2015 Round up of Feminist New Year Resolutions

This post originally appeared on January 5, 2015 written by Kelly Ehrenreich.

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Last week as we said goodbye to 2014 and hello to 2015, feminist writers and activists reflected on the struggles and victories from the past year with a plan to move forward. We collected the top stories and tweets of Feminist New Year Resolutions, or #FeministNewYearResolutions.

Feminists wrote *a lot* this year about hashtags, as evident through our collaboration with Mic.com’s Elizabeth Plank on the Top Feminist Hashtags of 2014. Among the most prolific tags were #YesAllWomen and #BlackLivesMatter. Anushay Hossain of the Huffington Post declared that “Feminists rocked 2014” highlighting many moments for feminists to celebrate in 2014, such as Malala’s Nobel Peace Prize and Maryam Mirzakhani’s Fields Medal.

Some of the leading feminist voices in media and activism shared their views on how we can leverage energy and visibility of feminist issues in 2014 to make change going forward. Jessica Valenti wrote for The Guardian: “If you call yourself a feminist, make 2015 the year you act on those beliefs”; and Amanda Marcotte for Slate outlined the possibilities for feminist activism in 2015, citing both positive and negative implications.

Articles from Feministing, Washington Post, and Amber Gordon via Femsplain asked dozens of feminists to share their goals for the new year. A special tip of the hat to Ruth Tam for her piece in the Post as she also illustrated portraits of each of the 16 influential feminists shown (right).

Quotes from feminists of various ages, races, and backgrounds across the country show the diversity of feminist priorities; from political goals like a higher living wage, to combating police brutality and sexual assault, to personal goals of self-care and treating others well. Janet Mock addressed the variety of social justice needs and calls for collaboration in the feminist community:

My hope is that feminist, racial justice, reproductive rights and LGBT movements build a coalition that centers on the lives of women who lead intersectional lives and too often fall in between the cracks of these narrow mission statements.

Janet Mock, 31 | ‘Redefining Realness’ author and MSNBC’s ‘So Popular’ host | @JanetMock

#FeministNewYearResolutions

Feminist writer Ijeoma Oluo started the tag #FeministNewYearResolutions, which was highlighted in Suzanna Bobadilla‘s Feministing article. We collected some of our favorite#FeministNewYearResolutions tweets, and in the spirit of Feministing, and our other friends in feminist media, we list our very own #FeministNewYearResolutions below the tweets.

Stop telling dudes I have a boyfriend when I’m not interested. #FeministNewYearResolutions

— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) December 27, 2014

Throw feral cats at catcallers. #FeministNewYearResolutions — Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) December 27, 2014

When people ask why you aren’t married, yell “I’M MARRIED TO THE STRUGGLE” & flip over a table. #FeministNewYearResolutions

— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) December 27, 2014

Compliment other women more (on things other than clothes) #FeministNewYearResolutions— Muffin Winters (@MuffinTVB) December 27, 2014

When people ask “are you feminist?” reply “are you not?” and make them question all their life choices. #FeministNewYearResolutions

— Anya Maria (@spynasty) January 1, 2015

Finally making the switch: swapping male tears for almond milk in my morning coffee. #FeministNewYearResolutions — Shannon Miller (@Phunky_Brewster) December 28, 2014

Fuck more patriarchy #FeministNewYearResolutions

— Anne Thériault (@anne_theriault) December 27, 2014

#F’s #FeministNewYearResolutions

1. Involve at least two more regular contributing writers (if you’re interested in writing for #F,email us at inquiries [at] hashtagfeminism [dot] com).

2. Accumulate more subscribers for our monthly newsletter (sign up in the right side bar)!

3. Double our Twitter followers to 5,000.

4. Partner with more groups and individuals for larger projects involving media, feminism, race, and social justice.

#F’s Founder and Publisher Tara L. Conley’s#FeministNewYearResolutions:

1. My hope for this year is for us, feminists, to be better at being separate together. Let’s build together, but let’s also respect our separate spaces so we can accomplish similar goals.

2. My hope this year is also for white and mainstream feminists to privilege more race work in 2015, and especially rally around justice for Black and brown girls.

