Image of Hashtag Feminism, #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, and the Other #FemFuture

Feminist Studies

Hashtag Feminism, #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, and the Other #FemFuture

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On August 12th, 2013, the hashtag #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen trended worldwide. In four short days, it was tweeted over 75,465 times (Topsy 2015). Coined by Mikki Kendall (@Karynthia) during a Twitter debate about the downfall of prominent white male feminist Hugo Schwyzer (4th Wave Feminist 2013; Al Jazeera 2013b; Anderson 2013; Dzodan 2013a; Dzodan 2013c; Grace 2012; Grenoble 2013; James 2013; Mamzelle 2013; Rawls 2013b; Trudy, 2013a; Vazquez, 2013; Vingiano and Testa, 2013; White Feminist Collection Agency, 2013), the hashtag called out “digital feminists” like Feministe’s Jill Filipovic, Jezebel’s Jessica Coen, Jessica Valenti (formerly of Feministing), and Slate’s Amanda Marcotte for providing Schwyzer a platform which he “confessed, was based partly on putting down women of color and defending white feminism” (Kendall 2013b). It was also meant as a stinging rebuke to American feminism’s brand of solidarity, one which “centers on the safety and comfort of white women” at the expense of women of color (Kendall 2013b). The hashtag quickly morphed from an insular discussion about Schwyzer, his white feminist defenders, and how they collectively antagonized and alienated a coterie of WOC feminist bloggers and writers (Aura Bogado, blackamazon, brownfemipower, Flavia Dzodan, and Mikki Kendall), to an impassioned debate about the continued exclusion of nonwhite women from mainstream feminism (Al Jazeera 2013b; The Daily Mail 2013; Plank 2013).

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: Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology.,
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English
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Solidarity
WhiteWomen
#FemFuture
Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technolog
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