Many minorities within the United States seem to lack representation within the mainstream media and society itself. However, if minorities do seem to be depicted within the society, they are often misrepresented by the majority, or the white society. This, however, is not a foreign concept, for it has been occurring for several decades. Black women have constantly been neglected and devalued throughout history, along with Native Americans as well. Both populants have either been constantly been excluded by society or misinterpreted by their counterparts. Thus, in order for these specific minorities to emphasize their own struggles and communicate about them from their own perspective, the concept of intersectionality and Two-Spirit have been …show more content…
However, they seemed to emphasize the struggles back women faced within social settings, outside their home life. For one, these authors claimed that there were “extremely negative ways in which Afro-American women have been portrayed in literature, scholarship, and the popular media”. Black women were not respected and given their own identity, but were rather considered to be inferior to the white society, for black women and white people were unable to be categorized within the same category. One such example of the neglection of black women within the society is in regards to both the Women’s Studies and Black Studies courses found within educational settings: “women's studies courses, usually taught in universities, which could be considered elite institutions just by virtue of the populations they served, focused almost exclusively upon the lives of white women” and “black studies, which was much too often male-dominated, also ignored Black women”. Due to the racism ingrained within the mindset of white women and the sexism found within the black male community, both of these courses failed to mention black women. If there was a slight mention of the existence of black women, it was delusional of either the racial politics, racism, or sexism endured by black women. Thus, the concept of …show more content…
Qwo Li-Driskill, or the author of Doubleweaving Two-Spirit Critiques, emphasizes that the “analyses of race, nation, diaspora, history, sexuality, and gender are deeply lacking” the inclusion of Native Americans. To his argument, if Native Americans are mentioned, they are not incorporated within their own category; rather, Native Americans are found “often within lists of other people of color” (76). He further emphasized this inconvenience by mentioning how “the mere inclusion of Native people within lists of other groups of color unwittingly contributes to the erasure” of the Native people themselves (76). By reason that “the experiences of Native people differ substantially from other people of color in North America, and these differences give rise to very particular forms of resistance” (78), the concept of Two-Spirit was given birth to. Like intersectionality, the notion of Two-Spirit focuses on several areas regarding Native American existence, exclusively on “Native peoples, nations, identities, land bases, and survival tactics” (79). This concept utilizes its “understandings of gender and sexuality as a way to critique colonialism, queerphobia, racism, and misogyny as part of decolonial struggles”, and further emphasizes concepts specific to
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
The black women’s interaction with her oppressive environment during Revolutionary period or the antebellum America was the only way of her survival. Playing her role, and being part of her community that is not always pleasant takes a lot of courage, and optimism for better tomorrow. The autonomy of a slave women still existed even if most of her natural rights were taken. As opposed to her counterparts
Brown stresses the importance of recognizing that being a woman is not extractable from the context in which one is a woman. She examines how both black and white women’s lives are shaped by race and gender, and how these affect life choices. Historically, women of color have filled roles previously attributed to white women
Malcolm X stated that the most disrespected, unprotected and neglected person in America is the black woman. Black women have long suffered from racism in American history and also from sexism in the broader aspect of American society and even within the black community; black women are victims of intersection between anti-blackness and misogyny sometimes denoted to as "misogynoir". Often when the civil rights movement is being retold, the black woman is forgotten or reduced to a lesser role within the movement and represented as absent in the struggle, McGuire 's At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power does not make this same mistake.
Because sexism and racial prejudice still occur today, it is important to look at these social conditions of women and minorities that were discussed by Gilman and Du Bois in the 19th and 20th centuries. The objectification of women throughout the media imposes the idea that women should focus on how they look rather than on their intellectual capabilities. While the U.S. has imposed laws that prohibit the systematic discrimination of African Americans, there is still large income inequalities because of the racial prejudices that occur during the hiring process. Thus, it is important to study the works of Gilman and Du Bois to understand how woman and minorities continue to be treated.
