Wednesday, March 19, 2008

asian pacific american women

Mitsuy Yamada’s concern for Asian Pacific American women along with Ann Nietogomez concern for Chicanos correlates with the ideology of Black feminism and how it was designed to not only liberate Black women, but all people and it required the ending of racism, sexism and class oppression. Yamada concern was that woman’s organizations wanted them to “join” them and give them “input” instead of being recognized independently and globally for issues pertaining to them specifically. Yamada disdain for how “Third World” women are treated and stereotyped is reflected in this article, “When Third World women are asked to speak representing our racial or ethnic group, we are expected to move, charm or entertain, but not to educate in ways that are threatening to our audiences”. Here’s yet another woman of color screaming for her invisibility to be visible in, regards to her ethnicity, so that issues pertaining to her gender can also become visible within a feminism. Honestly, after reading their testimonials, I can say that I was never interested in Pacific Asian American women’s or Mexican-American women’s issues because I feel that being a Black woman is a great enough issue alone to worry about someone else’s issue. However, I realize that the feminist movement should not be an individualistic movement separated by color or issues but should incorporate ALL issues specifically and have a sense of togetherness amongst ALL women and people affected.

1 comment:

Miss Femme Fatale said...

I agree with your post. I too felt that being a black woman was challenging enough and there was no need to focus on other races. However, this course aught me women of color have more in common than we recognize. You articulated this message really well.