#Challenge Accepted- Between Saviorism and Solidarity (part 1)
In this article learn
Content warning: Genocide, holocaust, violence, activism
In the past few weeks, did you happen to see a flood of black and white photos being uploaded by women on social media? Were you confused at first glance, over what this challenge was about? Since the 28th- 29th of July, over 6 million people on Instagram engaged in the viral #ChallengeAccepted trend where women, particularly female celebrities, privately nominated each other to post black and white pictures of themselves on the platform in the name of #WomenSupportingWomen. Why was there some controversy over the ambiguity of its purpose? While many people began to draw connections to Turkey’s fight against rising rates of femicide as the reason for these posts the New York Times,[1] and CNN quickly debunked this theory as they traced the challenge’s origin to an Instagram post by a Brazilian journalist thus verifying that the point of the challenge was women’s empowerment after all.[2]
The connections to Turkey persisted nonetheless, Turkish activists even showing appreciation for all the attention its coincidental popularity helped draw to their cause. Eventually, as most internet trends go, the challenge slowly dissipated, leaving behind the urgent need to talk about online activism, the erasure of ethnicities from populist narrative, saviourism and ultimately- crimes against women.
What’s wrong with Women Supporting Women?
Nothing as long as this same support is extended to millions of Uighur Muslim women having forced sterilization, IUDs and abortions imposed by the Chinese government[3] or women suffering trauma and abuse as an outcome of war and hyper-militarization in Iraq, Syria or Kashmir. Which hasn’t been the case.
The Me Too movement faced similar criticism for having excluded black trans women and women of color from the narrative; women that formed founder Tarana Burke’s 2006 non-profit that started the fight against sexual assault, and instead centered largely around white women form Hollywood.[4] [5] The same criticism has been alleged against the Turkish activism scene. In a piercing essay, Natalie, a PhD student from Armenia wrote about how those involved in the campaign conveniently left out the fact that ethnic Armenians formed part of the femicide statistics since those activists most likely deny the happening of the Armenian Genocide, and support crimes against the ethnic group. Another activist, Edan Tessema, wrote about how it was Pinar Gultekin’s story that ultimately sparked the need to draw attention to the rampant femicide rate in Turkey and yet the fact that she was Kurdish was swiftly erased from the narrative, saying, “once you learn the words “Kurd/Kurdish” are banned in Turkey, this atrocity takes on a different meaning which requires the framing of “Turkish women” to be interrogated.”
Such are the dangers of selective activism. Because when people find it easier to comment on the atrocities of one group of people, while ignoring the atrocities of others, it fails to address the cultures behind the issues they yearn to advocate.[6] And as the historical anthropologist Gerald Sider once wrote,
“We can have no significant understanding of any culture unless we also know the silences that were institutionally created and guaranteed along with it”.
The savior complex
The savior complex comes from the term “white savior” which refers to a white person who acts to help non-white people, but in a context which can be perceived as self-serving.
“The history of saviourism goes back to the colonial era, when Great Britain used sati, or widow immolation, among other things, as grounds to colonize India. In the same way, and more recently, first world feminists and politicians have used third world women as justification for intervention in the Middle East in particular - Laura Bush’s radio address after 9/11 and the subsequent flurry of activity around liberating Afghan women serves as a sound example.”[7]
In India, the obsessive need to “liberate” Muslim women from “oppressive” Muslim men and “triple talaq” in the media and national politics is a manifestation of what here, can be called the Savarna savior complex. The movie Article 15 (2019) is also argued to have been representative of the same by the protagonist in relation to the Dalit characters.[8]
With respect to the #ChallengeAccepted trend, some of the largest participation unsurprisingly came from America and/or white women, echoing the self-bestowed moral prerogative adopted by the West in order to preach or intervene in matters of other countries that are often a consequence of unique social-political problems that the West is often uneducated about. At the end of the day, Turkey doesn’t even cut the top 25 countries with the highest rates of femicide, and America has some eye-opening numbers of violence against women of its own while Indian governments continue to threaten Muslim women’s citizenship and lynch and imprison their children. The west continues to waste its political prowess as it sits in silence over a complete holocaust happening in China, the same way it was silent about ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar.
The problem with saviourism is that it is inconsistent, doesn’t make any attempt to solve the underlying causes perpetuating these problems and reinforces a certain narrative about the culture it seeks to save by reducing its identity to the entirety of that society’s problems- a consequence always borne by third world countries.
There is a fine line between saviourism and solidarity, explained best by this Uganda based organization of women for aid and development - “We are here to ask that if you come to help… that you start listening before speaking, learning before acting and partnering instead of leading….Most people perpetuating the white savior complex are incredibly well-intentioned. We understand this. We also know that using intentions as a justification to avoid accountability stifles progress. We can acknowledge that people want to do good while also holding a higher standard & demanding better.”[9]
Unfortunately, online activism makes it difficult to ensure such progress. To learn how, read part 2 of our activism series!
KEY THEORY
SAVIOR COMPLEX
The savior complex comes from the term “white savior” which refers to a white person who acts to help non-white people, but in a context which can be perceived as self-serving. It includes false depictions of third world countries or ethnic groups that facilitate one-dimensional views about the people belonging to them.
OUR OTHER ARTICLES
Our E-zine: 7PM
Miller established that if information is broken down into seven (plus/minus two) chunks, it is easier tor the brain to remember it.
That is exactly what we do with our zine! Each edition features one topic and 7+/- interesting experiments around it.
References:
[1] Lorenz, T. (2020, July 29). “Challenge Accepted” on Instagram: Black and White Selfies for Women. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/27/style/challenge-accepted-instagram.html
[2] Andrew, S. C. (2020, July 30). No, the Instagram “challenge accepted” trend did not originate in Turkey. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/30/us/challenge-accepted-turkey-instagram-trnd/index.html
[3] The Associated Press. (2020, June 29). China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization. AP NEWS. https://apnews.com/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c
[4] FEMINIST NEWSWIRE. (2019, April 24). Tarana Burke Discusses Intersectional Issues of the Me Too Movement at Time 100 Summit. Feminist Majority Foundation. https://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2019/04/24/tarana-burke-discusses-intersectional-issues-of-the-me-too-movement-at-time-100-summit/
[5] Langone, A. (2018, March 22). #MeToo and Time’s Up Founders Explain the Difference Between the 2 Movements — And How They’re Alike. Time. https://time.com/5189945/whats-the-difference-between-the-metoo-and-times-up-movements/
[6] Ramblings, M. C. (2019, September 7). Selective Activism - My Creative Ramblings. Medium. https://medium.com/@creative.ramblings/selective-activism-a4512223309b
[7] Ragunathan, A. (2013, August 21). The American Savior Complex in India. Mic. https://www.mic.com/articles/60421/the-american-savior-complex-in-india
Fasiha Shaikh
Bad with people. Bad with pets too. Has given up trying to fix that posture. Can be found reading Bukowski in bad light somewhere.
