Racism And Intersectionality: The Black Feminist Movement

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Running head: BLACK FEMINISM/INTERSECTIONALITY Black Feminism/Intersectionality Christiana Williams University of the District of Columbia Capstone 391-392 Dr. Cherie Turpin Black Feminism/Intersectionality It is impossible to discuss black feminism without having an understanding of the feminist movement. There was and still is, a supposition that males are superior and should rule over females; patriarchy. Also, people are socialized from birth to accept sexist thoughts and actions. In addition, society believe that women are predestined to be subservient to men .However, it has long been determined that women desire to be treated the same as their male counterparts. The feminist movement emerged as a result of activists…show more content…
Intersectional feminism identifies that certain groups of people have complex sides that they have to deal with in life such as racism, sexism, class, ability (Smith, 2014).Ava Vidal in her article on telegraph says, “I am a black woman and as a result, I face both racism and sexism as I navigate around everyday life activities”. Each time racism is mentioned in feminism, there is an allegation of discord, but as Hooks it, although individual black women were active in contemporary feminist movement from its onset, they always assumed the” back seat’, the mass media never noticed them even though they were as active as the white lesbians. Feminism which is disproportionately white middle class, cis gendered and abled body does not reflect on experiences of women from all background. Conversely, the assumption that privilege relates only to skin color is a fallacy, class, educational and religious background, able bodied and cis gendered offers privileges and some black women fall within this group. In her article, “Black feminism and intersectionality” Sharon Smith explained that .Kimberle Crenshaw who coined the word “intersectionality” used the analogy of a traffic intersection to concretize the concept. Black women are discriminated against in ways that are a combination of racism and sexism whilst white women or black men fit into either category (Smith,…show more content…
Women have been misled, by the men, to believe that the erotic is insignificant, psychotic, and a temporary sensation, therefore, women have turned against it and failed to explore or use it as a source of the power which it really is. Women have been made to confuse it with pornography which is the exact opposite Pornography is the suppression of true feelings. Attainment of this deep sense of satisfaction has a direct relationship to a woman’s discover of her true self. Challenging sexist thinking about the female body was one of the most powerful interventions of contemporary feminist movement. Females were made to believe that their value rested solely on appearance and whether or not we are perceived to be good looking, especially by a man. In her blog, Scottie Lowe, states the she intends to provide a forum for a more rounded and informed and open-minded discussion of black sexuality so that people of color can have alternatives to the ideology that society and the mass media has lured them into. She also hopes to help individuals to be open, honest and exploratory in their relationships. Body politics featured in the way highly educated white privileged women fought for abortion right, because with the sexual revolution came unwanted pregnancies. What they failed to consider was that women needed comprehensive reproductive right which include safe and effective contraception. Liberation is meaningless in
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