3. As an older millennial (born on the cusp in 1981), I also want to see more intergenerational collaborations between feminists inside and outside the classroom, on the ground, and in non-profit spaces and corporate America.

4. I also want to see more mentorship between established feminists and other feminists working in activism, business, education, and media.

5. I learned in 2014 that feminists need to build better strategic partnerships between feminist techies and content creators in order to establish workable technologies and systems to combat online harassment, hacks, doxxing, etc. It is real out here in these Internet and Twitter streets!

#F’s Editor Kelly Ehrenreich #FeministNewYearResolutions:

1. I want to be better about expressing my Feminist beliefs in 140-character increments, rather than waiting to write a post for #F or retweeting others who have said something I agree with.

2. I want to write more short pieces for #F to collect the receipts and keep the online Feminist conversation flowing.

3. I also want to continue my work from 2014 to actively take Feminist values into my relationships, particularly compassion and understanding; actively building up women around me; supporting both women and men to feel comfortable not leaning on gender stereotypes.

What are your #FeministNewYearResolutions? How can we build on feminist media and political action in 2015? Tweet us at @hashtagfeminism.

Hashtag Activism: The Politics of Our Generation

This post originally appeared on December 2, 2014 written by Kelly Ehrenreich.

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November was a tumultuous time for feminism. 

The results of last month’s midterm elections gave way to a Republican majority in Congress for the first time since 2008. A week later, TIME published a piece suggesting that the word “feminist” be banned for the year based on its overuse namely by celebrities who dare to support gender equality in public.

Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist, pointed out the bitter irony in the juxtaposition of these two events:

For the most part, though, the past twelve months have been a banner year for feminism in media. Take for instance  #YesAllWomen, #YouOKSis and #GamerGate, all of which trended and garnered national media recognition. Then, there’s Beyoncé who stood firmly on the Video Music Awards stage with the word FEMINIST emblazoned on a screen behind her. Take also men like Aziz Ansari who announced to the world that men too can and should be feminists.

Aziz Ansari talks about being a feminist, & a child of immigrants by @feministabuloushttp://t.co/hKLlyO5EIf

— la tula cuecho (@LissetteMiller) October 8, 2014

Though the word “feminism” has managed to permeate mainstream discourse, despite TIME magazine’s critique, we’ve yet to achieve anywhere near gender or racial equity in society writ large.

The fundamental principles of feminism; that all humans are equal and should be treated as such regardless of gender, race or class, is no more feasible politically now than from a year ago.

How can we reconcile feminism’s popularity of the past year with the principles of feminism that we carry out in our everyday lives?

Despite the fact that many are talking about feminism and declaring gender and racial equality and justice an important value, voting demographics this past election season don’t seem reflect these views.  

Addressing the Disconnect

Critics of the millennial generation and those skeptical of social media as tools for organizing may consider this year’s voter turnout demographics as proof that hashtag activism doesn’t really matter. There has been no shortage of think pieces discussing popular hashtag trends and social movements posing the same question over again: “Does hashtag activism really make a difference?”

It’s a fair question. While #NotMyBossBusiness and #HobbyLobby swept across Twitter just a few months ago, politicians who voted against women’s health like Mitch McConnell and Pat Roberts were re-elected in the midterms. Wendy Davis’ filibuster in pink tennis shoes was all the rage on Twitter last year. #StandWithWendy trended globally, yet on November 4th she lost handily to Greg Abbott and captured a meager 32% the white women vote.

#Ferguson has been a major trend this year ever since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer on August 9th. When the Missouri grand jury announced late last month a decision not to indict Mike Brown’s killer, #FergusonDecision, #BlackLivesMatter, and#HandsUpWalkOut trended and sparked massive offline action.

Even now Americans are protesting in the streets outside of St. Louis and across the country mourning Michael Brown’s death and demanding that their voices be heard and seen. These protest, largely organized online and by young people remind the world of this country’s painful history of violence against black and brown people.

How is that we have mass protests around the country, where people from all walks of life demand equality, equity, and justice, yet there are still those who march to the polls, casting votes for politicians to repeal the Affordable Care Act, limit Medicare and Medicaid, give tax cuts to wealthy, and silence those most marginalized?

