In November 2016, the world watched in horror (or delight, depending on your political persuasion) as the USA confirmed what everyone sadly (or gladly, depending on your political persuasion) knew: the world prizes incompetent, rich, white men overy highly qualified women.
Interestingly, four months before, the UK gained its second ever female Prime Minister.
This was not, however, because the UK had suddenly undergone a great feminist awakening. On the contrary - Theresa May only got the job because none of the (incompetent, rich, white) men wanted it.
Despite this, Theresa May’s promotion has been heralded as a great feminist success, because for a lot of feminists, white women gaining power is the ultimate feminist goal.
“How can Theresa May be viewed as a great feminist success story when she hurts more women than she helps?”
There is a common misconception within feminism that as as long as some women are gaining power over others, feminism is working. Or, more accurately, as long as rich, white, abled women are getting promotions, feminism is doing its job.
It’s why the majority of white women voted or Trump—because they knew that even in the wake of third-wave feminism (or is it fourth-wave now?), their whiteness would propel them towards success more than their gender would. And it’s why Theresa May’s success is heralded as a feminist victory - because white success is all we really care about.
But how can Theresa May be viewed as a great feminist success story when she hurts more women than she helps?
Was it a feminist action when Theresa May wrongly deported 48,000 students? How about when she sat silent and complicit when her party murdered thousands of disabled people? Did the patriarchy crumble when she pledged to scrap human rights and destroy the economy in the wake of Brexit? Did women everywhere rejoice when she struck a deal with the anti-LGBT, anti-abortion DUP?
Call me old-fashioned, but a woman who hates immigrant women and disabled women and poor women isn’t a feminist. A woman whose party is single-handedly responsible for sending children to food banks is not a feminist.
“You can’t be a feminist if you pull the ladder up after you’ve reached the top - and that is exactly what Theresa May has done.”
Theresa May’s premiership is only a feminist victory if you believe the only women worth fighting for are rich white women.
Because feminism isn’t about individual choice or personal success-it’s about dismantling all the systems that keep women (and non-binary) people down. A woman rising to the top of her field isn’t a feminist success story until women across the world can rise to top of their fields, regardless of their class or race.
And a female Prime Minister isn’t a feminist victory until that power is used to raise up other women.
Of course, seeing women in positions of power is a good thing. If even one woman looks at Theresa May-or any other female leader - and thinks ‘Hey, maybe I could do that’, then that’s great. Wonderful. We need more women in politics.
But the trouble with leaders like May is that she is likely only inspiring a certain kind of woman to enter the world of politics. Do disabled women look at Theresa May and think ‘I want to do what she does’? Do immigrant women look at May and think ‘That will be me one day’? Or do they look at May and think ‘Why does this woman hate me so much?’
If you’re a feminist, you must fight for all women. You must raise up all women-not just women who look and act and love and earn like you. You must use your power to help the vulnerable.
You can’t be a feminist if you pull the ladder up after you you’ve reached the top-and that is exactly what Theresa May has done.
