Trickle-down white feminism doesn't cut it

As a transgender female I am proud to be able on the NOW Australia steering committee. I can safely say that NOW Australia has a board, steering committee and Ambassadors that come from diverse backgrounds and totally believe in diversity and inclusion.

Hi, I just wanted to jump in here- NOW has been very transparent about its steering committee and consultants, and it is an amazingly diverse group. (and the group has been published, publicly!) I am part of it- I am 20, I am gay, I grew up in rural Australia with a single mother, and we barely scraped over the poverty line. We have women of colour, we have women from indigenous backgrounds, we have women from rural and regional Australia, from too many industries to count, women who identify as trans women, people from the LGBTQI community, people ranging in age from 20-60+. We also have incredible diversity in our celebrity/industry ambassadors. We did not have editorial control of this cover- we were simply asked to be on it, and we jumped at an opportunity to raise funds for an organisation that is helping people in ALL industries, regardless of race, religion, location, income sexuality, age or otherwise, who are being abused. It is not a perfect cover- but I think there needs to be more research done into the organisation before this article can be written with any authority.

At last - thank you Laura, a real voice, of balance and reason about the rise of neo feminism that seems to have completely lost it's way. Feminism is about so so much more than class, colour, race, it's about equality and humanity, something much deeper and wiser than we are seeing. Dare anybody give an honest critique? Good on you Laura

So much here I can't quite take it all in. It will need several re-reads, I feel. Thank you for your robust argument; I'm a little embarrassed to note that many men (I am one) would have no idea about this unless directed to it. For that I am particularly grateful. Now, back for another read...

Thank you for such a well balanced article Laura.

It is clear from the comments that the NOW board is diverse. It also seems that among the women on the cover there is a transgender woman, but this is not obvious. Missing, at least visually, are Indigenous women, and women from Asian and African ethnic backgrounds, all of whom experience the discrimination double whammy of racism and sexism. If you produce a graphic with a caption, it is reasonable to assume that the caption is an accurate representation of the graphic and vice versa, so the cover of Latte tells us that for the people who approved the cover, diversity is about older and younger women with blonde and brown hair. Not even a redhead in sight. :-) Some of the other groups mentioned in the comments are difficult to represent visually, but Latte could have done better and I hope they do so in the future.

Really terrific article, Laura. As an old-school Christian feminist, I know there are as many schools of feminism as there are groups of women. That's fine - but none of them can be effective without analysis. It seems that Tracey Spicer's group lacks analysis! Laura's article could be a great help to them in amending this, if they can co-operate rather than defend their untenable position. Thank you, Laura.

I am an old man of Celtic Catholic background who has lived in Australia for over sixty five years. I comment on Eureka Street under the pen name Uncle Pat because I am trying to address my opinions to my numerous nephews and nieces who in their various ways share the genes of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, South American and African parents. In the photograph on the cover of Business Chicks LATTE I could identify only one of the women as in any physical way being like one of my thirteen nieces. She is tall, attractive, blonde (artificial) and a business executive. She dresses well. She is by her very vocation dismantling discrimination. Then I read the subtitle: Tracey Spicer and the women dismantling discrimination. If only the subtitle had said Tracey Spicer and some of the women' I would have had no quarrel with the message the picture projects. It is the suggestion that it is this elite group of women who are dismantling discrimination that irritated. I thought of my twelve other nieces who in their own occupations are quietly and determinedly dismantling discrimination. None of them is a Business Chick.

Great thinking Laura. Collaborative work by women from a different demographic to Spicer’s is indeed necessary. Women who organise events that are exclusive and excluding, maybe necessary for women in the corporate world but they do little to influence the lives of all women.

Well said, Laura. For anyone who is part of the "other," empowerment can only occur via grass roots action, which enables the breaking down of structures, that solidify oppression. Anything less is merely a band aid solution

Thank you Laura. When I found feminism I was a single mum, desperate to be part of the cool girls that were, & still are, front & centre of feminism. You hang on to any scrap of recognition from these women in the belief that they are what you need to be in order to be a ''feminist''. Thank goddess I found intersectional, grass roots feminism & unhooked myself from the allure of corporate & institutional feminism. Finding the permissiveness of grass roots feminism, spaces where we can actively criticise the institutions of media, medicine, law government etc without being othered, chastised & positioned as envious & jealous of their success was liberating. We need more women with the courage to say what many of us just don't have the platform to say. I think so many of us inside our feminist bubbles forget that most of us first encounter feminism through the MSM & breakfast TV. When the same women are simply rotated through & are the only one being approached by publishers we really are limiting the potential to reach more women.

Thanks for pointing out what is (bleedingly) obvious to me. While I see great changes propelled by the movement, I still feel left out - why is that? As a woman of mixed race - one being Fijian - I'd feel extremely conflicted about paying thousands of dollars to attend a corporate event only to be served by people I may be related to, women of colour in a 3rd world environment. I cannot single-handedly take that on I know but I can't help the feeling that I'd rather hang out in the kitchen with the cleaning staff because at least there, I'd feel represented.

The #MeToo movement is an international movement against sexual harassment and assault. While I unreservedly endorse Laura's article, the most critical aspect of it for me is the sentence that says: "Instead, the movement continues to be appropriated by corporate 'feminists' leveraging themes of oppression to gain various forms of capital." I might add that in recent times a correspondent in these columns has persistently used the #MeToo appellation before his name in advancing positions that are hardly radical and consistent with the broad philosophy of feminism. This is a misappropriation of the #MeToo symbol and the editors of this journal, if only for reasons of consistency associated with publishing this article, should, in my view, inform him of the same.

“... but by the marginalised, the equipped, and the truly collaborative, bringing their lived experiences into the realm of action.” Yes, but white feminists will gladly hide behind women of colour if they think they’re useful, shielding them from accusations of racism, but sideline them in a heartbeat for the premier positions. Prime example: this magazine cover. NOW is apparently diverse but won’t display them front and centre.

Just saw Business Chicks, Olivia Ruello say on ABC Press Club.... 1. 'women should be their own role models'. Missing the point. Promoting individualism to Nth degree of ridiculousness 2. '2 generations ago, women hardly worked'. Ok, maybe she meant to add PAID work, but still? That is not true and shows an ignorance of history. It's ignorant to promote that we're independent of social forces. What I wear may boost my confidence, but not 'empower'. I tried to look beyond the sky-high crippling pink heels she wore, but failed after she said the above

From one proud Durag woman to another Here Here! It’s fine to have yours image plastered on the front of a magazine, purporting your feminist views however; it’s more meanful to be actually pushing for more gender based equality, racial equality, income equality, legal equality, at a ground roots level. Many of us may be lucky enough to be made to look amazing on the front of a magazine, but how many of us a truly amazing. How many of us, do truly amazing things in the quest for equality? Sit under a tree, in an isolated part of the country and ask an indigenous woman her views on equality. Sit in a public mental health unit and ask an indigenous woman her views on equality. Go to court with an indigenous woman who’s a victim of DV and ask her, what her views are on equality. Then tell me you’re doing amazing things to achieve equality for all. And if you’re wondering if I’ve done all those things myself? The answer is I have sat under the tree, I have visited in the mental health unit, I have court supported, and there is no equality!