Feminists
In reply to the discussion: It’s Time For No-Wave Feminism [View all]yardwork
(65,186 posts)In every oppressed group there are individuals who are willing to go along with the privileged majority by selling out or abusing their fellows. I think that sociologists call these "token torturers." The phenomenon is also known as "parallel violence," I believe. I don't know much about feminist theory - just a little bit - but this sounds reasonable to me.
For example, in the novel The Handmaid's Tale, there are women characters who gain privilege and power by abusing other women. The Stepford Wives movie (at least the one that came out in 1975, I haven't seen the remake) shows the same thing, only in that case the men actually create robots that look like their wives. The robots murder the wives and take their places. This is a metaphor of what happens when women undermine other women in an effort to gain privilege from those in power.
It happens with every oppressed group. Clarence Thomas is an example. The gay conservative groups are another example. Phylis Schlafly is a very good example.