Sexism is still a prevailing problem in the world today. Unfortunately, this contributes to other forms of discrimination. In the article, Black Girls Matter, the author, Kimberlé Crenshaw, brings this to light. Young girls of color are often ignored by national initiatives in regards to both racism and sexism combined. The author supports her criticism with the use of personal stories of young girls of color, namely, Salecia, Pleajhai, Mikia, and Tanisha along with numerical data as examples.
According to Crenshaw, even though the White House, through their signature gender-and-race targeted initiatives address racism, they still tend to undermine and ignore black girls. Okazawa-Rey and Kirk define racism as racial prejudice and discrimination that are supported by institutional power and authority, where there is an existence of the ideology of white superiority and is used to the advantages of white people and the disadvantages of people of color (Okazawa-Rey and Kirk G-5). This leads Crenshaw, to use the next theory, sexism, as a base to elaborate her article, thus naming it, ‘Black Girls Matter.’ Sexism can be defined as the “attitudes, actions, and institutional practices that subordinate individuals because of their gender” (Okazawa-Rey and Kirk
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She creates an ideology about how black girls face barriers that undermine their well-being. They are completely ignored by national initiatives, unlike white females who have an upper hand because of power and privilege, simply because of their whiteness. In America, people of power should help young girls of color, overcome discrimination and sexism against them through the use of national initiatives. They need to focus more or equally on initiatives for girls of color rather than just for boys or global programs like ‘Let Girls
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
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.
“A disadvantage is that as a girl, you’re expected to be feminine and there are certain gender roles you’re expected to conform to,” said Rhoney. My response to her answer was, “Exactly. Why am I always expected to wear a dress and curl my hair? What if I want to roll around in dirt and play football?” We laughed and continued to talk. “My work and time is just as good as a man’s. Why does he get to make ten dollars more than me? I’m probably a lot better at whatever the job may be anyway,” said Rhoney. Being a woman of color also has its disadvantages. “Having attended a predominately white school, my peers didn’t expect me to know as much as them. My intelligence was often overlooked,” said
Yang, G. & Ryser, T. A. (2008). Whiting up and Blacking Out: White Privlege, Race, and White Chicks. African American Review, 42(3/4), 731-746. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40301264
...s of particular importance to women. Angelou's book, although it is meant for a broad audience, is also concerned with conveying the difficulties of being black and a woman in America. Angelou addresses these issues in such a way that they appeal to all her readers for understanding, and also speak to the particular segment of her audience that she represents.
Gender and racism are two of the main topics of “The Talk” by Dana Canedy and “What Goes Through Your Mind: On Nice Parties and Casual Racism” by Nicole Chung. Throughout their essays, Canedy and Chung prove whether it is an African-American boy or an Asian American woman, minorities face racism. Also, all types of racism such as casual racism or intended racism all are extremely hurtful, degrading to any minority. Gender has a lot to do with the severity of racism experienced. Police brutality on an African American woman happens, but is not as frequently and sever as it does to an African American man. Nicole Chung, who is Asian American believes that she has control over her own identity. When placed in an uncomfortable racist situation
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.
Kimberlé Crenshaw’s assertion that the advancement of racial equality is not attainable without the advancement of gender equality is supported with adequate evidence throughout her article, “Black Girls Matter.” Crenshaw’s argument is founded upon the biases woven into government-funded initiatives focused on bettering the lives of the nations underprivileged youth while turning a blind eye to the marginalization of the female colored youth. In particular Crenshaw focuses on President Obama’s initiative, My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) and Michelle Obama’s global initiative Let Girls Learn. Furthermore, the article emphasizes the shortcomings of the nations female colored youth in terms of education through the presence of sexism and racism.
Throughout history and in present day, there has been a large neglect of Black Women in both studies of gender and studies of race. Combating both sexism and racism simultaneously is what separates Black Women and our history and battles from both white women and black males-combined with what is discussed as a triple jeopardy- race, sex and socioeconomic status provides black women with a completely different and unique life experience when compared to, really, the rest of the world. Beverly Guy-Sheftall discusses the lack of black feminist in our history texts stating,“like most students who attended public schools and colleges during the 1950s and 1960s, I learned very little about the involvement of African American women in struggles for emancipation of blacks and women.” (Words of Fire, 23) I, too, can agree that throughout my education and without a Black Women’s Studies course at the University of Maryland I would have never been exposed to the many founding foremothers of black feminism. In this essay, I will discuss the activism, accomplishments and contributions of three of those founding foremothers-Maria Stewart, Anna Cooper, and Ida B. Wells.
The oppression of women in society plays a huge role in how mothers raise their young daughters for the cruel world that waits. In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl”, Kincaid lists multiple stereotypical roles of the “typical” women in her short text. Without question, Kincaid defines roles of women in a way that may seem sexist and put a strong limit on what women can and cannot do. Moreover, Kincaid’s piece does come to empower women and evokes various degrees of power, freedom and the control of women.
The premises that race and gender are social constructs mobilized anti-racism and feminist movements, including education and research, to counter the issues encompassed within these two forms of discrimination. However, while there are many arguments supporting the problems surrounding white supremacy as well as the sexual oppression of women, the combination of both race and gender lacks examination in comparison. Racialized women are commonly associated with being sexually available and exotic, despite feminist movements against the objectification of women. Because women are underrepresented in arguments against race, and issues of race are underrepresented in arguments against the sexualization of women, racialized women are marginalized and continue to face both racism and gender inequality.
make it, or be somebody. She also shows how race, prejudice, and economic problems effect a black
In order to contextualize the issue of intra-group violence against Black women, it is important to understand the role that intersectionality plays on these women. There are many factors that can make a person who they are. These factors can include race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, etc. Nevertheless, a person cannot di...
She points out facts that: there are more African American mean being incarcerated today than being enslaved (compared to 1850), more African Americans are disenfranchised as ex-felons compared than 1870, a black child is less likely to be raised by both parents compared to a black child born in slavery, and a large percentage of African American men are labeled as felons for life (they are excluded from juries, legally discriminated in employment and education denied their right to vote, and . These