A New Kind of Activism

Let me state the obvious: tweets ≠ votes. But does that mean hashtag feminism  or any kind social activism online doesn’t matter?

Of course not.

As @deray notes in this CNN piece on the power of #Ferguson, hashtags are a community, they are where we gather to share our experiences and hear stories we could not get anywhere else, whether it be in our own communities or from a cable news outlet. The Guardian calls hashtags a “rallying cry of a new generation’s quest for racial justice”.

There is no greater evidence of this rallying cry than what we have seen emerge along the #Ferguson and #YouOKSis tags. Both tags have been led and purveyed by feminists, particularly women of color, that have magnified stories and garnered the kind of attention mainstream media often ignores.

If media critics are still looking for hard evidence that social media activism matters but aren’t yet convinced by the sheer number of tweets this year, take a look at From #RenishaMcBride to #RememberRenisha.

Though hashtag activism looks different than other political and social movements of the past, this new(er) form of activism still faces similar challenges as previous generational movements. At times, activism can be a slow-moving, incremental process. There are always small victories. A surge of opposition doesn’t mean total defeat; it means there’s more work to be done.

Unlike movements before, hashtag activism doesn’t necessarily use the language of politics. It may not always use the language of revolution, resistance, rebellion either. More often than not, however, the power of hashtag feminism and hashtag activism lies in it’s real-time telling of intimate stories and ironic truths.

Hashtags have the power to locate the particulars of human experience. Though not always correlative in terms of congressional seats, hashtag activism locates where our stories are told overtime in 140-characters and measured by acts of empathy and resistance that follow. Our conversations, revelations, relationships, growth, and enlightenments: None of these should be discounted or discouraged.

What Comes Next

Despite those who argue that this generation of social activists are nothing more than social media users with strong opinions, one only need to look at feminist Twitter, where women and men go to bat for marginalized people and communities everyday, on and offline. Caring isn’t the problem, and neither is this new(er) form of activism.

"A system cannot fail those it was never meant to protect." W.E.B. Du Bois #Ferguson

— Elizabeth Plank (@feministabulous) November 25, 2014

this is why voting matters. voter registration is how they fill jury pools, including grand jury pools. serving jury duty is important.

— Fatniss Evaaahdeen (@meadowgirl) November 25, 2014

The Future of Politics and Hashtag Activism

Though this year was a setback in many ways for progressives and feminist political ideals, there have been some steps forward. Alma Adams became the 100th woman of the 113th Congress, marking the largest number of women to serve in Congress simultaneously.

A few things to consider for the future of hashtag feminism and its potential impact on the political landscape:

1. Tweeting about something does not necessarily bring about political change.

2. Hashtag feminism may preach to the choir, but we still have to take our choirs offline and out into the community.

3. Representation in the media is key and hashtags, in many ways, disrupt mainstream media narratives about marginalized communities and unjust legislation.

4. Online communication by way of hashtags can help birth a new generation of understanding, empathy, and acceptance.

What do you think? What does #F mean in relationship to politics to you? How does or should one affect the other? Can hashtag activism change the political system? If so, can it do so fast enough? Will a political revolution ever and ultimately be attributed to a hashtag? Has #Ferguson and #BlackLivesMatter already proven the power of a hashtag to blend online and offline activism?

#YouOkSis Challenges Street Harassment, Starts a Movement

This post originally appeared on August 11, 2014 co-authored by Aisha Springer and Kelly Ehrenreich. It’s one of the first published posts documenting the impact of the #YouOkSis hashtag that sparked a movement bringing awareness to street harassment faced by women of color.

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Last week, two major media outlets – Huffington Post and Buzzfeed – tweeted projects centered around street harassment. HuffPo Photo released a series of pictures of their female editors holding pieces of paper with things men had said to them on the street. HuffPo encouraged other women to tweet using the hashtag #ThatsWhatHeSaid to share their own street harassment stories. Buzzfeed video released a Youtube clip on Thursday called “What Men Are Really Saying When They Catcall Women”.

