In her 1969 essay, ‘The personal is
political’, feminist Carol Hanisch defended consciousness-raising groups
against the charge they brought ‘personal problems’ into the public
arena. She argued that most difficulties women experienced in private
were rooted in political inequality, so personal problems could spur
women to political action in public life.
Today, consciousness-raising groups are less common. Yet the idea
that ‘the personal is political’ has survived, albeit giving way to an
increasing fractious identity politics. The bizarre story of Rachel
Dolezal, a white woman presenting herself as a mixed-race leader in the
NAACP, has raised sharp questions about how we think about who a person
is.
More broadly, there has been an explosion of different groups vying
with one another for social recognition and respect. US writer Cathy
Young argues this has led to a ‘reverse caste system in which a person’s
status and worth depends entirely on their perceived oppression and
disadvantage’. Burgeoning feminist clubs in universities and a diversity
of gender, ethnicity, religious and cultural identity groups on college
campuses and in the world of activism, reflects a substantial shift in
how politics is understood and practiced in modern society. In
particular, such groups are often divisively set up in competition with
others’ claims to be the victim.
Feuds over ‘intersectionality’ and ‘hierarchies of oppression’ have
created internecine warfare between ‘terfs’ and the ‘trans’ community,
between black women and white feminists, middle-class lesbians and
working-class men: checking ‘privilege’ has become a routine pastime. As
some critics of contemporary feminism note, identity politics
inevitably turns each individual into her own group: demanding the right
to assert ‘who I am’ becomes the primary goal of political action. So
when Rachel Dolezal claims to be black, who are we to argue against her
self-identification?
Is this any different from the demand for public applause for Caitlyn
Jenner – once known as Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner – who now
self-defines as a woman? Is there a point past which we can’t choose our
personal identity, as suggested by those who reject comparison between
Dolezal’s ‘cultural appropriation’ (‘a glaring example of white
privilege in action’) and Jenner realising who she/he always really was?
Do today’s identity wars preclude possibilities for transcending
gender, race, disability? Does the feminist war cry of ‘personal is
political’ inevitably lead to such a narcissistic focus on self?
Speakers
journalist, author, broadcaster and feminist activist; research fellow, Lincoln University
stand-up comedian; playwright; biographer
technical author; longtime gamer; regular commentator on issues relating to freedom of speech and internet subcultures
trainee solicitor, Bond Dickinson; convenor, Debating Matters Ambassadors
author and academic; education editor, spiked
Chair
director, Institute of Ideas; panellist, BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze