“Bad boy male feminist” Hugo Schwyzer confessed in an epic Twitter meltdown last Friday that he had used “sex and charm and whiteness” to scam his way into both teaching gigs and the pages of progressive outlets like The Atlantic, Jezebel, The Huffington Post and The Guardian. The blog Feministe eventually decided to stop linking to Schwyzer’s work (after all, “trying to murder your girlfriend is abhorrent”), and in his manic Twitter rant Schwyzer apologized in particular for being “awful” to women of color who were in the way of his grab for attention.
And WOC, yes you @amaditalks and @Blackamazon, you were right. I was awful to you because you were in the way
— Hugo Schwyzer (@hugoschwyzer) August 9, 2013
Feministe blogger Jill Filipovic’s sympathetic response to Schwyzer’s meltdown wasn’t appreciated by some of the targets of Schwyzer’s abuse.
@hugoschwyzer @jessicavalenti Hugo, if this is really you and not a hack, please, close your laptop and call your therapist. Please.
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) August 9, 2013
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when the mental health & future prospects for @hugoschwyzer are more important than the damage he did.
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) August 12, 2013
So @JillFilipovic claims no contact/interest in contact, but her first reaction was to tweet @hugoschwyzer with self care advice. Oh.
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) August 12, 2013
I know #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when Big Name Feminism benefits from @hugoschwyzer abusing WOC.
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) August 12, 2013
The #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen hashtag certainly touched a nerve, trending in the United States.
#solidarityisforwhitewomen shows up at this time as Trend in United States pic.twitter.com/miBUSlWwcg
— Trendinalia USA (@trendinaliaUS) August 13, 2013
I know #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when Big Name Feminism thinks its funny to call a 9 year old black girl a cunt.
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) August 12, 2013
Yes, that did happen.
I feel a moment coming on. Because this has been a banner damned month for white feminists. #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) August 12, 2013
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen means Rihanna has a responsibility but Miley is just experimenting
— ImperatorBlackSiren (@Blackamazon) August 12, 2013
#solidarityisforwhitewomen is when you're sick of the hashtag for a few hours, and we're sick of your privilege for a few centuries
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) August 12, 2013
#solidarityisforwhitewomen when every little blonde white girl gets an amber alert but missing girls of color get crickets
— whatsername (@thejadedhippy) August 13, 2013
White women were all "GIRL POWER!!" #solidarityisforwhitewomen pic.twitter.com/aZtx9SiLfx
— S. Central's Flyest (@VidaStarr) August 13, 2013
White fems think that f*cking black men and adopting black children gives them legitimacy #solidarityisforwhitewomen
— S. Central's Flyest (@VidaStarr) August 13, 2013
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when white women displace women of color by moving into edgy neighborhoods they know nothing about
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) August 13, 2013
The Blind Side, Freedom Writers, and The Help made them feel good about how much they help POC #solidarityisforwhitewomen
— S. Central's Flyest (@VidaStarr) August 13, 2013
#solidarityisforwhitewomen whose feminism requires high-speed and a live-in nanny. pic.twitter.com/9qJ1SEiVBw
— Toby Rollo (@TobyRollo) August 12, 2013
#solidarityisforwhitewomen pic.twitter.com/OI2Ez9E600
— Merry Bae Blige ☕️ (@MochaLisaccino) August 12, 2013
https://twitter.com/RaniaKhalek/status/367014779950350337
https://twitter.com/BlackCanseco/status/366962791858454531
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen Because Code Pink's anger is justified and WoC's anger is irrational.
— Cham (@kchamomile) August 12, 2013
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen pic.twitter.com/4yRGz1AG0z
— Merry Bae Blige ☕️ (@MochaLisaccino) August 12, 2013
Refusing to acknowledge that white women didn't invent feminism is #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen.
— Lauren Chief Elk (@ChiefElk) August 12, 2013
#solidarityisforwhitewomen who have time to complain about the hashtag while the rest of WOC are working while tweeting in the hashtag.
— ProfB (@AntheaButler) August 12, 2013
@karnythia Seriously, most white feminists do not give any damns about the current nor the historical issues WOC have faced. So yeah.
— ProfB (@AntheaButler) August 12, 2013
#solidarityisforwhitewomen when white women see this tag and still only think of what we can do for *them* and *their* feelings.
— Lost Hearts Republic (@bad_dominicana) August 12, 2013
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen is trending. Looks like our privilege is showing … (again) http://t.co/dQpoqaT25a
— sfpelosi (@sfpelosi) August 12, 2013
http://twitter.com/xsogden/status/366996930930294785
https://twitter.com/BlackCanseco/status/367097164335284225
Famous white feminist Martha Plimpton did have this concession to make.
The fun thing about this Schwyzer garbage is it gives women another reason to fight with each other. YAY! #solidarityisforwhitewomen
— Martha Plimpton (@MarthaPlimpton) August 13, 2013
Here's one thing about feminism: there are MANY MANY different experiences of being FEMALE. So, homogeneity of thought is not gonna happen.
— Martha Plimpton (@MarthaPlimpton) August 13, 2013
@MarthaPlimpton Right on! And it shouldn't!
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 13, 2013
@MarthaPlimpton @vandeand If you don't know the context why are you trying to critique the conversation?
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) August 13, 2013
Speaking of Lena Dunham, there is some common ground to be found between conservatives and progressive feminists of color: the “Girls” phenomenon confounds all.
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when Lena Dunham is called the voice of a generation even though there are no women of color on "Girls".
— PragmaticObotsUnite (@PragObots) August 12, 2013
I can promise you I'm not in solidarity with these white women. #solidarityisforwhitewomen pic.twitter.com/LF6iUZyd6f
— Kathleen McKinley (@KatMcKinley) August 12, 2013
