Black Feminism: Addressing Their Distinct Issues
Once upon a time, women could not vote, had limited schooling, and could not own property or money. Women have been considered second class citizens to men. It was not that long ago that woman received the right to vote. If women in general had these problems, just imagine be black too. Black women faced a double-edge sword having two issues against them. During the early 1970’s, black feminism emerged in response to both the Civil Rights Movement and the Mainstream feminism that marginalized black women; it provided an outlet for black women to address their distinct issues and achieve self-empowerment.
The 1970s was focused on achieving the goals of the reforms created in the 1960s. The
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laws pertaining to civil rights, court rulings, and the changes in society were tested. Of course these changes were often faced with white retaliations. Some whites fought to stop the efforts to desegregate schools and unify the nation; others embraced the ideas through support. The 1970s was full of revolutionary speakers and influential groups that fought to create a diverse and unified nation despite the many struggles they faced; such groups as the Black Panthers, various feminist groups, and the NAACP. The Civil Rights Movement involved social movements in the United States whose goals were to end racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans and to secure legal recognition and federal protection of the citizenship rights enumerated in the constitutional amendments adopted after the Civil War. While most popular representations of the movement are centered on the leadership and philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr., many scholars note that the movement was far too diverse to be credited to one person, organization, or strategy. There were many faces and/or groups that held different views on how to approach the cause. Some are better known such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Melcome X, while others are not like Robert Williams and Gloria Richardson. Men are recognized as leading the Civil Rights Movement, most notably Martin Luther King Jr. and Melcome X, but women held important positions like leading local civil rights organizations and serving as lawyers on school segregation lawsuits that are not talked about and were overshadowed by men. Some women experienced gender discrimination and sexual harassment within the movement which leads one to suspect why many later turned towards the feminist movement in the 1970s. The Black Panther Party founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale with the goal of protecting black neighborhoods and ending police brutality. The Black Panthers rose to power in the late 1960s when they were the most significant and influential race-based organization in America. In the early 1970s, they began to lose their power as the FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover implemented strategies to get rid of the Black Panthers. When people think of the Black Panther Party today, they imagine a male oriented group and a powerful violent man with a gun. Contrary to popular belief, but women held prominent positions and they also set a community focused agenda that supported programs for daycare, groceries, community health clinics and housing. The Black Panther Party is similar to the Civil Rights Movement in the sense of most people viewed it as a male centered organization, but that image is false. Although black women held important positions, they experienced sexism. In “The Trouble Between Us”, Winifred Breines states that “They had to create the illusion that men were the source of all ideas when trying to get their views across” (58). Black men did not want to take orders from women or recognize their ideas. Black women contributions have been under-acknowledged in our society. Women have been forced into a box. The image is that of a nice woman who stays home, take care of the kids, cook and cleans the house. That’s it. That is all expected out of a woman. Wife stays home, while the husband work. But that image is more focused on white women. Most white women were housewives until the 1940s. After the men came home from the war, many women lost their jobs to men and had to return to the household. They went from being independent and making their own money to being pushed back into a dependent role. During WWII there was a great increase of woman workers, but even before than black women worked. During slavery, they worked right alongside the men. After slavery was abolished, black women took jobs such as housekeeping. In “Women In the Civil Rights Movement,” Judy Hasday states that “African American women have had to work for the rights and freedoms denied to them because of the color of their skin” (1). In most black families both parents were working, while only the husband in white families. In the 1970s, most women were striving for an identity in society and wanted to be more than just a housewife. Women were fighting for the right of equality. Women have struggled with balancing the two overarching conceptions of womanhood, being that of a wife and mother while also freedom and autonomy. Women seem to have to choose either or and not both, which is unnecessary because they can be both. Women in the 1970’s were dramatically changing their role in society. They were changing their role due to the Feminist movement. The Feminist movement began in the 1960’s but carried over to the 1970’s gaining a larger audience. Women were beginning to stand up for what they believe in. They wanted to be heard and not overlooked like it was in the past. In “Black Feminist Thought”, Patricia Hill Collins describes how black women working while black men are not “emasculate Black men by failing to be submissive, dependent, “feminine” women (85).
