Letter to Arab/Arab American feminists

Dear Arab/Arab American feminists,


I am sorry to learn about all the terrible experience you suffered through on the road of advocating feminism in the United States. Because of those stereotypical impressions and sensationalized news stories, all of your efforts put into the feminist movements seem to be an oxymoron for those white feminists. However, it is none of your faults. You are doing great as you are building up a great community of strong women and girls that fight for gender equality, which is extremely impressive, and as I know, difficult. Thus, you should never be afraid of speaking up. 


Also, for those white feminists who can see this letter, I want to say that you should be ashamed of yourself. Feminism is never only for you but for every girl and woman who want to fight for their own rights. You should be ashamed because you still stuck in those entrenched false impressions about other groups of people who are essentially dedicated to the same goal as you do. You should be ashamed because you always place yourself at the top of the “feminist hierarchy” and think you are the savior to other people. You also should be ashamed because you make bold but wrong assumptions about Arab/Arab American women as always being suppressed and “belly dancers”.


Don’t remain silent, my feminists. You are a group of most bright, brave, and uncompromising girls and women in this world. You should never doubt yourself just because of how this society or those white supremacists view you. Always remember, all you need to do is sticking with all the great things you’ve been done for feminism, while the American society needs to critically reflect on itself and make changes to be more inclusive.


Stay strong,
your Asian feminist sister

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