Becoming a transnational feminist

Reina Gattuso discusses how being a transnational feminist, being an ally in the global north to women in the global south, and being a white ally to women of colour can all be difficult things to navigate, but how nevertheless putting forth the effort to navigate them is not only the progressive but the ethical thing to do. She outlines methods through which one can conduct this navigation and find ways to educate themselves and be the best ally they can be. She writes in an accessible and somewhat casual manner while remaining articulate in what she is trying to communicate, making her article suitable reading regardless of the reader's background knowledge in transnational feminism.

I found that the way that this article is written made it important to include in a collection of writings on transnational feminisms (such as this blog). The article balances accessible language with academic insight, which I believe is useful in broadening the range of who participates in conversations about transnational feminism. The author also clearly positions herself as a white American, and uses her own intentions of allyship (as well as the mistakes that have occurred with that) as a way of illustrating her points on allyship and feminism. This helps show the importance of identifying social location when participating in any feminist or transnational conversation, as our backgrounds tend to come with biases alongside our experiences.

URL/Link: http://feministing.com/2015/10/13/so-you-want-to-be-a-transnational-feminist/

Keywords: allyship, solidarity Author: Jor Ishdala