er and purpose--the writings are feminist, they are political, they derive from a concern for racial matters, sexual matters, gender roles, and social concerns. Moraga makes several interesting comments on the nature of this type of writing, and indeed of any type of writing. Certainly, the authors who produced these works intended to communicate their beliefs and feelings to other people, but in addition they wanted to have an influence and to make a difference in the lives of their readers and perhaps for a broader public if social change can be effected. Moraga herself begins by noting how these writings have affected some women who have written to say so, but at the same time she expresses the underlying fear of most writers, the fear that no one is listening. Writing takes place in a certain isolation, with no direct or immediate contact with the audience for which the writing is intended. Any result is seen only some time later, and in the interim the writer experiences doubts:
Sometimes in the face of my own/our own limitations, in the face of such world-wide suffering, I doubt even the significance of books. Surely this is the same predicament so many people who have tried to use words as weapons have found themselves in.
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