Colonizing Feminism: A Brief Critique Of "Shared Girlhood"

The notion of "shared girlhood" always seemed ridiculous to me. I have noticed that it was always white womyn who claimed that "shared girlhood" was actually a real thing. But lets look into what the notion of "shared girlhood" is, who benefits from it and who is marginalized by it...

Being raised in a collision of cultures, always caught between Mexican culture and Anglo-American culture, my upbringing and my experiences were shaped by culture. I find the notion that anglo womyn have some kind of shared experiences of oppression with me to be condescending at best. The fact is that the history of the feminist movement for the most part involves a history of white womyn working for white womyn while womyn of color got thrown under the bus. When I see someone advocating the idea of "shared girlhood" what that translates to underneath those words is "let me tell you what your experiences are and erase your experiences with racist oppression" but their two word version just sounds deceptively better. In reality, it only makes it appear more legitimate.

The idea of "shared girlhood" was created as a way for white womyn to colonize womyn of color. But you know what? I ain't a pawn for anglo womyn. It's not that I wouldn't fight alongside white womyn against patriarchy and all of the other hierarchies that are interwoven with patriarchy. However, if I fight alongside white womyn, I will do it on my terms. Don't condescendingly tell me that you understand my lived experience, instead acknowledge and take responsibility for the privilege you were blessed with by your white skin and your anglo culture. Don't sell me some anglo-centric notion that you can project your experiences on me.

Another group of people marginalized by the idea of "shared girlhood" are the trans folks that the idea of "shared girlhood" is most often used in a more blatantly malicious way. The idea of "shared girlhood" is used by so-called "radical feminists" to tell transwomyn that they aren't womyn and usually involves viewing transmen as some kind of gender-traitors. It is a way for trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) to deny the identities of trans people.

What it comes down to is one group of white, cisgender, mostly affluent womyn telling the rest of the us what our experiences are. So if you believe in "shared girlhood" maybe it is time to check your fucking privilege, guera.