A white women’s win, a Black women’s loss: The construction of whiteness in news articles about #MeToo

Abstract This study examines the manifestation of whiteness in the context of womanhood in news articles about the #MeToo movement in the US. #MeToo is widely regarded as a significant milestone for women in the fight against sexual harassment. However, the movement appears to be dominated primarily by white, famous women and their stories. This stands in contrast to the original founder of the “metoo” movement, Black activist Tarana Burke, and her initial objective of establishing an intersectional movement to support women of colour. A qualitative grounded theory approach is applied in this study, guided by the following sensitizing concepts: white feminism, intersectionality, white womanhood, Black womanhood and #MeToo. The critical discourse analysis of 73 news articles demonstrated an overrepresentation of white women in the articles. As apparent in the articles, a traditional ideal of white womanhood was emphasised, accentuating innocence and vulnerability. Numerous characteristics of white feminism manifested prominently with, among others, an emphasis on the gendered aspect of sexual harassment. References to race, the experiences of Black women or an intersectional perspective were largely absent. Therefore, the #MeToo movements is mainly a milestone for white women.