Feminism And The Suffrage Movement

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Recommended: Critical analysis of feminism

Feminism is often described as a white girl’s hobby. The analysis of this belief reveals the unfortunate reality that, while feminism has benefited many groups, one group is benefiting more through overrepresentation. White women’s voices are the loudest of the movement and they drown out the needs and opinions of every other ethnic group. Looking back, the path that lead Feminism here is obvious; however, the path that takes the group to a place of equality is harder to find. This essay examines the path of mainstream feminism through the frame of race then explores ways to eliminate the racial and classist institutions that currently corrupt feminism. The concept of feminism began in the United States in the nineteenth century with the Suffrage Movement. Analyzed through the frame of race, this movement can be seen as the foundation of white feminism. White feminism is the notion that mainstream feminism is only concerned with the issues effecting white, middle to upper class women. The popular film Iron Jawed Angels, released in 2004, depicts the last years of the Suffrage movement and examples of the foundation of white feminism. While some aspects of the film are fabricated for entertainment value, the scene where Alice Paul and Ida Wells discuss the marching order for the 1913 Suffrage parade is accurate. In this scene, Paul attempts to convince Wells that all ethnics must march in the back. Later in the film Wells defies Paul’s orders by marching next to her. These two scenes are accurate descriptions of how feminism has been organized in the past and the present and how members fight against it. Paul’s vision of women suffrage, in all likelihood, was of relatively wealthy, white women. An example of this in the film is th... ... middle of paper ... ... assuming responsibility to actively give up the privileges bequeathed by these systems,…U.S. feminists embark upon dismantling” (Elkholy, 2012) these institutions. The only confusion left is in the fight “against systems of domination and exploitation” (Elkholy, 2012). Those suffering from ‘mostly’ examined racism would say they are fighting against these systems. However, as stated before, these ‘feminists’ almost never listen to the needs and concerns of those they are trying to assist and, therefore, cannot adequately help. The best thing to do in these situations is to ask oneself: ‘Did I listen to their stories and concerns?’ and ‘Who will benefit?’. In reality, these are questions all feminists should ask themselves while helping a group with different concerns than their own. The paths traveled may be different but our end goal, general equality, is the same.

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