Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism

The Me Too movement, started by Tarana Burke in 2006, went viral as a hashtag eleven years later after a tweet by white actor Alyssa Milano. However, mainstream movements like #MeToo have often built on and co-opted the work of women of color, while refusing to learn from them or center their concerns. Alison Phipps argues that this is not just a lack of solidarity, but also a lack of political whiteness that both reflects its demographics and limits its revolutionary potential. Privileged white women use their traumatic experiences to create media outrage, while relying on state power and bureaucracy to purge 'bad men from elite institutions with little concern for where they might appear next.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 216 pages
\n Publication date: 13 April 2021
\n Publisher: Manchester University Press
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The Me Too movement, initiated by Black feminist Tarana Burke in 2006, gained widespread attention eleven years later through a tweet by white actor Alyssa Milano. While mainstream movements like #MeToo have often built upon and appropriated the work of women of color, they have often failed to learn from them or center their concerns. Far too often, the message conveyed is not "Me, Too," but rather "Me, Not You." Alison Phipps argues that this lack of solidarity extends beyond mere absence. Privileged white women also prioritize their own interests over the well-being of marginalized individuals, often viewing them as obstacles to their goals or even labeling them as enemies when they interfere.

Me, not you contends that the mainstream movement against sexual violence manifests a political whiteness that both reflects its demographics and hinders its revolutionary potential. Privileged white women leverage their traumatic experiences to generate media outrage, while relying on state power and bureaucracy to remove "bad men" from elite institutions with little regard for their potential whereabouts. In their attacks on sex workers and trans people, the more reactionary branches of this feminist movement inadvertently align themselves with the resurgent far-right.

\n Weight: 272g\n
Dimension: 129 x 198 x 21 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781526155801\n \n