Feminism, at its core, is about dismantling systems of oppression and creating equal opportunities for all people, especially those who have historically been silenced or excluded. Sadly, we often see something else taking its place—a glittering, camera-ready version of “empowerment” that centers on already privileged individuals supporting others just like them. A perfect example of this is the recent space trip, as covered by the BBC, Reuters, CNN, and all mass media, internationally, which sent five women, Katy Perry, Lauren Sánchez, Journalist Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn rounded out the crew, according to Blue Origin.
At first glance, this might look like a celebration of women breaking barriers in a male-dominated field. But when you look closer, it reveals something more troubling: an exclusive celebration of privilege, disguised as feminist progress.
Who Gets to Represent “All Women”?
According to the BBC article, the mission was framed as a statement: “To the world, we say: this is what a female astronaut looks like.” But what does that statement actually mean? These women are not astronauts. They are wealthy, well-connected, and highly visible figures chosen for a symbolic gesture aboard a billion-dollar toy.
The mission organizers claim they want to “inspire” girls and women around the world—but which girls, exactly? Do anything to change the lives of underprivileged girls in rural schools, immigrant neighborhoods, or underserved regions?
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The harsh truth is this: watching a privileged woman go to space does not put a book in a girl’s hand, does not feed her, educate her, or give her a mentor. It creates spectacle, not structural change. And if we are not changing lives, then what exactly are we celebrating?
Why Do Privileged People Keep Lifting Up Other Privileged People?
It is easier. It is safe. It feels good. Supporting someone who speaks your language, walks in your circles, or reflects your image of success is comforting. But it does nothing to change the systems that oppress women on the margins. In fact, it often reinforces them. When we repeatedly see the same types of women being uplifted—glamorous, polished, socially connected—we begin to internalize the message that only certain women are worthy of attention and celebration.
This phenomenon is not true feminism. It is a curated, sanitized version of it that feels more like performance than progress.
Real Feminism Looks Different
True feminism is intersectional, as Kimberlé Crenshaw reminds us (1991). It demands that we advocate not only for women who look like us or inspire us with their TED Talks, but also for those who are ignored, oppressed, and unheard. bell hooks (2000) emphasized that feminism must be for everybody. It means rural girls without access to clean water. It means Black and Brown women navigating the daily weight of racism and classism. It means disabled women are still fighting for basic accommodations. It means immigrant mothers working multiple jobs just to survive. And it especially means first-generation, highly educated women who are overlooked and underestimated, simply because they have an accent. Despite their qualifications, the world sees them as not enough. That is the injustice feminism must address.
Space for Whom, Really?
What we witnessed with this space trip was not a breakthrough. It was a show. While these women may feel empowered by their experience, it is important to ask who benefits from this symbolism. Who gets left behind?
Until we begin investing in the real needs of girls and women, education, healthcare, safety, access to jobs, and the dismantling of systems that uphold racial, gender, and economic inequality, we are not practicing feminism. We are only marketing it.
Let us not be blinded by the stars. Feminism is not about sending privileged women to space. It is about fighting to make sure every woman has the chance to rise.
Every campaign has to be rooted in purpose. It cannot be about visibility alone. It has to solve real problems, create access, and serve those who are too often ignored. Impact must come before image.
There has to be a clear human reason behind every effort. A campaign should exist to lift, to support, to repair—never just to impress.
Philanthropy has to be more than a performance. It must be a responsibility. A guiding principle. Not for show, but for a real purpose. Not for branding, but for building something better—for everyone.
So why is it so hard to think this way?
Why is no one saying to Sánchez or Bezos, “Hey, I have an idea—let’s do something that actually creates impact.”
Why are the other women on that space flight not asking bigger questions? Why are they not saying, “Who cares what a woman in space looks like—let’s focus on what she does, who she uplifts, what kind of world she leaves behind.”
This obsession with image over impact is exhausting. It is not revolutionary to showcase privilege. What would be revolutionary is using that spotlight to pull others into it. To say, “We are here, but we brought others with us.” That is what feminism should look like. Not silence in the face of spectacle. Not nodding along with hollow statements. But courage—enough to question, enough to create, enough to include.
Why not create a companion program that support nonprofits?
Why does it always have to be about personal branding, without a parallel track for collective benefit?
I have never understood how some people are capable of thinking only of themselves and what they stand to gain. We cannot have become this numb, this self-focused. We cannot be that bad, can we?
References
Ahmed, S. (2017). Living a Feminist Life. Duke University Press.
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299.
hooks, b. (2000). Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics. South End Press.
BBC News. (2024, April 12). Women fly to edge of space to inspire girls
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