Audre Lorde's Second-Wave Feminist Analysis

Doetsch-Kidder’s (2016) monograph defines the important role of intersectionality as a defining sea-change in the way that women of color began to unify across racial and cultural barriers. Interviews with minority activists define the perception of the diversification of feminist ideology through the lens of intersectionality. One interview with a African-American activist named Donna illustrates the unity between women of color that evolved in the 1970s: “But overall, we are all fighting for civil rights, so there has to be some type of overlap with each one” (Doetsch-Kidder, 2016, p.103). This development defines the “overlapping’ ideology of different feminist groups, which soon began to devolve the racial and cultural barriers not only between women of color, but also with white feminist groups. In Doetsch-Kidder’s (2016) point of view, the civil rights movement laid the foundation for intersectional feminist principles to be practiced for women seeking greater representation in the workplace.

“I am a black feminist… I recognize that my power as well as my primary obsessions come as a result of my blackness as well as my womaness, and therefore my struggles on both of these fronts are inseparable” … As a woman of color, I find that some feminists don’t seem terribly concerned with the issues unique to women of color—the ongoing effects of racism and post-colonialism, the status of women in the Third World, working against the trenchant archetypes black women are forced into (angry black woman, mammy, hottentot, and the like). (Gay 173).

Whiteness and racism comes from the oppression, colonization and systems of dominance over black people and their feelings. In this case, an intersectional feminist analysis matters because women who are able bodied, cis-gendered, privileged and white are only being considered whereas bell hooks argue that men, women and trans people who oppressed should be fought for. And Peggy McIntosh adds onto this but a white woman who addresses and recognizes her privilege to help other white individuals understand what they have and blacks do not.

Women’s Civil Rights has always been an issue around the world. During World War II, women began working while the men were away at war. Once the men came back, the pay wage began between men and women. According to researchers, Beth Rowen and Borgna Brunner, between 1950 and 1960, women who had worked full-time jobs only earned around 60 cents to every dollar that their male counterparts earned. It was not until June 10, 1963 that the Equal Pay Act was passed by President Kennedy making it illegal for employers to pay women less than men in the same job title. In order to further progress of pay equity, Rosa Cho from Re:Gender.org, also found that President Kennedy proposed a Civil Rights Act to prohibit

During the 1960’s, women represented about forty percent of America’s labor force. Women have typically received a median average wage three-fifths that of a male’s earnings. In the 1960’s, people justified paying women a lower wage using the excuse that a male’s societal role, as the main breadwinner, entitled him to a higher pay than a woman. Even if a woman and a man were performing the same job, a man would get paid higher simply because of his gender. Women began to realize the wage gender inequality, and began fighting for equal rights.

The women’s liberation movement (or feminism as it is now known) of the 1960s and 1970s touched every home, business, and school (WA, 705). The movement even touched the sports and entertainment industries, in fact, “There are few areas of contemporary life untouched by feminism” (WA, 717). The word feminism in the early 1960’s wasn’t often used and when it was it was used with condescension or hatred. However, in the late sixties that changed thanks to a new group of women. This new diverse group of women included the: young, old, heterosexual, lesbians, working class, and even the privileged. This diverse group came together and collectively created the second wave of feminism.

One problem that Americans are facing is the inequality between men and women, whether it is in everyday life or in a professional atmosphere. One step that has been taken toward equality was introduced with the Equal Pay Act of 1963, signed by President John F. Kennedy. This law was the first affecting the amount of job opportunities available for women and allowing them to work in traditionally male dominated fields. On the outside, this would sound like a solution where nothing could possibly go wrong, but it is not.

Despite our country’s love of freedom, throughout its history, the United States has oppressed minorities. If someone isn’t a middle-aged Caucasian male, they automatically have to work harder just to receive the same opportunities and compensation. Various laws have been enacted to protect minorities from exploitation, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which was enacted to protect women from unfair wages.

She describes how white women “ignore their built-in privilege of whiteness” when they ignore the black female’s point of view and focus solely on the white female’s view (117). She points out the hypocrisy of white feminists, in that they will refuse to read black females’ works because they are “too difficult to understand,” but will read the works of Shakespeare, Molière, Dostoyefsky, and Aristophanes (117) There’s an obvious contradiction between white feminists’ “incorporation” of black females into their movement and the exclusion of their literature, which Lorde later analyzes and determines is because white women would feel guilt upon recognizing and validating their experiences. Furthermore, the exclusion of black writings from the feminist movement weakens the strength of the movement, offering the opposite effect as desired. Lorde writes how “ignoring the differences of race between women and the implications of those differences presents the most serious threat to the mobilization of women’s joint power.” (117) Since the feminist movement seeks to apply social pressure to achieve social change, it would make sense to try to gain strength in numbers by including the most people possible; Lorde sees this strength in numbers and calls into question the consistency of the white side of the feminist movement with its