The word feminine is usually viewed as soft, gentle, or warm. The characteristic mostly identified with housewives. Is it ironic that the Feminist Movement is named that considering women were breaking that mold; standing up for their beliefs and rights by being loud, assertive, and bold? The opposite of the root word feminine that feminist come from. Woman wanted the right to be who they are. So they can be loud, soft spoken, assertive, shy, or independent. They are still a woman. Women are not all the same; they should not be forced into a mold that men/society feel they should …show more content…
be. The Feminism Movement also known as the Women’s Liberation Movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. In “Radical Sister” Anne M. Valk states “predominately white women’s movement evolved to fight for reproductive rights and sexual freedom,” while “participants in African American liberation…debated women’s social and political roles, intending to improve women’s lives as part of their fight against racism and poverty” (3). White feminist did not recognize that race and class effected minority women, specifically black women. “Radical feminist…pushed to end male supremacy… liberate women in both personal and public realms… committed to ending women’s inferiority” (Valk, 3-4). Black feminism emerged in the 1970s, in response to the sexism of the Civil Rights Movement and racism in the feminist movement. From the 1970s to 1980s, black feminists formed various groups which addressed the role of black women.
There is not a lot of information in the forefront on Black Women Liberation. In “ Living for the Revolution,” Kimberly Springer stated that “The emergence of black feminist organizations is a central, yet largely ignored, part of women’s and African American’s social history” (10). Black feminist organizations emerged in response to marginalization and sexism in the civil rights and the racism in the women’s movements, stereotyping in American society, and misrepresentation in the government. The decline of black feminist organizations was caused by insufficient resources, activist burnout, ideological disputes, and leadership disputes. By 1980, the majority of the organizations had declined (Springer, 66). Inter-organizational conflicts dissolved the prospect of the organizations surviving long-term. Activist burnout came from insufficient funds and trying to organize large numbers of black women around feminist issues. Black feminist organizations could not work together. They had different views on ideas and which were most important to address. If the black feminist organization came together and mobilized as one, they would have lasted longer and accomplished
more. In closing, Women issues and rights have been brought up again. Laws trying to defund Planned Parenthood to make abortion illegal because that worked so well the first time, and issues with feminism. Men do not go through the same body functions as women, so what do the truly know about making decision for women? Single women did not legally have access to birth control until March 22, 1972. The Supreme Court decision in the case of Eisenstaedt v. Baird, established the rights of single individuals to have access to contraception. Birth control rights, which were fundamental in anchoring sexual equality between men and women, will be pushed backed into the 70’s where women will once again have to fight for equal rights. Did we learn nothing from the past? Women need to come together and fight for the rights that past women have fought for us in order to have the rights we have now. Women voices will be heard and not marginalized again.
As both Tracey Reynolds and Audre Lorde have emphasized, Black women are not perpetually passive victims, but active agents. It is totally possible for Black women to seize a form of empowerment, whether that be alternative education, or the creation of organizations that weren’t situated in either the Civil Rights movement or Women’s
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.
Throughout history, women’s roles have increased slowly. Not until the second Great Awakening did black women begin to gain roles in Christianity and in society. Between the 19th and 20th century black women used multiple methods to gain authority. Some women preached and gave speeches while other women used nonverbal approaches like writing articles. During this time period everyone wasn’t welcoming to the idea of a woman being consider a leader of any major movement. Black women didn’t always have authority in religious settings, but as time progress women became influenced by Christianity which ultimately pushed them to become leaders even though they knew everyone wouldn’t accept them.
Collins, Patricia. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York, NY: Routledge, 2000
In “In Living Color: Race and American Culture”, Michael Omi claims that racism still takes place in America’s contemporary society. According to Omi, media and popular culture shape a segregating ideology by giving a stereotypical representation of black people to the public, thus generating discrimination between races (Omi 115:166). In “Bad Feminist: Take One”, Roxane Gay discusses the different roles that feminism plays in our society. She argues that although some feminist authors and groups try to create a specific image of the feminist approach, there is no definition that fully describe feminism and no behaviors that can make someone a good feminist or a bad feminist (Gay 304:306). Both authors argue
Women, black women in particular, are placed in a society that marginalizes and controls many of the aspects of a black woman’s life. As a result, many black women do not see a source of opportunity, a way to escape the drudgery of their everyday existence. For example, if we were to ask black mother’s if they would change their situation if it became possible for them to do so, many would change, but others would say that it is not possible; This answer would be the result of living in a society that has conditioned black women to accept their lots in life instead of fighting against the system of white and male dominated supremacy. In Ann Petry’s The Street, we are given a view of a black mother who is struggling to escape what the street symbolizes.
