Only in “developed” countries can you pay $200,000 dollars for a piece of paper from a university that promises no return on investment.
Only in “developed” countries can you pay a premium not to be poisoned by pesticides.
Only in “developed” countries can a woman nursing her baby in public be publicly shamed.
I’ve traveled around the world a bit. Not a lot, but a bit. I’ve been to a majority of the states in the U.S., I’ve been to 14 countries across four continents, I’ve lived in three countries that speak the three languages I know, and I’ve made sure to spend time with local people in every country I’ve visited. I definitely haven’t traveled as much as some people, but I’ve been around. And one thing I notice is that the so-called “developed” countries are in many ways more backwards than the so-called “developing” countries. And yet… those “developed” countries are still on a crusade to “enlighten” us.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw a woman nursing her baby in public without even pretending to try to cover herself up: this was in Huaraz, Peru. This happened very soon after I had read a slew of American articles about women who had been asked to leave restaurants and shopping malls because they were feeding their babies (in the healthiest and most natural way, I might add). My first thought was to get ready to confront anyone who took issue with her. But no one did. This was normal. People didn’t even look twice.
It frustrates me so much when high-ranking American and European women (Hillary Clinton is the obvious example that comes to mind) speak so proudly about women’s rights in other countries, and use their white hegemonic form of feminism to achieve their capitalist goals. Beyond the inherent racism and and exploitation, their hypocrisy is just the cherry on top.
Women’s rights in the West is such a vast and wide-spread problem, whether it comes to women’s health (U.S.-specific), personal safety, personal agency, or something as simple as feeding your child without reprimand. I’m not going to say that everything is perfect in non-Western countries when it comes to women, because that definitely isn’t true. But to come in as a white woman savior claiming to have all the answers when the situation is just as bad where you come from – maybe even worse in some cases – is not the way to “stand for women everywhere.”
This is just one of many examples. I could go on and on about the food and farming industries in “developed” countries that literally poison the population for profit. I could go on and on about the prohibitively high cost and absolute necessity of education in “developed” countries. I could go on and on about dozens of social issues that exist in the Western world that Western elitists tend to forget about when talking about “developing” countries.
I’m not saying don’t help less fortunate people around the world. That is obviously an important value for those with privilege to strive towards. But there’s a significant difference between helping people and forcing on them unwanted paternalistic “help” that disrupts their communities and disparages their ways of life.
