsmom Jan 2017 #4
Resistance is resistance Phoenix61 Jan 2017 #6
An uncomfortable truth; the sooner we get comfortable with it, the sooner intersectional RedWedge Jan 2017 #5
What is it with the new "intersectional" buzzword thing? Maru Kitteh Jan 2017 #12
It's not new. Its increasing use on DU reflects a greater awareness of the concept. RedWedge Jan 2017 #16
Thank you for that explanation and link. yallerdawg Jan 2017 #21
Your welcome. RedWedge Jan 2017 #25
Uh no. Been here long time. All the sudden it's everywhere, being dragged in from somewhere and Maru Kitteh Jan 2017 #23
The term can definitely be used to delegitimize the marches. It can also be used to illustrate how RedWedge Jan 2017 #24
Great link! thucythucy Jan 2017 #29
The sign is accurate. Now, if I had posted that here a week ago.... Eleanors38 Jan 2017 #7
A number of us at DU warned about this for a couple of years. yallerdawg Jan 2017 #8
Warned about what? n/t seaglass Jan 2017 #9
White women electing that idiot. yallerdawg Jan 2017 #11
I don't think the white women who elected Trump were Democrats, though some who seaglass Jan 2017 #20
I speak obliquely of these matters in DU, too much of a minefield. Eleanors38 Jan 2017 #10
I have lived in Red States most of my life. yallerdawg Jan 2017 #13
Well said emulatorloo Jan 2017 #14
They had a ton of help... Wounded Bear Jan 2017 #15
Hopefully, especially with what is about to happen... yallerdawg Jan 2017 #17
This paragraph practically leapt off the page The Polack MSgt Jan 2017 #18
White men elected Trump BainsBane Jan 2017 #19
When we go to the "Men's March on Washington" ... yallerdawg Jan 2017 #22
I encounter racist Trump supporting white women at every turn outside of DU in comments m-lekktor Jan 2017 #26
Why single out white women? White men voted for him at a higher rate Fresh_Start Jan 2017 #27
White feminists tend to be pretty self-congratulatory about a lot of things, and being reminded that RedWedge Jan 2017 #28
but white women don't make excuses for them as white men do for the fae larger number of white men JI7 Jan 2017 #32
Honestly, I have no idea why men do what they do most of the time. RedWedge Jan 2017 #34
at least nobody is defending them. and all the white dem women say it's because of racism sexism JI7 Jan 2017 #30
This isn't about men. yallerdawg Jan 2017 #33
i do listen and understand and i see Trump is a bigot which was very appealing to his voters JI7 Jan 2017 #35
Sounds like she got an honest response and discussion from her sign, good for her !!!! uponit7771 Jan 2017 #31
It actually makes sense loyalsister Jan 2017 #36
A pictures worth a thousand words. yallerdawg Jan 2017 #37
Brutal truth loyalsister Jan 2017 #38
K&R Solly Mack Jan 2017 #39

HopeAgain

(4,407 posts)
1. Key point to this...
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 02:09 PM
Jan 2017

Trump was as much elected by those who didn't vote as those who voted for Trump, those who didn't volunteer as those who volunteered for Trump and those who remained silent while people hissed that Trump was right and just wasn't giving into political correctness.

RedWedge

(618 posts)
5. An uncomfortable truth; the sooner we get comfortable with it, the sooner intersectional
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 03:30 PM
Jan 2017

solidarity will grow.

Maru Kitteh

(28,303 posts)
12. What is it with the new "intersectional" buzzword thing?
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:25 PM
Jan 2017

I've been paying attention to how many times I see it and the post-counts of the users. I've noticed some similarities in those using it.

This is not an attack, it's an honest question as it seems a very weird trend.