At the same time, the #YouOKSis conversation is still going strong. Blogger and social worker, @FeministaJones, started a Twitter conversation in June to bring attention to street harassment, particularly highlighting how street harassment uniquely affects black women, whose voices are often ignored within the feminist community and within the black community on issues of gender.

Feminista Jones explains in an interview that the #YouOKSis hashtag is based on an experience she had in her neighborhood. She witnessed a man harass a young woman pushing a stroller; she decided to intervene and asked the woman, “You OK Sis?” It was a simple question rarely asked in these situations. But something this simple from a stranger can help to restore a sense of security to the victim and let the harasser know that what he did will not go unnoticed.

Feminista Jones tweeted this experience – detailed in a Storify – and @BlackGirlDanger responded. A trend began:

#YouOKSis has created constructive dialogue as well as controversy on Twitter and beyond, and it is still active two months later. Like the conversation around the UC Santa Barbara Shooting – #YesAllWomen and the subsequent #AllMenCan we wrote about months ago – #YouOKSis seeks to shine light women’s experiences and encourages bystanders to step in to #StopStreetHarassment.

In 2014, 65% of women reported experiencing street harassment, often multiple times a day. It happens regardless of how much or little clothing a woman is wearing and it affects her ability to exist in public space with a reasonable sense of safety and comfort. Women may avoid certain streets, blocks, or public transportation routes to spare themselves from the indignity of street harassment, though it’s impossible to avoid all the time. Even underage girls report being repeatedly harassed by strangers in public.

Street harassment is a regular part of women’s lives, but that can change with the help of campaigns like #YouOkSis. Street harassment isn’t anything new or unusual, yet this wave of online discussion has picked up steam in recent months, instigated by #YesAllWomen, diversified and strengthened by#YouOKSis, and then copied for a more mainstream and commercial audience with#ThatsWhatHeSaid.

Not surprisingly, #YouOkSis received pushback from some men on Twitter. Common responses were that women are trying to further criminalize black men, that street harassment is actually a compliment, and denial that street harassment even exists. Ironically, many women who participated in #YouOkSis were harassed by male Twitter users who were simultaneously trying to argue that women lie about being harassed. The heated opposition to #YouOkSis also overlooked the fact that women are harassed by men of all races. The hashtag was intended to let black women’s voices be heard, but it does not focus specifically on black men as the perpetrators.

For black women, street harassment and the response on social media brings up a unique set of tensions. Historically and to the present day, black women have been integral to the fight for racial justice, but their partnership often goes unrecognized. The effects of that come to the surface when talking about issues like street harassment. A common criticism shared by black feminists is that black men and women will rally for causes related to race and black men, but black men will not show the same level of support when the cause is one that affects black women specifically. As a result, fighting racism towards black men is considered more important than fighting racism and sexism that affects black women.

Part of the negative response can be attributed to the desire to keep these issues inside the black community. The problem is that if there is no discussion, there will be no solution. #YouOkSis has brought the discussion to the mainstream. Women are using the hashtag to support each other and demand a change. Such vehement opposition to addressing the problems that influence black women’s lives only perpetuates negative stereotypes of black men.

Huffington Post’s #ThatsWhatHeSaid efforts have been criticized for the title – which downplays the seriousness of women’s encounters with harassers – as well as for the lack of diversity and intersectionality that #YouOkSis uniquely provides. Though well-intended, it detracts from the more constructive and action-oriented #YouOkSis movement which seeks to end street harassment, not just share instances of harassment.

Feminista Jones wants to use the momentum created by #YouOkSis to push the movement against street harassment forward. She speaks and writes on the issue and plans to hold workshops, a perfect example of how Twitter activism can contribute to real-life action. Organizations like Stop Street Harassment and iHollaback! are already on this mission and helping to create awareness and take action in cities around the country. Through the #YouOkSis campaign and others like it, both men and women can choose to make the streets a safer and more respectful place for all women.

Hashtag Feminism Editor, Kelly Ehrenreich co-authored this post.

Critiquing Feminism: A Response to #IDontNeedFeminism

This post originally appeared on March 10, 2014 written by Kelly Ehrenreich.

