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Black Feminism and Questions of Identity

In the fight against oppressio, women of all kinds have found that until their own voices speak out and identify themselves they can accomplish very little. Yet speaking out often has a price other than the reaction of the oppressive group against whom their protest is directed. In the case of women of color their allies on both the feminist and the anti-racist fronts often oppose much of what they have to say about the nature of racist and sexist oppression. But, as Audre Lorde put it, "I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood." Two aspects, among many, of this developing voice were the identification of the nature of black men's oppression of black women and the re-focusing of feminist attention on the value of motherhood.

In making the decision to identify what made them different from both white feminists and African American men, Black feminists took the only course that was open to them. But it did not meet with a great deal of support from any side of the debate. In recent years, however, as the question of women's liberation has been viewed in an increasingly international context, it has become clear that Black feminism's concerns with such aspects of women's lives as motherhood and family have broader applications throughout the so-called Third World. Feminism for members of the dominant white group often deals with problems that are only of remote interest to women who are subject to racial and ethnic, as well as sexist, oppression. Black feminism, however, makes a contribution to all sides of the debate by recognizing that all women need to be free to pursue whatever goals are important to them and that the analysis of oppression needs to develop situationally. In other words, the great truth behind questions of identity and protest is that no one can prescribe for anyone else but ...

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Black Feminism and Questions of Identity. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:53, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1692971.html