As I completed Audre Lorde’s poignant and powerful chapter, “Eye to Eye” from “Sister Outsider”, I was painfully reminded of how entitled I am. The work of just being, negotiating a white world as a black woman, had to and still has to be exhausting! (I would say the same for men of color, but I am focusing on a woman’s perspective in this entry). I recently had an experience that albeit a mere snippet of sexism/racism, it revealed to me what it might feel like to be a minority. The advantage for me is that I get to return to me nice cushy life as a white woman. But for a brief time, I felt like odd woman out. Meaning, I was the only one in this group that was a cisgender, white female and it felt as though I was being singled out as less …show more content…
It is that connection which we are seeking. We have the stories of Black women who healed each other’s wounds, raised each other’s children, fought each other’s battles, tilled each other’s earth, and eased each other’s passages into life and into death. We know the possibilities of support and connection for which we all yearn, and about which we dream so often” (Sister Outsider, 152-153). If Dr. Ayo were to ask again in class what is Womanist theology, this entry defines it exquisitely. The idea of loving the female form, each other’s children, being community to each other, and fighting each other’s demons, says it all.
Conversely, how tragic that these very things birthed in African culture, were sabotaged by the white power structure and system of slavery. Play the women against each other, break up their families, then we are able to distract them from the damage we are creating around and through them. And it still continues today! As the mother of a mixed daughter (African and Panamanian), I feel for her. She is beautiful, she is wise and she is strong. But there are times when her black sisters admonish her and tell he, she is too light to really understand. In turn, her Caucasian sisters will tell her she’s too ethnic, too spicy to be white. That in between place is hard. Finding a voice in that space can be just as
Developing friendships between black and white women has been difficult for many years. Although black and white women share common grey spaces, it is the effects of racism that caused one culture to be seemingly set at a higher level on the hierarchical scale. The perceived distance created limits on both races which as a result created a wall of silence and a lack of solidarity. Even though oppression and past hurts have prolonged the mending of what could become an authentic healing there are still positive views on what could be accomplished if women of all races came together to form a mutual bond. Based on the views of a white woman writer and culture I will discuss the limits placed on black and white women and how the two could form a place of reconciliation.
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
Dr. Peggy McIntosh looks at white privilege, by “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” She describes white privilege as almost a special check or coin that she gets to cash in on. Dr. McIntosh tells that white privilege has been a taboo and repressed subject – and that many white people are taught not to see or recognize it. However, she is granted privileges (McIntosh 30). Dr. McIntosh goes on to describe twenty-six ways in which her skin-color grants her certain privileges. In example twenty, she describes how she can buy “…posters, postcards, picture books…” and other items that “…feature people of my race” (32). Additionally, in her first example, she talks about being able to be in the “company of people of my race most of the time” (McIntosh 31). Instances in which a privilege person would not even recognize unless they were looking, show evidence for white privilege. People take these advantages for granted because they simply expect them. Due to the lack of melatonin in her skin, she was granted privileges and her skin served as an asset to her. Dr. McIntosh conveys how her privilege is not only a “favored state,” but also a power over other
The black way has never been an easy way. By the constructions of society, by its demand that there be an innate, horribly valid separation between the black man and the white man– the black way has never been right, nor fluid, nor gorgeous, nor terribly affectionate. Not by any literary standard. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye has been no exception. This has been her message; and again, as if to suggest a chant, the black way has never been a good way.
Ruether, Rosemary Radford. "Anthropology: Humanity as Male and Female" in Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology. Beacon Press, 1993, pp. 93-115.
Rooks, Noliwe. The Women Who Said, I AM. Vol. Sage: A Scholarly Journal On Black Women 1988.
Elsa Barkley Brown focuses on the intersectionality of being a black woman in America, in “What Has Happened Here?”. Black women experience different forms of oppression simultaneously. Indeed, racism, sexism, classism, as well as heterosexism, intertwine and form layers of oppression.