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On Saturday, March 1st, the first day of Women’s History Month, #IDontNeedFeminism trended. It wasn’t the first time this HT appeared on Twitter, and certainly not the only time women have expressed the sentiment. But this time it got to me. I found myself going down the rabbit hole, getting more frustrated by the second as I read tweets mostly by young, Christian, Republican, heterosexual, white women (based on Twitter bios), spouting misconceptions about Feminism and why they were above the concept.

The most recent #IDontNeedFeminism trend started with @repubsunited. The vocal tweeter commented about her disapproval of Feminists, and tweeted a picture of reasons she doesn’t need Feminism:

Apparently it's sexist to advocate for women to work hard for what they want, make no excuses, and accept no leg-ups. Whoops.

— Repubs (@repubsunited) March 1, 2014

pic.twitter.com/sj0rGoSpwW

— Repubs (@repubsunited) March 1, 2014

@feministlady if you followed any more than one tweet you'd know I advocate for feminism globally, just where women are actually oppressed.

— Repubs (@repubsunited) March 1, 2014

From a former feminist. #IDontNeedFeminism pic.twitter.com/nWQcyMTiVf

— Repubs (@repubsunited) March 1, 2014

I scrolled through @repubsunited and other’s tweets that ranged from slightly silly to willfully ignorant, to outright hateful and mean-spirited, but I didn’t respond to any of them. I make it a practice not to engage with people I disagree with on Twitter because I know it will never make a difference or change someone’s mind. It seems more difficult these days to attempt to make a coherent argument in less than 140 characters without coming across like an attack. That said, however, many from the online Feminist community reclaimed the HT with tongue-in-cheek#IDontNeedFeminism tweets:

Welp. So, #IDontNeedFeminism HT is quite a good portrayal of delusional privileged people shining their ignorance so brightly & loudly.

— Arnesa (@_arnesa_) March 2, 2014

#IDontNeedFeminism because let's face it, if we all just pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps the wage gap would magically disappear

— Sarah Jones (@onesarahjones) March 2, 2014

I know those who proudly tweet about defying Feminism are unlikely to be swayed by either reason or emotion, but I still couldn’t resist wanting to address these folks. Ultimately, there is one thing I would like to say to everyone who tweeted #IDontNeedFeminism: It is not about you.

FEMINISM. IS. NOT. ABOUT. YOU.

Don’t get it twisted, I don’t mean to imply that “If you don’t want to play by my rules, then I’m going home and taking my beloved feminist Barbies with me.” No. I mean literally, Feminism is not about you or me. Feminism is a movement made up of individuals. It’s about the collection of people; about how all of us fit together and form society. It’s about the mosaic, not the individual tiles.

Based on their tweets, it would seem that the #IDontNeedFeminism crowd doesn’t seem to grasp the fundamental idea that feminism is about concern for all people, not just a myopic few:

@repubsunited #IDontNeedFeminism pic.twitter.com/rCbwpojA5P

— Right Wing Girl (@rightwinggirl08) March 2, 2014

#IDontNeedFeminism because my parents raised me to work for what I want. I shouldn't be entitled to anything just because I'm a women.

— Some Southern Girl (@SouthrnBelle302) March 1, 2014

Granted, folks claim Feminism based on their individual experiences. This idea ought not be confused with the premise that people choose to align with Feminism because they want to gain something for themselves. A Feminist wouldn’t cease being a Feminist if, for example, (s)he were to advocate against rape and gendered violence even though s/he didn’t experience any abuse. A Feminist wouldn’t say “I haven’t been attacked so *brushes hands* I’m good!” Furthermore, a Feminist who advocates for pay equity, and fortunately receives fair pay doesn’t say that the work for gender-based income equality is complete simply because she gets a nice pay check.

#IDontNeedFeminism because I think like a man and beat them at their own game.

— Melissa Pawlak (@MelissaPawlak) March 1, 2014

Feminism is fine and all but honestly if you really think the world is going to be fair, you're sadly out of luck.

— Melissa Pawlak (@MelissaPawlak) March 1, 2014

And look if you let people get in your way of doing things you're a weak person.