RedWedge

(618 posts)
16. It's not new. Its increasing use on DU reflects a greater awareness of the concept.
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:39 PM
Jan 2017

In most uses regarding women, it stems from the title of Flavia Dzodan's seminal essay, "My Feminism Will Be Intersectional or It Will Be Bullshit."

http://tigerbeatdown.com/2011/10/10/my-feminism-will-be-intersectional-or-it-will-be-bullshit/

Feminism in mainstream culture usually means "white middle-class het/cis feminism," when it needs to be much bigger, meeting people where their identities intersect with "feminist." The tent needs to be bigger, or it's bullshit.

yallerdawg

(16,104 posts)
21. Thank you for that explanation and link.
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:56 PM
Jan 2017

Many of us are seemingly unaware of some fundamental truths:

"...learning about and reflecting on the critical role that black women had played in the civil rights movement only put into greater perspective what “doing the work” looks like. White women: Simply showing up to a march isn’t “doing the work,” and holding a sign isn’t real courage. Courage is standing up for your fundamental rights when you are marginalized, disenfranchised, and unsupported. Heroism is facing, head on, agents of institutionalized racism when your life or your child’s life is on the line."

RedWedge

(618 posts)
25. Your welcome.
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 05:19 PM
Jan 2017

Humans have great power to imagine and empathize with other people's experiences, but we have to be reminded to do it. "My feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit" is a quick-and-handy reminder.

Maru Kitteh

(28,303 posts)
23. Uh no. Been here long time. All the sudden it's everywhere, being dragged in from somewhere and
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 05:11 PM
Jan 2017

an essay from 2011 ain't it. I'm just wondering from where.

If you don't have the answer, it's fine, no problem.

My alarm bells went up when the MSM was working at a hundred different angles to delegitimize the march on Saturday by decrying "missed opportunities" of not including the anti-choice agenda, asking if the largest global march in history could have had more people show up if we reached out more to men, etc., etc.

Those discussions, to delegitimize the march, were also where I first started hearing the word "intersectional" tossed around so much.

Hence, my suspicion. That shit did not sit well.



RedWedge

(618 posts)
24. The term can definitely be used to delegitimize the marches. It can also be used to illustrate how
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 05:18 PM
Jan 2017

to make marches better down the road.

I mean, sure, the idea of intersectional solidarity goes back to the late 80s/early 90s. Feminism being intersectional or being bullshit comes from the essay. In some ways and in some locations, the march planning was highly intersectional. In some places, it wasn't. Talking about it and committing to doing better down the road is never a bad thing.

yallerdawg

(16,104 posts)
11. White women electing that idiot.
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:24 PM
Jan 2017

What we are talking about now is reconciling our fractured party.

If we don't, it won't matter who the Republicans run at any level. They stay united.

seaglass

(8,170 posts)
20. I don't think the white women who elected Trump were Democrats, though some who
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:55 PM
Jan 2017

elected Trump by default were.

I have been thinking about the subject of this OP for a while. I had the same concerns when the march first came about, when the organizers at the time were all white women. My daughter and I contemplated going to DC but I wouldn't have gone if the leaders were all going to be white women. They did hear this and pretty quickly added a diverse leadership.

My daughter and I went to the march in Boston and I can say that while the LGBT community was well represented, and ages of attendees ranged from babies to grandmas there was not a lot of racial diversity, it was mostly white woman. The leaders of the Boston march and the speakers were diverse but again, attendees not so much.

So thoughts about this - it is really uncomfortable to be grouped in with those that repulse you (ww Trump voters), especially when you feel like you did the right thing. This I think is why some white women get defensive about it. But...one of the points that WoC have made repeatedly is that we, as white women, likely know other white women who voted for Trump - so what did we do about that? We probably know white women who are racist, sexist etc. - and what do we do about that? And by not challenging those people in our lives, we are complicit. And I accept that. I haven't come to terms yet with what I am going to do about that.

Still, I feel like the march was the right thing to do and I'm glad I went. There was a lot of love and support. It got under Trump's skin. It was a start.


 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
10. I speak obliquely of these matters in DU, too much of a minefield.
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:20 PM
Jan 2017


I got zapped (hidden) for a little sarcasm from some Democratic "Underground" members.

