Women can be oppressors too
One of Kimbele Crenshaw’s opening critiques of feminism was how feminists get wrapped up in one axis of identity, hence why she developed the idea of intersectional feminism for her work before the law. A central conceit that third and fourth wave feminists have built out from intersectional understanding is that women too are capable of oppressing other women. This is not a controversial idea, as any system of power where women hold power over other women can become inherently abusive. Many gender critical second wave feminists seem to forget this, attempting to paint all women as this homogenous whole subservient beneath the patriarchal yoke, forgetting that they only ever appeal to a very slim core demographic of white, middle class, middle aged feminists. Oppression is both an abstract concept and very much one grounded in the lived reality of women the world over, and by denying or refusing to account for women on women oppression gender exclusionary feminists fail to see the plank in their own eye.
While the fight against male oppression is very much needed and justified, there are plenty of women who would brush women-on-women oppression under the carpet for the sake of the movement. They take the broad tent conservative approach of ignoring the ill behaviour of those with power in favour of entrenching their own rights and benefits. If a garment maker in Pakistan or house maid from the…