A large wave of pro women thinking has arisen in the form of feminist theology. This line of thought draws from Genesis and the idea that men and women were created equally. I think that this effort to open the door to feminist theology I 'd a welcome and necessary change from the historically male dominated ideas of theology. I have not read too many theological works, but I am sure that if I were to read more, my options and thoughts of what I currently view as God could be altered. I am interested in learning more about past feminist theology. I would like to know the thoughts of women on Christianity back when they were actively being excluded. It is interesting to see the thoughts of minorities about the majority in order to price together where changes can be made in order to make a more cohesive functioning
The black woman in the U.S. holds a precarious role: she is a woman, she is black and she is quickly becoming the dominant force of her people. The black woman is increasingly the sole bread winner in her household because she is forced into that position because of the...
In the novel, the author proposes that the African American female slave’s need to overcome three obstacles was what unavoidably separated her from the rest of society; she was black, female, and a slave, in a white male dominating society. The novel “locates black women at the intersection of racial and sexual ideologies and politics (12).” White begins by illustrating the Europeans’ two major stereotypes o...
In this paper, I plan to explore and gain some insight on Audre Lorde’s personal background and what motivated her to compose a number of empowering and highly respected literary works such as “Poetry is Not a Luxury”. In “Poetry is Not a Luxury”, Lorde not only gives voice to people especially women who are underrepresented, but also strongly encourages one to step out of their comfort zone and utilize writing or poetry to express and free oneself of repressed emotions. I am greatly interested in broadening my knowledge and understanding of the themes that are most prominent in Lorde’s works such as feminism, sexism and racism. It is my hope that after knowing more about her that I would also be inspired to translate my thoughts and feelings
Patriarchal silencing can be enforced in three different ways; physical abuse, emotional abuse, and social demands and/or expectations. Although both books have opposite cultural and racial factors that influence the way in which the women in the books are treated, we can still see that these three ways of silencing women are present. In Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”, the form of patriarchal silencing that is most prominent is the viole...
Hauke, M. (1995). God or goddess?: Feminist theology : what is it? : where does it lead?. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Most people experience privilege as a result of their membership within a certain group. Each individual aspect of a person’s overall identity can come with advantages or disadvantages, and some aspects come with both. In some cases, a lot of a person’s privilege can come from other people’s perception of them and not actually their true alignment with a certain group. Some examples of this are: multiracial or biracial individuals with more dominant caucasian features, bisexual individuals, and children of divorced or unmarried parents with different socioeconomic statuses. Being a person who falls in a category like this is a unique experience that can come with both advantages and disadvantages. The privilege you have from being within these
In today’s advanced societies, many laws require men and women to be treated equally. However, in many aspects of life they are still in a subordinated position. Women often do not have equal wages as the men in the same areas; they are still referred to as the “more vulnerable” sex and are highly influenced by men. Choosing my Extended Essay topic I wanted to investigate novels that depict stories in which we can see how exposed women are to the will of men surrounding them. I believe that as being woman I can learn from the way these characters overcome their limitations and become independent, fully liberated from their barriers. When I first saw the movie “Precious” (based on Sapphire’s “Push”) I was shocked at how unprotected the heroine, Precious, is towards society. She is an African-American teenage girl who struggles with accepting herself and her past, but the cruel “unwritten laws” of her time constantly prevent her rise until she becomes the part of a community that will empower her to triumph over her barriers. “The Color Purple” is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker which tells the story of a black woman’s, Celie’s, striving for emancipation. (Whitted, 2004) These novels share a similar focus, the self-actualization of a multi-disadvantaged character who with the help of her surrounding will be able to triumph over her original status. In both “The Color Purple” and “Push”, the main characters are exposed to the desire of the men surrounding them, and are doubly vulnerable in society because not only are they women but they also belong to the African-American race, which embodies another barrier for them to emancipate in a world where the white race is still superior to, and more desired as theirs.