The conquering conservative: how white feminism has fueled conservative women’s rhetoric

This chapter offers a new critique of what scholars and activists have deemed “white feminism” - feminist ideologies that benefit white women, often at the expense of women with multiple marginalized identities. We bridge two main literatures: one that critiques white feminism and one that identifies conservative women as strategic, gender-conscious political actors. Through an analysis of speeches and campaign advertisements, we find that conservative women in the United States often co-opt themes found in white feminist rhetoric, including individualism, choice, and women’s empowerment. In other words, they strategically adopt white feminist rhetoric to paint anti-feminist political agendas as “pro-women.” We argue that white feminism has been easily co-opted by women on the right because many aspects of white feminism are inherently conservative. Rather than challenging and dismantling systems of oppression, white feminism seeks to advance women’s presence and power within existing systems, often maintaining the social and economic status quo.