Nevertheless, in the author’s note, Dunbar-Ortiz promises to provide a unique perspective that she did not gain from secondary texts, sources, or even her own formal education but rather from outside the academy. Furthermore, in her introduction, she claims her work to “be a history of the United States from an Indigenous peoples’ perspective but there is no such thing as a collective Indigenous peoples’ perspective (13).” She states in the next paragraph that her focus is to discuss the colonist settler state, but the previous statement raises flags for how and why she attempts to write it through an Indigenous perspective. Dunbar-Ortiz appears to anchor herself in this Indian identity but at the same time raises question about Indigenous perspective. Dunbar-Ortiz must be careful not to assume that just because her mother was “most likely Cherokee,” her voice automatically resonates and serves as an Indigenous perspective. These confusing and contradictory statements do raise interesting questions about Indigenous identity that Dunbar-Ortiz should have further examined. Are
Melissa Harris-Perry analyzes the myths surrounding black women and the implication that correlate with these myths. Perry focuses on three main stereotypes of black women that began with slavery and are still prevalent in society today. Perry not only examines the depth and causes of these stereotypes, but she also scrutinizes their role in African Americans lives as citizens today. Black women today are not only separated from society outside of the African American community, but there are also existing stereotypes within the culture. Examining the history of black women, the three prominent stereotypes attached to them and comparing these to society today, it is clear that the standard for African American women is not only inaccessible but also unreasonable.
Harriet Jacobs, Frances E. W. Harper, and Anna Julia Cooper are three African American female writers who have greatly impacted the progress of "black womanhood." Through their works, they have successfully dispelled the myths created about black women. These myths include two major ideas, the first being that all African American women are perceived as more promiscuous than the average white woman. The second myth is that black women are virtually useless, containing only the capabilities of working in white homes and raising white children. These myths caused these women to be degraded in the eyes of others as well as themselves. In Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harper's Iola Leroy, and Cooper's A Voice From the South, womanhood is defined in ways that have destroyed these myths. As seen through these literary works, womanhood is defined according to one's sexuality, spirituality, beauty, identity, relationships, and motherhood.
The Author of this book (On our own terms: race, class, and gender in the lives of African American Women) Leith Mullings seeks to explore the modern and historical lives of African American women on the issues of race, class and gender. Mullings does this in a very analytical way using a collection of essays written and collected over a twenty five year period. The author’s systematic format best explains her point of view. The book explores issues such as family, work and health comparing and contrasting between white and black women as well as between men and women of both races.
experiencing or questioning this perpetual segregation. However, this is the point at which we discover the double-bind. The minority feels secluded, aggravated, and feels as though it is their duty to always confront micro aggressions. When you do not speak in opposition to the aggressions, it is only letting segregation to persist. Yet, if you ...
The systematic racism and discrimination in America has long lasting effects that began back when Europeans first stepped foot on American soil is still visible today but only not written into the law. This racism has lead to very specific consequences on the Native people in today’s modern world, and while the racism is maybe not as obvious it is still very present. These modern Native peoples fight against the feeling of community as a Native person, and feeling entirely alone and not a part of it. The poem “The Reservation” by Susan Cloud and “The Real Indian Leans Against” by Chrystos examine the different effects and different settings of how their cultures survived but also how so much was lost for them within their own identity.
...minorities, but they face more extreme consequences and struggles. Perhaps this is because they have to deal with the dynamics of all the minority groups they belong to. In the case of African American women, they have to struggle with African American problems as well as the dilemmas women face. However, African American women seem to have overcome their double minority status to a degree. African American female writers are much more popular today than their male counterparts.
However, the hardships and misfortunes of other groups of women due to race, religion, sexual orientation, etc are not often mentioned because feminism has a widespread message and definition worldwide. In the United States, black women or any women with darker skin complexions were treated inhumanely and did not, also still today did not benefit from white privilege. As explained, referring back to the era of slavery up until the American Revolution black enslaved women were mistreated due to the color of their skin and they were without a voice because of their lack of power in a society where man had more power over women and blacks were overpowered by those with lighter skin. Overall, it is important to note and realize that all women were subjected to unequal treatment due to many variables, but some women more than others because of certain variables as
African American women are considered the most disadvantaged group vulnerable to discrimination and harassment. Researchers have concluded that their racial and gender classification may explain their vulnerable position within society, despite the strides these women have made in education, employment, and progressing their families and communities (Chavous et al. 2004; Childs 2005; Hunter 1998; Settles 2006; Wilkins 2012). Most people agree that race and gender categories are explained as the biological differences between individuals in our society; however sociologists understand that race and gender categories are social constructions that are maintained on micro and macro levels. Historically, those in power who control the means of production within a society have imposed race, class, and gender meanings onto the minority population in order to maintain their dominant position and justify the unequal treatment of minority individuals by the divisions of race, class, and gender categories (Collins 2004; Nguyen & Anthony 2014; Settles 2006;).
Prior to 15th century colonization, indigenous peoples of North America enjoyed a gender system that included not only women and men, but also a third gender known as Two-Spirit. In Native American culture, individuals who identified as Two-Spirit were revered by society and held important roles among tribes. In their article “The Way of the Two-Spirited Pe...