Author: Ollie Williams

Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference (Lorde)

The writing this week from Lorde is an amazing piece defining the issues that black lesbians go through, both from racism and homophobia, and how these issues interlock to form a unique group of people that don’t have the chance to fit into many groups that claim to be for social justice. She goes into the subject of difference, and how important it is to recognize it, as our differences mean we go through different issues that the people around us should be aware of. She explains this well in her quote, “These accusations, coming from the very women to
whom we look for deep and real understanding, have served to keep many Black lesbians in hiding, caught between the racism of white women and the homophobia of their sisters.” She goes into detail in her piece, explaining that white women do not nearly face the same problems as black women, and often, they turn their backs on women of color to be seen as more agreeable to the patriarchy they want to be liked by. Along with this, being called a lesbian in the Black community is seen as synonymous to being, in her words, “unworthy of the attention or support of the scarce Black male”.

The Combahee River Collective Statement

The Combahee River Collective Statement is a writing that details both that goals and struggles of black feminists. They explain that they realized that white feminist movements sometimes did not apply to them and even, in some cases, were against them. However, they do not believe that they deserve liberation more than any one group; all they ask for in the end is equality. “We reject pedestals, queenhood, and walking ten paces behind. To be recognized as human, levelly human, is enough.” They contend that while difference is important, it does not make one oppressed group more or less in need of help than another. I did find this interesting, because I do tend to find myself thinking like this sometimes. It is a good reminder to readers that no one group deserves help any less than another.

Hair Nah – Game

This is a fun, but also enlightening game. It’s so simple but manages to get its point across fairly effectively. It starts out kind of difficult and only gets harder, the barrage of hands coming toward Aeva getting almost overwhelming. I feel like this is a metaphor for how constant and overwhelming this kind of behavior from other people can be in everyday life. The vocal lines in the background, like “Can I touch it?” and “Is it attached to your head?” also pack a powerful punch, and they’re more than just meaningless dialogue. They illustrate how black women and their hair are seen almost like strange foreign objects to play with and explore rather than just people with their own boundaries.

I feel this game relates to the texts, as it is a good example of something that black women go through that white women will never understand. Their hair has never been seen as strange or bad, it is simply the norm. It is another aspect of black women’s lives that white feminists may be disconnected from.

Keywords: Sexuality/Intersectionality/Difference/Politics/Feminism

Question: Did this week’s texts open your eyes a bit to the experiences black women go through that you didn’t know about? How did it make you feel?

Keywords: Inequality / Intersectionality / Gender

Zinn and Dill – Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism

Within society, the idea of feminism seems to be reduced to a single idea: women fighting for equality. In actuality, the ‘equality’ feminists fight for is entirely different depending on multiple different outside factors. What may make a white, middle class woman equal could mean nothing to a woman of color, or a woman in a differing social class. In Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism by Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thornton Dill, the idea of hierarchies- and their effects on feminism- are thoroughly examined and analyzed. Zinn and Dill explain the ideas of hierarchies present within our society, such as race and class, and how it affects modern feminism. This work truly changed my perspective on what feminism is as a movement, and how it may change depending on a woman’s circumstances within the United States. The moment we begin to analyze and deconstruct the layers of inequalities caused by societal hierarchies is when we as a society may understand that feminism means much more than the simple idea of ‘female equality.’

Catherine G. Valentine (2020), “The Prism of Gender”

This week’s text from Catherine G. Valentine, “The Prism of Gender”, really spoke to me. In the text, Valentine explains that human behavior is never set in stone. Instead, it changes over time, proving to be “flexible, adaptive, and malleable”. The way that the concept of gender in our society is viewed as something that is black or white proves to simply be false. There is no one behavior that is ‘female’ or ‘male’; instead, there is simply human behavior- something entirely unique to the individual person. However, this belief is still permeated throughout the typical person’s perception of gender, described as ‘pink and blue syndrome.’ This syndrome is ever-prevalent in today’s society, as seen most heavily in the government’s ever-continuing strive for control over transgender identities and gender expression.

This topic brings me to my own personal experience. I like Valentine’s assessment that gender is simply a “performance or masquerade” that people put on everyday. I experience this myself in my day-to-day life, as I tend to present myself more femininely in school or at work simply because I feel it is a way to protect myself. In actuality, I do not think I am ‘feminine’ nor ‘masculine’; my experience is instead unique to myself, in a way that is less about gender and more about they way I exhibit human behavior. Though my experience with my own gender is complicated, it is not reliant on my ‘gendered’ behavior and what others expect me to act like based on my identity.

The Replacements – Androgynous

I really enjoyed this week’s song. It is a wonderful example of an older source that speaks about the gendered experience, and how it is truly fluid. I find myself relating to this song, on top of finding it enjoyable. It is a good representation of the dynamic nature of gender expression, and how it may not always be linked to our ideas of gender identity.

My question this week:

Do you find that you tend to put on a more ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ personality depending on the social setting you are in, and if you do, why do you believe you do?