— Melissa Pawlak (@MelissaPawlak) March 1, 2014

Alright I think I'm done, #IDontNeedFeminism because I'd rather live in the real world than a fairy tale.

— Melissa Pawlak (@MelissaPawlak) March 1, 2014

Feminism is a complex idea, and although online activism has helped our movement, allowing more Feminist voices to weigh in (which we celebrate here at Hashtag Feminism) doesn’t mean that all Feminists do is complain. It may be difficult for some to understand that when Feminists critique the pay gap, or the lack of women and people of color represented in the media and politics, or other socio-cultural problems, we are not asking people to hand us a check, a job, or a Senate seat. We are asking of others and of each other to be more critical of the status quo.

We point out these things to encourage everyone to take a second look and consider the implications of not having diverse perspectives in workplaces, government, and society at large.

Moving Beyond #IDontNeedFeminism

Quite unlike the perception of those who tweet #IDontNeedFeminism, our online activism is doing work, exchanging ideas, asking questions, and opening minds. Most of all, Feminism strives to teach compassion, which all of the #IDontNeedFeminism tweets sorely misunderstand.

On Saturday, the NY Times wrote a piece on the “compassion gap” which nicely addresses these problems. Yet some may claim Feminism has a compassion issue.

I argue that Feminism isn’t about anger, judgment, and certainly not about taking away freedom or choice. To the women who say they do not need Feminism because they are happy to stay home and take care of their husband and children, I say two things:

1. Brava! Feminism wants women to have the freedom to choose, even if other Feminists wouldn’t make the same choice for herself (or himself).

2. I question why you so aggressively denounce Feminism. If you feel that you have been judged or attacked by Feminists because of your choices, I apologize on behalf of my cohort. We’re certainly not perfect.

On the other hand, if in some way you are projecting guilt or fear at the possibility of women making choices for themselves and not on your behalf, then I would ask that you to be more open-minded and empathetic.

In the vein of open-mindedness, I considered the most useful tweet I found in the#IDontNeedFeminism discussion:

#IDontNeedFeminism is a time to learn the misconceptions people have about feminism. Never belittle for you can always learn. #NotesToSelf

— Zaid Shahid. (@Tigershah26) March 2, 2014

Exactly.

Instead of letting exasperation win, and calling out the privilege or ignorance of these tweets, @Tigershah26 suggests that we learn from them. Taking another look at the #IDontNeedFeminismtweets, there are some helpful cues about how we can improve our online Feminist community. Ironically #IDontNeedFeminism mostly rejects behavior Feminist themselves abhor: hostility, hypocrisy, and exclusion.

For the most part, @repubsunited and others are critiquing behavior like saying someone should be raped, claiming that a man cannot be abused by a woman, or judging a woman’s choice about how we have a family. The problem may take some time to correct, but the proliferation of the online Feminist community may help to work out some of these misconceptions that Feminism is not a welcoming space for Republicans, Christians, heterosexual women who choose to stay home with their children, etc.

So, when you tweet #IDontNeedFeminism, you are rejecting these methods: calling out double-standards only when it benefits you, and rejecting others’ experiences. Congratulations, you may be a Feminist! Because, in this sense, I agree with the #IDontNeedFeminism crowd. I don’t need that kind of Feminism or those kind of Feminists, either.

#WhiteWomanPrivilege Highlights Intersectionality #F #WhitePrivilege

This post originally appeared on January 15, 2014 written by founder, Tara L. Conley.

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Yesterday #WhiteWomanPrivilege trended around the online feminist community. According to Topsy, #WhiteWomanPrivilege was tweeted over 15K times, just on Tuesday.

It may surprise followers that the hashtag originated from a white woman, @Auragasmic who started the day tweeting about the privilege white men experience:

#WhiteMalePrivilege is saying that because you don’t personally experience something, that it doesn’t exist. #Sexism #Racism

— Auragasmic (@Auragasmic) January 14, 2014

After several tweets about #WhiteMalePrivilege, she flipped the script and began commenting on her own privilege, which launched the conversation.

Can we talk about the privilege we white women have now?

— Auragasmic (@Auragasmic) January 14, 2014

#WhiteWomanPrivilege is being the idealized as the epitome of femininity and beauty.

