Why has Sisterhood failed to organize women against oppression?
The problem with the portrayal of sisterhood in Hollywood and its perpetual division among women
In the chapter: Sisterhood, Coalition, and the Politics of Experience, from Feminism Without Borders, Chandra Talpade Mohanty identifies universal sisterhood as used by Robin Morgan. Sisterhood is referred to as “specific assumptions about women as a cross-culturally singular, homogeneous group with the same interests, perspectives, and goals and similar experiences (Mohanty, 110). Mohanty criticizes Morgan’s definition of universal sisterhood because it erases race and class and assumes that the struggles of a middle class white women are the same struggles of a middle class Black women. Mohanty then goes on to argue that by lumping women into one category that faces the same oppression only serves to further the divide between women.
“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” -Madeleine Albright
The call for sisterhood has been a prominent idea among Hollywood movies, so strong that there are multiple articles citing the “must see classic movies or television shows about sisterhood and friendship”. One such movie is the highly regarded feminist movie: Mean Girls, which is applauded for pushing the message that girls should support one another.
What Mean Girls fails at is including women of color. The film falls into the trap of assuming the struggles of white women are the same struggles of women of color. Yes, some of the girls may fall outside of the Caucasian category, but for the most part the girls are white passing at the least. There is no glaring issue of racism or class inequality in the film, instead it falls back on the idea of women having to support one another to better advance their agendas.
In Mean Girls, the protagonist Cady becomes obsessed with becoming the “it” girl of the school and plans on dethroning Regina George by attacking her body. The attack is another issue with the film. The double edged sword of whether or not women embracing their sexuality is empowering or not. There is definitely slut-shaming in the film, and as Tina Fey (above) mentions there is the idea that sisterhood has to prevail in order to fight back against the patriarchy. The film highlights the competitiveness prominent among women, displaying that fighting against one another is not the solution. I do agree that pitting woman against woman is unnecessary and that women need to let go of the idea that women are inherently enemies, which admittedly is something Mean Girls does manage to capture. Yet, the film fails to manage inclusiveness and does not have the white women in the film face their privilege compared to that of a woman of color.
Hollywood continually showcases sisterhood in terms of the white women, failing to include women of color leads to the perpetuation of the idea that the only oppression women face is that of the patriarchy. White supremacy is not dealt with in the context of sisterhood, leading to the assumption that the patriarchy is the biggest threat to all women everywhere. Saba Mahmood touches on this in “The Subject of Freedom” where she deals with the Western conception of oppression of Islamic women. Mahmood argues that Islamic women embrace their culture and religion as a way of making a space for themselves in a male-centered society. For Islamic women the issue isn’t the patriarchy but imperialism, which Western feminists are slow to criticize. The idea that patriarchy isn’t the only oppressive force women face is hardly dealt with on movies or television shows.
The move in Hollywood towards a more inclusive sisterhood can be seen in the web series Brown Girls in which the show deals with Lelia, a Pakistani-American, and Patricia, a Black women.
The show has been hailed as revolutionary as it puts women of color at the forefront and with Leila being a queer woman of color. I’ve only watched the first four episodes, with each one running from 6 to 12 minutes long, and I can say that the web series is refreshing. The series deals with the intricacies of young adult life and involves cultural boundaries with Leila as a Pakistani-American coming to terms with her queerness. There is some competition involved when Leila is confronted with her ex-girlfriend and her new girlfriend at a party, but this competition doesn’t stem from patriarchal oppression and instead from the messiness that follows a break-up. The show reflects an argument bell hooks makes in “Sisterhood: Political Solidarity Between Women” in terms of white women and women of color needing to have the tough conversations in order to unite together. Brown Girls seems to be an initiation of the conversation on behalf of women of color and this need to acknowledge the differences between women in regards to race and class.
Why has sisterhood not been enough?
The lack of media portrayal of women of color, I think, has heavily suppressed any inclusive sisterhood movement from popping up. Even with shows like Brown Girls, representation cannot be enough, and will not be enough to organize women. White women have failed to recognize their own role in the oppression of women of color and thus continue to exclude women of color from any movement until it suits their own purposes and goals. On both sides, there has to be mutual recognition of one another’s struggles and an attempt not to merge all these struggles into one, but a plan to attack each different struggle one by one. This method may seem tiring and drawn out, but sisterhood can no longer mean uniting against only the patriarchy, but also imperialism and white supremacy and other sources of oppression faced by women not in the United States or countries with heavy Western ideology.
On this International Women’s Day and in today’s current political climate, it is more important than ever for women to form a sisterhood that recognizes race and class and not only gender.
