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White Supremacy

White supremacist groups believe that white people are superior to those of other races and perpetuate this belief via efforts to maintain and grow a pure white race and hinder, or at times commit violence against, racial minorities. There are currently at least several hundred known racist groups in the United States, including but not limited to racist skinhead, neo-Nazi, and Christian Identity groups. Although white supremacist thought centers heavily around concepts of masculinity and hate groups are led primarily by men, women have always played a role in racist movements to varying degrees. They are believed to have participated actively in extremist groups in the United States since the early 1900s and to have been recruited for membership since at least the 1980s. Women are not often placed in positions of formal leadership in these groups but participate in the movement as organizers, recruiters, and fighters. Compared with other periods in history, women are currently being recruited at higher rates and are more active within groups now than ever before.

Gender Roles

White supremacist groups tend to think of men and women as inherently different and tend to have clearly established roles for each gender. For many racist groups, men retain their masculine image by protecting and controlling “their” women. Women rarely take on leadership roles in these groups. Traditionally, white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan have considered women's primary purpose to be bearing and rearing a new generation of racists and tending to the home and family, while husbands fight for the cause, thus reinforcing women's traditional roles in American society. However, more gender-progressive groups expect their women members to fight alongside their men and even perform criminal acts of violence with the group.

Advancing the white race necessitates that white women frequently and exclusively reproduce with white men. This makes women within the movement indispensible to the cause and makes enemies out of all women who are not white mothers of white babies, such as lesbians, women in mixed-race partnerships, single women, white women who have abortions, and childless women. Groups also perpetuate racist stereotypes about nonwhite women-often displaying them as ugly, savage, and sexually promiscuous-and present white women as symbols of beauty and purity.

Aside from being wives, mothers, and symbols of piety, women participate in racism in other traditionally feminine ways such as spreading racist rumors or planning community events. Women often keep their groups connected and thriving by organizing functions, hosting social events, making and fostering networks of racists, recruiting new members, and otherwise fostering a sense of solidarity. Women who take on traditional gender roles make the movement more accessible to outsiders by making racist women and families seem normal.

Women in Leadership Roles

In recent years, there has been a trend in white supremacist groups to use women in more nontraditional ways-even in leadership roles-in addition to their traditional duties. Some hate groups rely on women to carry out planned acts of violence, as women are less likely to be suspected as criminals.

Many racist groups are also sexist, or at least antifeminist. Most racist groups see feminism as a major threat to the furthering of the white race, as it encourages women to seek roles other than that of wife and mother and to take control of their sexuality and reproduction; however, at various points in history, feminism has been used to further the racist agenda, such as during the women's suffrage movement, when it was believed that racist women's votes would help maintain racist legislation. A number of hate groups have women-only networks, subgroups, and publications.

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