In the weekly readings for week five we see two readings that talk about the connections between women’s suffrage and black women’s identities. In Rosalyn Terborg-Penn’s Discontented Black Feminists: Prelude and Postscript to the Passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, we see the ways that black women’s identities were marginalized either through their sex or by their race. These identities were oppressed through social groups, laws, and voting rights. Discontented Black Feminists talks about the journey black feminists took to combat the sexism as well as the racism such as forming independent social clubs, sororities, in addition to appealing to the government through courts and petitions. These women formed an independent branch of feminism in which began to prioritize not one identity over another, but to look at each identity as a whole. This paved the way for future feminists to introduce the concept of intersectionality.
In this case women are stuck where in no matter how they act or how they dress, they end up put into a label they do not necessarily belong in. The main goal of feminism is to create equality for women and fight against the labels put on them. Though throughout time feminism itself has been given a negative label. In today 's society women do not want to be referred to as feminists from fear of being labeled as a bitter man hating woman. This is definitely amplified in media today. Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist, brings up the idea of the essential feminist and where it suggests,” anger, humorlessness, militancy, unwavering principles, and a prescribed set of rules for how to be a proper feminist woman” (169). This fear of being labeled a feminist not only comes from fear of being thought of as angry or humorless, but from being attacked for not being the “proper feminist woman”.
To begin with, there are many events in United States history that have shaped our general understanding of women’s involvement in economics, politics, the debates of gender and sexuality, and so forth. Women for many centuries have not been seen as a significant part of history, however under thorough analyzation of certain events, there are many women and woman-based events responsible for the progressiveness we experience in our daily lives as men, women, children, and individuals altogether. Many of these events aid people today to reflect on the treatment of current individuals today and to raise awareness to significant issues that were not resolved or acknowledged in the past.
In the United States, many political factors helped to develop the women’s revolution. After the Civil War took place in 1865, the major issues that arose came from the proposed 15th Amendment. This amendment, which gave black men the right to vote, created a huge controversy, not only between white and b...
Women had been “denied basic rights, trapped in the home [their] entire life and discriminated against in the workplace”(http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/). Women wanted a political say and wanted people to look at them the way people would look at men. in 1968, many women even protested the Miss America Beauty Pageant because it made it look that women were only worth their physical beauty. A stereotyped image was not the only thing they fought, “Women also fought for the right to abortion or reproductive rights, as most people called it” (http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/). These were the reason why the Women started the Women’s Liberation. African Americans, however, had different causes. After almost a century after the Emancipation Proclamation, black men are still being treated unfairly. They were being oppresed by the so-called “Jim Crow” laws which “barred them from classrooms and bathrooms, from theaters and train cars, from juries and legislatures” (http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/). They wanted equal rights, equal facilities and equal treatment as the whites. This unfairness sparked the African American Civil Right’s Movement. This unfairness was seen in the Women’s Liberation as well. Both were treated unfairly by the “superior”. Both wanted equal rights, from the men or whites oppressing them. They both wanted equal treatment and equal rights. During the actual movement
In Stamps the segregation was so complete that most Black children didn't really, absolutely know what whites looked like. Other than that they were different, to be dreaded, and in that dread was included the hostility of the powerless against the powerful, the poor against the rich, the worker against the worked for the ragged against the well dressed.
In the book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center written by bell hooks, an African-American author, social activist and feminist first published in 1984 the author explains what she believes are the core principles of feminism. Throughout the book the author examines the early feminist theory and goes on to criticize it saying that it did not aim for a systematic change also that the movement has the potential to improve the lives of both men and women immensely. In the book the author investigates the performance of African-American women in the movement and what is needed to drive the movement towards ending oppression of all kinds.
Social justice organizing has the main goal of eliminating oppression; thus, the Black Panther Party aimed to challenge oppressions seen in the US during the 1960s and 1970s through gender, race, and class. However, their practices did not always follow through with their proposed theory. As a former female member of the Party explains, “[W]e could talk about this stuff [gender and sexism]. We could talk about it just as we talked about capitalism and imperialism. But I don’t know that we internalized it” (Matthews 248). Thus, she acknowledged that discussions between members surrounding gender and sexism occurred; yet, the contradictions between the theory and the practices of the BPP still remained throughout. This translated to women in
Standley, Anne. "The Role of Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement." Women in the Civil Rights Movement: Trailblazers and Torchbearers, 1941-1965. By Vicki L. Crawford, Jacqueline Anne. Rouse, and Barbara Woods. Brooklyn, NY: Carlson Pub., 1990. 183-202. Print.