Me Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism

Abstract

There has rightly been wide-spread criticism regarding social media 'black-outs' and 'anti-racist reading lists' representing the be-all and end-all of anti-racist action, or as Phipps puts it in a recent blog2, 'a pre-made panacea' Despite this it is true that for many the process of deconstructing racism must begin with an awareness and critical understanding of individual racialised privilege [ ]though Phipps could not have known at the time, her book #Me, Not You is a lens through which to understand the current activism protesting systems of racial capitalism [ ]she examines the implications of the term 'sexual misconduct', noting that it does not reflect systemic abuses of power, but rather individual sexual behaviour Phipps notes that the propensity towards 'call out culture' and 'naming and shaming' leads to short-term institutional reputational damage, but often little by the way of concrete action to tackle and dismantle systems of sexual oppression