Race & the experience of gender in the U.S.

The fundamental basis for gender discrimination is the patriarchal authority that pervades American culture. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries this form of authority dominated the legal system as well. According to Dill, women in early America were valued for their "reproductive labor in the domestic sphere" and thus, were accorded public and private protection in support of their roles as wives, mothers, and daughters (215). A woman's place was in the home because of her ability to reproduce children who would, in turn, provide assistance in family-run businesses such as farms or shops. Women in early America were only allowed to participate in the labor force when family survival necessitated it. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, women's roles chan

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being racist and overly concerned with white middle-class women's issues" (Black Feminist 7). White feminists routinely deny racial issues, choosing to focus instead on the common bond of womanhood. Moraga relates her experiences in dealing with the racism and classism of white feminist organizations in which the group members felt no need for outreach to the nonwhite community: "I have come to believe that the only reason women of a privileged class will dare to look at how it is they oppress, is when they've come to know the meaning of their own oppression. And understand that the oppression of others hurts them personally" (26). Lack of involvement with the nonwhite community often leads white feminists to denigrate the contribution of ethnic feminists. For example, African American author Alice Walker noted that white women researchers regularly omit the ideology of black feminist thought from their studies; however, Walker has used the isolation of the black women's intellectual tradition to her advantage, "it was from this period--from my solitary, lonely position, the position of an outcast--that I began really to see people and things, really to notice relationships" (Black Feminist 13). Black women exist as outsider
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Baca Zinn, Black Feminist, Industrial Revolution, African American, , African Americans, Ulysses Grant, Hispanic Asian, Los Angeles, Indians Asian, black women, black feminist, mexican women, patriarchal authority, white women, black women's, nineteenth century, women color, women america, mainstream society, california nineteenth century, mexican women viewed, class mexican women, black women's intellectual, black feminist chapter,
Approximate Word count = 2088
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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