BTW, have you wondered why this site is called "Underground?"



yallerdawg

(16,104 posts)
13. I have lived in Red States most of my life.
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:27 PM
Jan 2017

I know what "underground" is.

No one marched Saturday in Montgomery, Alabama.

yallerdawg

(16,104 posts)
17. Hopefully, especially with what is about to happen...
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:40 PM
Jan 2017

there's one group who won't make this mistake again.

Then we can start to work on - "White Men."

The Polack MSgt

(13,159 posts)
18. This paragraph practically leapt off the page
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:42 PM
Jan 2017

"As the number of retweets, likes, and followers continued to grow, I started to get a sinking feeling I was being rewarded for clearing a very, very low bar. People were celebrating me for basic self-awareness and a modicum of a challenge to my fellow white women. Let’s be real. I carried a protest sign with a very basic statement of fact to a march organized and attended by many black and brown women, many of whom had messages similar to mine. Even in my own reflective tweets afterward about my experience, I was borrowing from observations black and brown women made about the march and attempts at intersectional feminism through the decades. I was a living embodiment of “white mediocrity versus black excellence.”

Self awareness is so hard to find. Thanks for the link.

m-lekktor

(3,675 posts)
26. I encounter racist Trump supporting white women at every turn outside of DU in comments
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 05:35 PM
Jan 2017

sections of articles online and on friends' facebook page. This is purely anecdotal and hardly "scientific" but I encounter just as many vile Trump supporting white women as I do the men.

RedWedge

(618 posts)
28. White feminists tend to be pretty self-congratulatory about a lot of things, and being reminded that
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 05:45 PM
Jan 2017

they need to call out and organize their demographic sisters is never a bad thing. White women listen to other white women. All Democratic votes are important, but it's good for white feminists to be reminded that their privilege is no small matter and can be used more effectively, and much more often.

JI7

(89,182 posts)
32. but white women don't make excuses for them as white men do for the fae larger number of white men
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 06:01 PM
Jan 2017

That vote republican.

Why don't white men do something about their own instead of blaming identity politics and anyone else who is not a white male.

JI7

(89,182 posts)
30. at least nobody is defending them. and all the white dem women say it's because of racism sexism
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 05:57 PM
Jan 2017

And other bigotry.

Write men voted in way larger numbers yet people make excuses for them .

JI7

(89,182 posts)
35. i do listen and understand and i see Trump is a bigot which was very appealing to his voters
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 06:21 PM
Jan 2017

I see that white women who voted for him are bigots and other white women don't make excuses for them.

loyalsister

(13,390 posts)
36. It actually makes sense
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 06:25 PM
Jan 2017

Last edited Tue Jan 24, 2017, 08:04 PM - Edit history (1)

In an anthropological context, women know that close proximity to white men offers an advantage. Patriarchy is enabled by the fact that women use it to their advantage. It makes perfect sense to want to advance or secure a comfortable or superior place in the hierarchy.
Awareness of the fact that 53% of white women betrayed us all and 94% of women of color tried to save us can be something we accept and think about rather than center the conversation on our own votes. We should not ignore an opportunity to have a conversation about coming together to challenge the patriarchal culture that wants to keep us all "in our place." While white women may be more comfortable on the tier close to the most powerful, we are still not equal.


The pattern of white women choosing white men over women of color underscores some of the more insidious machinations of patriarchy and the racism ingrained in the feminist movement. White women’s modus operandi for gaining power—economic, political, and otherwise—is simple: acquire power from those who have it. And those who have historically have had it are white men. This has resulted in white women’s historic abandonment of their black and brown sisters, as well as their more heinous adoption of white supremacist rhetoric to advance their own status.

https://qz.com/835567/election-2016-white-women-voted-for-donald-trump-in-2016-because-they-still-believe-white-men-are-their-saviors/
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»"White Women Elected Trum...