There’s a small but telling point in a new breakdown on the waves of feminism published in Vox this week.
The article is long, and at times helpful, but curiously omits one important detail on the racism that was promulgated by some first-wave feminists. And it’s easy to understand why.
After four paragraphs of discussion on first-wave practices of segregation and discrimination, the article segues back to the movement’s positive contributions, continuing, “Despite its racism, the women’s movement developed radical goals for its members. First-wavers fought not only for white women’s suffrage but also for equal opportunities to education and employment, and for the right to own property.”
Then here’s the very next paragraph, excerpted in full:
And that was it. One breath after knocking the racist attitudes of first-wave feminists, the article transitions straight to Margaret Sanger, and without a single word about her promotion of eugenics. You can debate whether or not Sanger personally harbored racist beliefs, but even Gloria Steinem once conceded that “her use of eugenics language probably helped justify sterilization abuse.”
Again, even if you insist all of Sanger’s eugenicist language was uttered in good faith (for the sake of “racial health,” as she would say), that she saw abortion as a means to such a troubling end is extraordinarily relevant to the deficiencies of the first-wave movement. On its website, Planned Parenthood (carefully) denounces some of Sanger’s eugenicist beliefs. And since this is the age of intersectional feminism, it seems worth mentioning that her work exudes classism and ableism, certainly by today’s standards.
To be clear, this is one omission in a small segment of a much longer article. But it’s a reminder that Planned Parenthood is sacrosanct to contemporary feminists and has outsize significance in the movement’s self-perception. Transitioning out of a conversation on the flaws of the first wave — especially in regards to racism — by immediately pivoting to Margaret Sanger, without even a parenthetical on her problematic past, was a telling decision, whether deliberate or otherwise.
