Rowan Blanchard Pens Essay On ‘White Feminism’

“We are so quick to applaud white women for commenting on race issues/discussions like #BlackLivesMatter, and #SayHerName, but when a black girl comments on it- she is told she is overreacting or being angry”.

Rowan Blanchard, who plays Riley Matthews for the Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World, stunned fans with her eloquent and far reaching response to a question about how dominant strands of feminism can exclude women of colour or LGBT women.

In a long post on her Instagram page, Blanchard said that feminism should cover a broad range of issues and should not be restricted to sexual assault, gay rights, abortion, rape, domestic violence, equal education, the wage gap, planned parenthood and marriage equality.

‘Likewise with trans-women and Hispanic women. Since her television debut on “Girl Meets World” a year ago, Blanchard has been an active participant in the feminist movement, speaking at the UN Women and US National Committee annual conference on the importance of both men and women being feminists.

‘This is such an important thing to be discussing, ‘ Blanchard wrote in a series of Instagram posts. “While white women are making 78 cents to the dollar, Native American women are making 65 cents, black women are making 64 cents, and Hispanic women are making 54 cents”.

She goes on to stress that feminists can and should adopt issues such as police brutality and racial disparities into their sphere: “The way a black woman experiences sexism and inequality is different from the way a white woman experiences sexism and inequality”.

Blanchard jumped on the opportunity to talk about inclusive feminism and the way it has informed her personal politics.

She also praised “The Hunger Games” actress Amandla Stenberg, who called out white pop stars for appropriating black culture.

The actress felt that discussing issues about feminism from a “one sided view” is not what it should be about.

Watson has been a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador since 2014 and advocates for gender equality with her campaign, HeForShe.