For students like myself who live lives as minorities within minorities within minorities or who have seriously considered concepts taught in courses like ADW or the introductory women’s studies course, Chapter 2 of Race, Gender, and Work titled “Race, Class, Gender, and Women’s Work: Conceptual Framework” is not new. It is simply a reminder that as feminists we are not working against only against sexism but all systems of oppression. Understanding this idea helps eliminate the divisions that occur between different types of feminists and other marginalized groups. In this chapter it is stated that “it is artificial to discuss them [race, gender, class] outside of historical time and place, and separately from one another” (12). This idea is aligned with works written by Audre Lorde, Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Patricia Hill Collins, and a number of other feminist writers who have written extensively on the interlocking oppressions that affect not only women but homosexuals, people living with disabilities,etc.
On page 16, it is stated that “racial-ethnic and class domination have differentiated the experiences of women, one cannot assume, as do many feminist theorist and activists, that all women have the same experience of gender oppression – or even that they will be on the same side of a struggle, not even when some women define that struggle as ‘feminist.’” This quote draws on a problem that causes divisions. People sometimes feel a need to pick and choose what oppression affects them the most and they do not realize that its not one type of oppression affecting them, it is a multiple oppressions working collectively to oppress you and pin-pointing examples of oppression is much easier than pin-pointing what it is exactly oppressing you. In the excerpt from chapter 2, examples were given that helped clarify ways that marginalized people are oppressed. One example centers on slavery and the effects it has had on people. For many years it was believed that people of color, particularly Africans were enslaved because they were of a darker shade and their oppressors even concocted scientific evidence to “prove” that they were fit for slavery. It has also been said slavery was a result of capitalism. In this way it is difficult for someone to say that people were enslaved only because white people thought little of Africans and it is equally difficult to say that they were enslaved because white people only need them for cheap labor. They equally contributed to the oppression of enslaved people and it is equally important to work against both capitalism and racism.
I think this article is a good foundation for studying the interlocking oppressions. It should be eye-opening for people who believe that they need to choose one oppression to work against and ignore other parts of their lives that being oppressed. It bothers me when people even argue over whether feminist issues are important to advocate for in the face of racism, especially women. It fact this reading reminds me of an essay written by Zora Neale Hurston titled, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.” In this article Hurston discusses her feelings on being colored and from reading into her background in class we realize that she was raised in a predominantly black community unlike other seminal writers and didn’t realize she was colored until she left the boundaries of her community. She obviously did not realize her “coloredness” until white people made her realize it, but even then it wasn’t like a presence hovering over her like race was for others like Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison. Maybe some women have this experience. Until they are in situations where they realize their “womanness”, they don’t realize that they are oppressed. Until they are in those situations in the workplace being underpaid, exploited, and harassed, they may never realize they are being oppressed. Just my thoughts.
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