— Auragasmic (@Auragasmic) January 14, 2014

#WhiteWomanPrivilege is being able to express your sexuality/relationship without judgement from MSM (see: the way Beyoncé was judged)

— Auragasmic (@Auragasmic) January 14, 2014

The conversation that followed @Auragasmic‘s original tweet sparked further discussions from white feminists who spoke about recognizing their own privilege, and from feminists of color illuminating on their experiences, which differed from the stories from white women.

#whitewomanprivilege means never having the talk w/ ur sons about appearing non-threatening and law abiding when you’ve done nothing wrong.

— Tasha L. Harrison (@dirtyscribbler) January 14, 2014

Unlike the #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen trend, #WhiteWomanPrivilege focused more on the experiences and realities of women of color (WOC) as parents, consumers, and as viewers.

#WhiteWomanPrivilege is not having to celebrate the few times a character on tv looks like you and DOESN’T play a maid or a drug lord.

— Iris Estrada (@Iris_Estrada) January 15, 2014

#WhiteWomanPrivilege means that when you have 10 kids you don’t get called a welfare queen, you get a reality show (see Duggars fam)

— Lil Luna (@LunaGemme) January 14, 2014

Many of the tweets attached to #WhiteWomanPrivilege illustrated that white women are privileged because of things they don’t do while emphasizing issues WOC face daily.

1st grade: wanted to be a pilgrim in school play, teacher made me play an indian while white girls were able to choose #WhiteWomanPrivilege

— champagne mami (@nabeyakiqueen) January 14, 2014

Your race isn’t a Halloween costume. #WhiteWomanPrivilege

— Bougie Black Girl (@BougieBlackGurl) January 14, 2014

Several #WhiteWomanPrivilege tweets let pictures do the talking. Google Image searches of “beautiful women” and “smart women” turned up almost exclusively photos of white women.

#WhiteWomanPrivilege pic.twitter.com/D83WJBbpUG

— ् (@HabibahPerez) January 14, 2014

#WhiteWomanPrivilege this!!! pic.twitter.com/zTM0e4vCTK

— Seghen Abraham (@SeghenAbraham) January 14, 2014

The conversation of #WhiteWomanPrivilege joins the ranks of the #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomenand #NotYourAsianSidekick (and on the other side: #relcaimintersectionalityin2014 and #stopblamingwhitewomenweneedunity) debates.

Read more about #ReclaimingIntersectionality2014 and#stopblamingwhitewomenweneedunity

Though each hashtag has taken on a different tone and focus, the central message is clear: This generation of feminism has serious internal obstacles to overcome.

What these tweets have indicated about privilege in 140 characters or less, several skilled writers have expanded into well-articulated posts. Here is a round-up of the best pieces I’ve seen addressing #WhiteWomanPrivilege and how we as a feminist community can address it:

• Zerlina Maxwell, RH Reality Check: Dylan Byers and the Scourge of Privileged Defensiveness

• Gina Crosley-Corcoran, The Feminist Breeder: Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person…

• Cate Young, BattyMamzelle: This Is What I Mean When I Say “White Feminism”

• Mia McKenzie, Black Girl Dangerous: On Defending Beyoncé: Black Feminists, White Feminists, and the Line In the Sand

These articles express more fully what the conversations attached to the #WhiteWomanPrivilegehashtag were unable to express; that is, the deeper meaning and nuanced perspectives of privilege. We learn that defensiveness from white feminists is counterproductive to the feminist movement, and that expressions from WOC isn’t about blame or guilt, but rather, it’s about the need to address institutional privilege clearly, directly, and without apology.

I also wrote a piece about #WhiteWomanPrivilege and feminist infighting on my blog yesterday. Check it out: (I want to emphasize I am not including this on the “best” pieces list, but I would appreciate your feedback!) 

• Kelly Ehrenreich, Femillennial: Miss Understandings and Feminist Infighting

What are your feelings about the #WhiteWomanPrivilege trend? How do you think WW and WOC can work together in the coming year to reach feminist goals? What are the goals? Tweet me @kellybycoffee or all of us @hashtagfeminism.