WSTD 2000: introduction to Women's Studies via the World Wide Web
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Spring 2004
Rebecca White's Response!!

Veronica Chambers’ “Betrayal Feminism” is about a black woman and her views on society and feminism. The author talks about how black men and black women have to stick together in society. She also talks about how white men and white women do not truly understand them and they only want them in their groups because it is politically correct: “Like many black women before me, I learned the hard way that some people, including many white feminist, like having blacks at their meetings and social gatherings... To have a black presence was and is trendy.” (Listen Up. P 262). The author also talks about how even though they are a part of feminist group with mainly white feminists, as a black feminist she still does not feel comfortable around them and do not truly trust them. In other words, black feminists do not feel that white feminists will have their back if a situation occurred where they would be needed for support. The author feels that black feminists can only be equal when they are all looked at and treated the same way in society as white feminists. Also, the fight for racism must be conquered by white and black feminists together and not just black feminists fighting for it themselves: “White women must look within themselves and their organizations and address the issue of why more women of color do not stand by their side. Only then will we be any closer to truly being sisters.” (Listen Up. P. 264).
Multiracial Feminism is the idea that not all women are created equally even within a single country or nation and that they will go through different experiences because of their race, gender, class, level of education, etc. This is a excellent definition for this story because the black feminist in the story is treated differently in life then what the white feminist is. She is treated differently because of her race and she knows this and tells the reader that she will not be treated the same as the white feminist until racism is stopped completely and when the white feminist and black feminist are just seen as feminists and not a specific color or race of feminists.
One of the major consequences of not having all women feel like they are equal in society is that they become more concerned about fitting in with the other feminists and feeling like they are part of the group that they concentrate more on this then what they are actually fighting for as a feminist. They become more concerned with themselves and the consequence of this is that they end up not working together to stop what is keeping them apart which is racism.
This specific reading fits into the reading by JeeYeun Lee’s “Beyond Bean Counting”. In this story the author is also struggling to fit into society and she feels hurt because all the articles that she reads about feminism, there are not any about Asian women and how they are struggling against inequalities, there is nothing that she as an Asian woman can relate to: “A class about women, I thought, was a class about me, so I looked for myself everywhere, and I found nothing.” (Listen Up. P. 68). The author in this story is also experiencing a sense of not fitting in to a feminist group and therefore she too is drawn from these groups and classes that are focussing on just issues that are affecting white and black men and women. The classes and groups seem to care about themselves and not all races and therefore this Asian woman feels left out just like the black woman in the other reading.
This reading has helped me to understand how other people feel about the ways that they are being treated. I know that for me, if I saw an Asian or African-American woman or man at a feminist group I would think that they are sharing a sense of belonging with the other feminists. Sometimes until we are actually told that they do not feel like they belong, we assume that they are aright with the issues and topics that are being discussed, but we do not realize that maybe we should be discussing the issues and problems of others because everyone is just as important as ourselves in society. All types of people need to come together to fight for what we know is right, equality among all and to stop racism!