Black Feminist Thought - Essay Example

? Black Feminist Thought al Affiliation: Introduction Feminism refers to a collection of organizations aiming at the definition, establishment and defence of economic, political and social rights of women in the society. Practices carried out by such movements include establishing equal opportunities for the feminine gender both in the employment and education fields. Black feminism thought refers to a contemplation which argues that class oppression, racism and sexism are inextricably bound as one. Black feminist thought can as well be described as an idea meant to show that women should all be treated equally and fairly regardless of race and sex. The manner in which all these three issues relate to each other is referred to as intersectionality. There are forms of feminism that strive to do away with class and sexism but tend to ignore race. In this case, discrimination against people especially women through racial foundation is high. Combahee River collective is a union which supported the black women by arguing that their liberation would do away with sexism, racism and oppression of class. From research in the past, it is clear that black women experienced oppression from the black women giving the impression that they could not live with the whites without having issues among them (Carby, 1982, 92). Alice Walker is one among many women who has contributed to fighting for rights of women by forming a movement that supports their rights. This movement was known as Alice Walker’s Womanism. In this movement, Alice and other women pointed out that many black women faced oppression from the white women. Black feminist thought according to Patricia Hills, refers to including individuals in the feminine gender who speculate the ideas and skills shared by black women who are ordinary in the society and who provide a unique vision of self and societal nature. Jones also supports the black women by pointing out that they were hard working but their efforts were not taken seriously (Jones, 1985, 89). Feminist theory is a theory which was formed as a result of existing feminist movements. This theory deals with examining social roles of women and experience in order to understand more about gender inequality. The theory of black feminism has pointed out that black women in most cases have been positioned in fundamentally different ways on the basis of power. This is not the case with the white women as this is not how they are positioned. With this in mind, it is clear that black women are not treated fairly. There are black feminist organizations that have been formed since long ago but they have faced many challenges. These challenges faced are mainly implicated by other Black Nationalist political unions or white women. This is yet another factor showing that black women have had a rough time with the white ones in the past (Collins, 1990, 85). The main reason as to why this organisation was oppressed by other larger organizations is because most members moved from the large organisation joining it. The other reason explaining why the black women were oppressed is the stereotype that was attributed to them. In this case, sex was the main issue as black women were referred to as whores and bulldaggers. This is one issue giving a clear impression that they were considered to be useful in the society (Davis, 1981, 56). At this point it was even more serious because black men were involved in oppressing them as well. At this point they did not face oppression from the whites only but also from the blacks. The blacks who oppressed the ladies in this case were men. There are three main challenges that black women had to face from the whites and these larger unions. These challenges are: i. Prove to their fellow black women that feminism was not for the white women only. ii. They had to make the white women share power with them equally which they had to do it by force. iii. They had to fight misogynist propensities of Black Nationalism. Over the years, many feminist movements and ideologies supporting rights in the community have been formed. Political movements: These are movements that major on political equality of men and women making certain that there is no alteration in the structure of the society. Under this category, there are many forms of movements including liberal feminism. This is one which ensures equality between men and women without alteration. Radical feminism is the other movement under this category which takes into consideration the male-controlled entrepreneurial chain of command as the defining aspect of oppression of women. Conservative, libertarian and separatist feminism are among the movements that have also been formed under this category of political movements (Hooks, 1984, 85). Looking at another category, there is materialist ideologies. Under this category, the movements formed are basically conned with ideology’s relationship to the feminine gender. Capitalism is known to be the root cause of oppression of women, where discrimination against this gender is linked to ideologists of capitalists. This is according to Marxist feminism which is a movement linking employment and domestic life discrimination of women to capitalist ideologies (Hooks, 1981, 74). There are other movements under this category that also aim at fighting for the rights of women and among them are: social feminism and Anarcha-feminists. The social feminism movement argues that for oppression of women to be ended, cultural and economic sources have to be worked on. Social constructionist ideologies, is another category involving ideologies that aim at fighting for the rights of women. It was long ago argued that roles of gender are constructed socially and women did not support from the past. The feminine gender claims that it is not possible to generalize experiences of women across history and culture. Deconstruction and post-structuralism are philosophies arguing that the concept of gender is socially and culturally created through discourse (Collins, 1990, 85)These philosophies were formed by post-structural feminism ideological group. There are other cultural movements and visual art movements that have also come up with the same aim of fighting for rights of women. Below is a list of black feminism theories. They include: Lesbian-feminism Radical feminism Socialist feminism Marxist-feminism Eco-feminism Black feminism Liberal feminism There are feminist theories that deal with the following fields. Aesthetics History Geography Literature Mathematics Philosophy Art Religion Science These are some of the fields covered by theories that fight for the rights of black women. These theories explain why black women should be gives same treatment with the whites regardless of the race. The visual art movements involve self-organising and raising groups. They were formed between the 1960’s and 1970’s. This gives a clear impression that the black women faced oppression from the past and they could not what to see their lives being ruined by others. They started forming movements to support them early enough so that they could effectively fight for what belongs to them and that they could live happily and comfortably just like other individuals. With the formation of all these groups it is clear that black women are equally important in the society. The white women are only differentiated from the blacks in terms of colour and the way of living because they are brought up in different ways and environments (Hooks, 1984, 112) The economic developments which can be contributed by the feminine gender in the society do not differ in the basis of