Black Feminism As A Human Culture Introductio

Anthropology is the study of humankind, and among the areas studied by socio-cultural anthropologists are socialization, gender, beliefs and other expressions of culture. Anthropologist Franz Boas (1940) theorized that cultural variation is complex; there are no universal laws governing all human culture. Woman as a social group lends itself as an object of study by anthropologists. Within this category is black feminism. Black feminism is an ideology that supports improving the status and rights of Black women so that they could gain control over their lives. Black feminists argue that there is no "unitary women's perspective or point of view" (Moore, 1988, p. 188). They make the point that race is not additive, that the experience of race transforms the experience of gender, and that it brings into question any feminist approach which suggests that "women should be treated as women first, and only after that as women differentiated by race, culture, history and so on" (Moore, 1988, p. 190).

Black feminists sought to reinterpret a white defined, male defined society from the perspective of black women, to re-invent feminism for themselves. Self-identification in place of allowing others to define you is crucial to self-empowerment. As Black feminist poet Audre Lorde (1984) wrote, "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 havi

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Black woman as well as reinventing feminism for themselves to fit their lived experiences rather than the experiences of the dominant culture that was expressed by Betty Friedan in the influential 1963 book, The Feminine Mystique. Friedan articulated the growing desire on the part of women for more than the traditional roles of helpmate and caregiver proscribed to them by society that grew in the post World War II era. "It is no longer possible to ignore that voice, to dismiss the desperation of so many American women" (Friedan, 1963, p. 26). The Feminine Mystique was the start of the second wave of feminism in the United States, and in 1966 Friedan and others formed The National Organization for Women (NOW), with the goal of expanding the work the first wave had begun. The objectives of NOW did not reflect the problems and goals faced by Black women and in 1973, the National Black Feminist Organization was formed to address the specific concerns of Black women, concerns that often differed from those of Black men and white women who failed to address the unique oppression of Black women. In the Black Liberation Movement, freedom was equated with black manhood more than the liberation of the entire African American race, and, in f
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Approximate Word count = 2336
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)