I usually don’t comment on Racialicious posts two days in a row, but I felt like I had to do so with today’s post by guest columnist Thea Lim, especially the response by Britta. Britta’s response, which can be found here, somehow alludes that only white, middle class women have the privilege of mainstream feminism. Well, that may be the case in certain geographic areas. This is something I pointed out in a post dated April 28. I don’t see how or why some non-white people, whether they’re in the west or in the old country can’t feel that they have more in common with so-called “mainstream” western feminism or vice versa. Britta goes on about women “bragging about their cheap nannies and hired help.” Is she saying that only wealthy WHITE women have hired help? The last time I checked, many nannies work for non-white women as well. And at least nannies in North America have more rights and get relatively decent pay compared to their counterparts in places like Hong Kong (where most of the people who hire help are, guess what? CHINESE. It’s not expats who exploit local women. Not anymore.)
Personally, I don’t always identify with mainstream feminism not because I’m non-white, but because they seem to want things to happen quicker than things CAN happen. A little too impatient, IMHO.
