the cultural differences between my mother and I explain our disagreement. My mother considers what I wear, which is a black t-shirt, jeans, and converse, as more masculine. In addition, the idea that Latinas are submissive and domestic is another myth that stems from the fact many Latinas who speak little to no English and have few skills work in domestics (Cofer, 2011). My mother promotes the stereotype because she was raised to generalize women as being a good housewife that cooks, cleans, and takes care of the children. She also generalizes men for being the handyman who is the head of the household. While there is nothing wrong with being a housewife or a handyman, it does not hold true for all Latinos. Personally, I find gender roles toxic because it places limits on how people view themselves, which can lead to confusion later in life.
Gender and gender issues must be viewed through an intersectionalized approach. I became aware of such issues through social media websites over the years. I encountered terms such a white feminism, feminism, LatinX, and intersectionality, but initially was not sure of their meanings until later. White feminism refers to the 1970’s Women’s Movement in the United States that essentialized men and women as 2 opposite monolithic groups while ignoring the variation within groups due to other variables such as race and class (Garcia, YEAR). Since white women were more educated than females of color, the concerns of the Women’s Movement
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.
The book introduced the topic of women’s and gender studies and what this course entails. It is defined by the book as; an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to topics concerning women, gender, and feminism. It delves further into the history WGS of how to originated and the progress it has made through to today. WGS has now been integrated into most college curriculums and can even be chosen as a major. The feminist movement has been divided into separate “waves” where specific times of feminism are grouped together. Women’s studies originated during the 2nd wave. Feminism is usually associated with WGS, which is a word that comes with copious baggage, although it is a movement for equality and social justice for all. They further describe the myths associated with feminism like they are men-haters and lesbians causing many people to shy away from calling themselves a feminist, although they may agree with many feminist views. The book concludes by stating that there is still much work to be done regarding the rights and equality of women.
Men and women are treated very differently in other parts of the world; especially in a Hispanic household. In many Hispanic households, females and males are treated very differently, not only in this generation but in the previous generations. Each gender has their own role in the household, but each role that the male or female have are very dissimilar in their own ways. The roles that these people have are unfair and they are not equal. This situation has gotten better over the years, but it can still improve.
“La Feminista”, an article written by Anna Nieto Gomez in 1974, discusses the conflicts and struggles surrounding the Chicana identity and the Chicano movement. The feministas are consisted of a group of minority Latin women, the Chicanas, who are “Spanish-speaking, culturally different and non-Anglo group” (Anna Nieto Gomez 183). They suffered racial discrimination from not being white which was the only race superior to all others at that time. Worse still, they encountered sexism in a patriarchal society that gave power, authority and privileges to the male. The formation of the minority group the femenistas can be traced back to the Chicano movement that took place in 1970s. During the Chicano movement, Chicanos, who were racially oppressed
Depending on the situation, if a task is viewed as more masculine, then the males of the family, when they come of age, are expected to complete them. On the other hand, if the task is viewed as more feminine, then the women in the households are expected to undertake those chores. The actions required in the family vary from household chores to providing for everyone. The most often talked about gender role in the Hispanic culture is the male in the family being the
America used to have the same gender roles as Hispanic culture but now it’s been fading away quickly and are getting close to gender equality while Hispanic culture are still behind compared to other developing countries culture. In Hispanic culture there are two types of roles, Machismo which applied to the male and Marianismo to the female. Machismo is associated with dominant and Marianismo is associated with dependent and submissive.
When thinking about feminism in today’s society we tend to direct our minds and thoughts to a more radical and powerful train of thought. Feminism has been going on for centuries, with two main ideologies at the forefront; liberal and cultural feminism. Someone who identifies as a liberal feminist is someone who believes that women and men are a like and equal in most respects and deserve equal roles and opportunities (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017, p. 58). And cultural feminism is someone who identifies as someone who believes that men and women are fundamentally differently; you have different rights, role and opportunities (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017, p. 58). The women’s rights movement can be understood and broken down into three “waves”.
