I have white male privilege. I wrote a short piece yesterday acknowledging the extent to which I have white male privilege – it is to every extent. I (and others like me) hold power, and the system is set up to favor us.

Privilege is more pervasive than the foundation of white male led patriarchy though. There are layers, and within those layers we find the multidimensional marginalization of other humans. Human beings exist across spectrum of issues relating to race, ethnicity, gender, class, ability, age, religion, and mental health – intersectionality helps us to understand how (and where) those qualifiers combine and create specific identities.

Recently a spotlight has fallen on how feminism intersects with co-occurring causes (spurred by the wide turnout of the Million Woman March) – white feminists have been asked to look at their agenda and consider if it adequately includes both the concept and voice of people across a spectrum outside of their experience. This challenge has been difficult for some, for the simple reason that it ‘feels empowering’ to attempt to include the concept of ‘all’ in your empowered actions. This creates a strained discourse though, because the implication is that one might assume to speak for another – and in doing so unwittingly creates an ‘other’ out of them. If a white feminist claims to speak for all women there is an implicit presumption that ‘all women’ wish to be represented by a white feminist. There is an even deeper assumption that a white feminist might know ‘how’ to speak for all women.

There is a specific difference between advocating for the voice of another, and implying that one is able to give voice for another. While it is usual that the intention of one standing for another is to be an ally, the reality is that one may perpetuate marginalization, without meaning to do so.

The specific experience of an individual is their experience to define, alone. We are becoming more aware that power, empowerment, and advocacy do not exist together – they are splintered.

As a social worker my specific role is to empower the disempowered, and to advocate for the marginalized – sometimes I extend that role and I speak to concepts, but I do not presume to speak for any one specific group (or individual). I am in the way if I do so. The best I can hope for is to draw attention and then quickly step out of the way so that a person may advocate for themselves. I stand behind them, or beside them.

Within the complexities of feminist discourse we find intersectionality shaking up the narrative – we are asked questions like “Can you still be a feminist if you don’t support the rights of sex-workers?” or “How does a white woman relate to woman of color, or a trans-woman of color, or a gender-neutral person of color?” The answer is buried within the concept of privilege, and as marginalized groups raise their voices within this discourse it becomes apparent that their voices have always been there, buried by others’ privilege.

Privilege is not simply held by white males, it is not cis-gendered white males who have all the power – granted the majority of power is locked into that narrative, but patriarchy and privilege exist in complex (and sometimes competing) measures. Understanding how intersectionality informs us of the movement of power is integral in addressing the imbalance of power. It is integral in re-defining what feminism is, in re-defining what advocacy is, and it is integral in re-defining what oppression is. We have to support the often suppressed voices in coming to the fore if we are really to understand where we fit into the spectrum of the human condition.

Listening to activists advocate for their experience of oppression, and to their experiences of marginalization, and to their experience of invisibility within narratives is having an open hear to being informed that you have been unintentionally tripping up the person you are trying to support.

#feminism #privilage #intersectionality