race. In this case, it solely depends on the efforts put in by an individual that contributes to how the development can be. Women therefore, should receive equal treatment as they are all equally important to the society. Black women were oppressed way back dating many years ago. Culture politics and working class are among the basis of why and how they were treated. First of all talking of colour, it is one thing that would make the white women differentiate themselves from the blacks. Once this was clear to their eyes, they took a step forward in making sure that they did not work together with the blacks or that the blacks never got any equal chances with them in their places of work. This is the reason why they were not positioned using the same criteria with the whites. Culture is another issue related wit oppression of the black women. The whites despised the life style of the blacks and saw their as the best hence looking down upon them. The fact that the black women were not taken as important in the society, made them not to be given high positions at work. Most of the women who were given top rank positions were the whites and they ended up looking down upon the blacks because they saw that they were superior to them. (Kelly, 1994, 78). Living the life of a black in the society has not been easy for black women. This mainly applies to a population where the number of whites outdoes that of the blacks. This started long time ago where in areas where blacks were few and the whites dominated, life was not easy for them. They always faced it rough undertaking their daily activities as they were treated as intruders. The whites were not ready to live with them peacefully. At the same time, they were not ready to see those who came in to their land striving hard to succeed more than them (Dougherty, 1978, 43). With this in mind they had to try their best to make certain that the black women lived as inferior individuals by all means. White women always made the blacks to suffer from inferiority complex. They always considered themselves to be the best knowing that no one would do things better than they did or even reach their standard. To make the situation worse, black men did not support the black women. This is one facilitating factor that made the whites see that even the black men did not appreciate their fellow blacks. This helped a great deal in increasing oppression faced by the black women. Since they were looked down upon by their fellow blacks, the whites saw no need to support them (Frankenberg, 1993, 62). One of the distinctive features of black feminist thought is that it explains why black women experience oppression in a society where there are many whites and black men who oppress them. Black women have from the past faced many challenges and oppression from fellow women who are whites and from black women (Amos and Palmer, 1984, 67). Some of the problems experienced in this case, are related with change in political climates that come along with new obstacles. There are developments that were made with a number of intellectuals and in this case black intellectuals. They dealt with race scholarship giving explanation about their struggles politically. These developments collectively produced an intellectually and politically changed for defining the black feminist thought. With the development of feminist theories, certain arguments over naming this thought arose leading to some difficulty in the naming practice. Some of the names that were suggested for this thought are: Black feminism Afro centric feminism Womanism Africana-womanism These are some of the names that were suggested for this movement of fighting with the righta of black women. There are main distinctive features of this thought. They are: It is unique Concentrates on oppression of the black women It is one that majors on only one issue. Talks of movements that support women in the society In the contemporary society, life is not as it used to be in the past. With the formation of many movements to support rights, black women can live normal lives even amidst the whites. It has just taken some time before the situation has changed to the better as they could not withstand being oppressed yet they have the right to live and undertake their activities without anybody having them suffer (Guy, 1983, 60). This gives a clear impression that with time the situation has changed to the better. With this transformation, many improvements have been made as the blacks and the whites can now work together for the betterment of the society at large. It is clear that any individual who tries to violate another person’s rights definitely faces punishment as the law states (Banks, 1986, 72) .With joint efforts the whites have also come to learn that knowledge from many individuals can make more positive transformations in the society due to different experiences. With this transformation from the past, black women can move to various locations knowing that they can work freely to achieve their goals without having to face oppression from anyone. Conclusion In conclusion, it is clear that black women have suffered a lot which started long time ago. They have with time faced a lot of challenges and oppression. These challenges and oppressions were faced from white women and fellow black individuals who were men. In this case, movements to support the black women had to be formed in order to fight for their rights and make them feel like other normal human beings in the society. Many movements were formed to help the black women have their rights not violated. This was specifically meant to make them have equal opportunities with others in the society for the betterment of the society at large. Recommendation Each and every human being is beneficial to the society. This is because people are born with different talents and abilities. These talents and abilities are those that make it possible for every activity to run smoothly. With this in mind, it is clear that everybody should be given equal and far treatment. There should be formation of movements that support the rights of everybody in order to make certain that there is equality in the society. In a society where everybody receives fair and equal treatment, activities are always run smoothly and this makes it possible to improve the economy. All humans’ rights should generally not be violated. Reference Amos, V and Palmer, P. (1984). Challenging Imperial Feminism in feminism Review. London: Routledge. Banks, O. (1986). Op Cit. Little Brown Book Group. United Kingdom. Carby, H. (1982). White Woman Listen: Black feminism and the boundaries of sisterhood in the center for contemporary cultural studies the empire strikes Back Hutchison. Canada: Canadian Scholars’ Press. Collins, P. (1990). Black feminism Thought Unwin hyman. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Davis, A. (1981). Women, race and class. The women press New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Dougherty, C. 1978. Becoming a Woman in Rural Black Culture. New York: Holt, Rinchart and Winston. Frankenberg, R. (1993). White women, race matters. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Guy, Rosa. 1983. A Measure of Time. New York: Bantam. Hooks, B. (1981). Aint I a Woman? Pluto. New York: South End Press. Hooks, B. (1984). Feminist Theory from margin to centre south end press. London: Pluto Press. Jones, J. 1985. Labour of Love, Labour of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family from Slavery to the Present. New York: Basic Books. Kelley, D. G. 1994. Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class. New York: Free Press. Read More