Underlying the feminism movement of the 1960s and 1970s was the “white racist ideology.” The women’s movement of the 1960s was in fact the white women’s movement. It was an opportunity for white feminists to raise their voices, but they only spoke about the plight of the white woman and excluded themselves from the collective group of women across all races and social standings. White women assumed that their experience was the experience of all women. When black women proclaimed that the movement was focused on the oppression of white women, the white feminists asserted “common oppression” and retorted with “oppression cannot be measured.” Ironically, feminists in the 1960s compared their oppression to the oppression of African Americans as
Although intersectionality started with the experience of the oppression of both race and sexism, over the years other forms of identities and societal oppression has been added on to the definition. Today, other forms of identities such as class and sexual orientation of an individual faces different forms of oppression in our society today. Many queer women today would describe their experience intertwined with sexuality and gender. A Black queer woman’s experience would differ in the case that race would now be included and some would apply if class is applied.
Growing up in a family of Hispanic descent, there were always defendant roles for the males and the females. The males were expected to get a job and make the money to support the family. The females were expected to stay home and care for the children and do all the household chores. Dillard comments his mother only ran the household (284). The males were not allowed in the kitchen and the females were expected to have the table set and dinner ready when the males arrived home from work. I remember going to my grandmother’s house for dinner and all the males would be sitting down eating, while the females waited on them hand and foot. When all the males had finished eating, they would leave their empty plates on the table for the females
“Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” (Kramarae 1). As a citizen of America that is Hispanic the idea that men belong in superior roles in workplaces and homes while women do the “simpler” jobs was taught and should be addressed by politicians. For generations, men have been seen as superior to women, to the point where women lose their basic human rights. Women are seen as weak and incapable of doing anything for themselves. However, women have the ability to be independent. While some American and Hispanic people believe women are treated equally and feminism is an excuse for women to “rebel” because they have not experienced discrimination based on their gender, there are some American and Hispanic people, mostly
Feminism and feminist social theory unlike other theoretical perspectives is woman-centered and inter-disciplinary, hence promotes methods of achieving social justice. The feminism and feminist social theory takes into consideration three questions, what of the women? Why is the present social world as it is today? Additionally, how can the social world be changed to make it more just for the women and all people alike? In recent developments, feminist theorists have begun questioning the differences between women. The areas under question include race, ethnicity, class, age intersect, and gender. In summation, the feminist theory involves the concern with giving women world over voice, and highlighting how they have contributed to the
To conclude, Black feminist are constantly striving to overcome sexism, class oppression, and racism. They have also argued that black women are positioned within structures of power in fundamentally different ways than white women (Collins). Black feminist organizations had to overcome three different challenges that no other feminist organization had to face. The first challenge these women faced was to prove to other black women that feminism was not only for white women (Burns). They also had to demand that white women share power with them and affirm diversity, and fight the misogynist tendencies of Black organizations (Burns). Black feminism argues that sexism, class oppression, and racism are inextricably bound together (Collins). All three aspects are related to one another through intersectionality, which is the study of intersections between different disqualified groups or groups of minorities; specifically, the study of the
Feminism, in theory, binds women from all over the world. They come together to protect their rights as equal human beings. For such a long time, men have dominated over women, looking down upon them and perceiving them as lesser beings. Feminism has allowed women from all cultures and races, to come together to fight for their rights. However, nothing is ever as simple as one may hope. Feminism constitutes women from all over the world, making it difficult from time to time to understand and empathize with each other due to different cultures, races and religions. Teresa de Lauretis (2014) says that “the identity as a woman of color is one not given but acquired, attained, and developed out of the specific historical experience”.
Women have won the right to do as much as men do. Although feminist activists have fought for women's legal rights such as rights of contract, property rights, and voting rights while also promoting women's rights to bodily integrity and autonomy, abortion rights, and reproductive rights. They have struggled to protect women and girls from domestic violence, sexual harassment, and rape. In the article “ Through the Lens of Race: Black and White women’s perceptions of womanhood” discussed how both, black and white women experience of sexual harassment in the community, concerns about their safety and fears of rape as woman are being approached or groped by strangers. Also black and white women have similar experiences of