Changes: White knighting

Revision as of 05:06, 23 October 2012

White Knighting is an attempt at being a feminist ally that assumes that men are better feminists than women are.

Examples of White Knighting might include:

re-stating a woman's feminist arguments so as to improve them, on the assumption that you can express them more clearly and objectively
defending a woman in an argument, cutting off her own defence of herself
concern trolling about the tone of feminist expression or otherwise assuming that feminism is in dire need of a man's input
misintepreting a woman's criticisms against structural oppression as low self-esteem or low self-confidence, and engaging in excessive flattery to try and boost it

Essentially, the problem is an ally's assumption that one is the best, most effective, feminist present.

As a criticism of all allies

Sometimes the term "white knighting" is used by anti-feminists to criticise any feminist action from a man. Feminists don't ask that men be silent on feminist questions, they simply ask that men not behave as if they invented or perfected feminism.

See:

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 * defending a woman in an argument, cutting off her own defence of herself
 * [[concern troll]]ing about the [[Tone argument|tone]] of feminist expression or otherwise assuming that feminism is in dire need of a man's input
+* misintepreting a woman's criticisms against structural oppression as low self-esteem or low self-confidence, and engaging in excessive flattery to try and boost it
 Essentially, the problem is an ally's assumption that one is the best, most effective, feminist present.