Second-wave feminism of the 1960s was successful in obtaining many rights that were otherwise denied to women. However, Scholar Benita Roth asserts that the movement resonated primarily with middle-class white feminists as it focused on issues that were only relevant to their lives (76). By failing to acknowledge class and racial differences, white feminists undermined their white privilege which then gave rise to the third wave, facilitated by women of colour. In the twenty-first century, various initiatives have been taken by feminist organizations such as the National Organization for Women to create a more inclusive environment for black women through an intersectional approach, defined as the recognition of interlocking oppressions (Roth

The “Third Wave Feminism” began in the 1990’s but one of the main focuses of the new movement is based off of Audre Lorde’s concept of intersectionality (Hardin and Whiteside, 2013). This new wave of intersectionality seeks to recognize the plights of non-white and queer women and change the ideas behind definitions related to women. One example include the reclaiming of the word “bitch”, not in an attempt to stop the control of a woman’s language like New Black Womanhood but in an attempt to take back the control of a woman’s sexuality. Another example to undo restrictions a woman’s choice and sexuality is the change in views of prostitution, although many still see prostitution as so inherently patriarchal they have lobbied for any prostitution to be considered sex trafficking there has also been a sex workers movements that advocates for their choice of a sex profession as well as their rights as a worker. R. Claire Snyder says in her

In an attempt to define Black Feminism, Collins clarifies that it must “avoid the idealist position that ideas can be evaluated in isolation from the groups that create them (Collins 385).” This clarification forms her basis for why Black Feminism is necessary, and who it serves. Thinking about feminism historically, the concerns of black women were pushed aside in favor of fighting sexism; a notable example occurs within the Suffrage movement, where votes for white women were prioritized over women of color in order to push such legislation through. And even when feminism began looking at other social injustices, such as racism and class issues, often only prominent feminists were invited to the discussion. What resulted was, and often continues to be, a problem of white women speaking for oppressed people. It’s impossible, Collins argues, to have Black Feminist thought without examining the experiences and positions of African American women. Therefore, Black Feminism must be a movement that “encompasses theoretical interpretations of Black women’s reality by those who live in it (Collins 386).” However, such a definition brings about many questions:

The idea of feminist criticism began in the 1960s, right around the time Lorde wrote and published much of her work. She used feminist theory as a way to undermine traditional patriarchal systems and unite women in a struggle against discrimination, oppression, racism, sexism, and patriarchy. Her writing aims to examine and promote women’s interests, as well as help women of various backgrounds identify with one another through their commonality of systemic oppression and their desire for basic human rights. In Lorde’s words, "I am defined as other in every group I'm part of". This phrase is a product of our society’s notion that to be different means one can not associate oneself with any given group unless they fit wholly into that and nothing else. As Lorde puts it, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” Lorde was known to have criticized some feminists during the 1960s for focusing on the specific experiences of white middle-class women rather than women as a diverse group. Through her work, she has observed that black women's experiences are often vastly different from those of white women, and because being a white woman is considered normal, black women are often marginalized and cast out of the “woman identity”. This is similar to the way lesbians are considered to be against feminism for not fitting the mold of the

In an attempt to define Black Feminism, Collins clarifies that it must “avoid the idealist position that ideas can be evaluated in isolation from the groups that create them (Collins 385).” In reality, this forms her basis for why Black Feminism is necessary, and who it serves. Thinking about feminism historically, the concerns of black women were pushed aside in favor of fighting sexism, most notably during the Suffrage movement. And even when feminism began looking at other social injustices, such as racism and class issues, only prominent feminists were invited to the discussion. What resulted was, and often continues to be, a problem of white women speaking for oppressed people. It’s impossible, Collins argues, to have Black Feminist thought without examining the experiences and positions of African American women. Therefore, Black Feminism must be a movement that “encompasses theoretical interpretations of Black women’s reality by those who live in it (Collins 386).” However, such a definition brings about many questions: who’s experiences are valued, how do black women take their voice back, and how can they center feminist thinking on their own unique standpoint?

In the Feminist Theory, bell hooks provide vivid examples and assertions on how mainstream feminism exclude the issues of women of color. Mainstream feminism in America pertains to the ideals of “white, middle-class privileged woman” as they “reinforce white supremacy by negating the issue of race and class amongst woman of color” (hooks, 2000, pg. ). Due to not fulfilling the attempt to gain equality, as they may claim to do, it also can be an organization that displays “narcissism, insensitivity, sentimentality, and self-indulgence” (hooks, 2000, pg. 3). As mainstream feminism shuns the needs and interests of African-American women, it allows current social issues and inequalities to persist.