The Issue For A Homosexual African American Woman

- “In World War II, the second wave of feminism focused on the workplace, sexuality, family and reproductive rights. During a time when the United States was already trying to restructure itself, it was perceived that women had met their equality goals with the exception of the failure of the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (which has still yet to be passed).”

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”.

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.

It was not until after the second wave of feminism that women activists began to speak about their gendered experiences in the civil rights movement. The second wave of feminism gave African-American women an opportunity to speak out about

As many women struggled to retain their values and traditions, there were existing male dominated conceptions of race and white dominated conceptions of gender. Kimberle Crenshaw describes the concept of intersectionality where race and gender interact in various ways to shape multiple dimensions experiences for different groups

The Women’s Movement also referred to as Second Wave feminism applies to the women’s movement that began at the end of 1963 and extended into the 1980s.

Intersectionality has a significant impact on the feminist movement for several reasons; first is recognition of varying oppressions, second the inclusiveness of others facing oppression, and third how the recognition and inclusiveness can help reach equality. Intersectionality and the growing recognition of it has provided a better look at the amount of different oppressions that exist Through the understanding of intersectionality it becomes clear that race and sex are not the only factions that experience oppression, this awareness has led to the desire to “address a whole range of oppression.” (Combahee, pg. 4) Race and sex are no longer the sole focus of

After women won the right to vote, the second wave of feminism began in the 1960s and continued on to the 90’s. This wave was highly associated with the anti-war and civil rights movement and the movement started growing conscious to a variety of minority groups all over the world. Out of three waves, the second wave’s voice was increasingly radical and theoretical as sexuality and reproductive rights were dominant issues. Protest began in Atlantic City in 1968 and 1969 against the Miss America Pageant. Many activists thought it to be a degrading “cattle parade” that reduced women to only objects produced by the patriarchy. Along with fighting against sexism in cartoons and politics, second wave feminists found their voice among other movements such as Civil Rights and the Anti-War movement. While the first wave was fought by middle class white women, the second wave invited and incorporated women of color and developing nations demonstrating that race, class, and gender oppression were all related and seeking sisterhood and solidarity (Rampton).

The Third Wave was also seen as originating from the 1990’s post-feminist movement. The goals of the First movement were met, such as voting and property rights, as well as the Second Wave’s goals of equality in the workplace and reproductive rights. Thus, the goals of feminists were seemingly accomplished, and the movement was considered dead.(Page 64) This caused an increase in activity from people who still felt that there were injustices that needed to be surfaced, in regards to the interconnectivity of race, class, and sexuality with feminism. The feminist movement isn’t dead yet, but where its goals and aims will lead it into the future is unknown.

Since my early adolescence, I have been passionate about the philosophy and politics of gender, gender inequality, queer theory and feminism as both a movement and a field of study. I am particularly fascinated by the concept of intersectional feminism, since I believe that fighting a system of oppression such as the patriarchy only makes sense if it goes hand by hand with dismantling other such systems. These include heteronormativity, white supremacy, classism and cisnormativity.

There were many different liberation movements during the 1960s, including fights for racial equality as well as fights to gain equality for LGBT people. While all of these movements were very important during the time, as well as today, one of the most significant movements of this time is the women’s rights movement. The early 1960s mark the beginning of second wave feminism. While first wave feminism, which took place in the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, focused mainly on women’s opportunities with the largest amount of focus being put on a woman's right to vote, second wave feminism’s focus was placed on sexuality and reproductive rights.

This third wave recognizes that society is unique politically, economically and culturally in comparison to previous waves of feminism. However, the third wave represents an increase in the variant of attitudes toward gender equity as well as an increase in the number of individuals who are willing to participate actively in the third wave movement.

While the second wave seemed centered on the rights of upper middle class white women, the third wave embraced women of all races, classes, and cultures. Many more specialized types of feminism arose from this wave, such as ecofeminism, which combines environmentalism and feminism, and womanism, which is aimed toward the rights of women of color. While the third wave has ended, there are still many active feminist movements happening today.

There are many interpretations of intersectionality, but without a doubt, the critical theory of intersectionality is based on the understanding that oppressive institutions within society take different forms for specific cultural and social positions of individuals and groups. Among the concerns in the article, Joan Simalchik and Hunter College Women’s and Gender Studies Collective discuss the ways in which intersectionality provides a better understanding of how relations of power and privilege and the intersection of gender and race influence women’s everyday lives.

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