SIDEBAR I REALLY DON'T LIKE THE WAY THIS BLOG SAVES DRAFTS. THIS IS THE THIRD TIME I AM HAVING TO RE-TYPE THIS BECAUSE OF IT.
Why are we so narrow minded? While reading this article I will honestly admit that there was alot that I had not previously realized before reading this. While reading Cathy J. Cohen's article on Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics? I felt almost well I'm going to put it blantantly... a racist. Who am I to judge? Who am I to not seek understanding if I don't understand and make assumptions. Getting straight out of a class entitled "Black women and the U.S. Presidential Election" going straight into blogging on a topic relating to this I immediately thought of the presidential election and the choice between gender and race. In addition to coming from this class I am coming from this class where the professor identifies herself as growing up "queer in an extremely male dominated society." I had always thought that the term "queer" was the derogatory term that wasn't supposed to be used in today's vernacular. However I guess I was wrong.
While reading I came onto the part where Cohen was describing the interlocking systems of domination that was noted in the opening paragraph of the now famous black feminist statement by the Combahee River Collective that stated "The most general statement of our politics at the present time would be that we are actively committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppression and see as our particular task the development of integrated analysis and practice based upon the fact that the major systems of oppression are interlocking. The systhesis of these oppressions creates the conditions of our lives. As Black women we see Black feminism as the logical political movement to combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face. (272)" Relating back above when I was speaking about the presidential campaigns considering the gender vs race divide this statement or exerpt made me wonder that with BLACK WOMEN both being included in the presidential election considering Hillary Clinton (a white woman) and Barack Obama (a black man) how are we supposed to "combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face" if both are included relating to current politics?
Then going back to the reading under the heading THE ROOT OF QUEER POLITICS: CHALLENGING HETERONORMATIVITY? It is felt that there of course in a perfect society should be no need for even such a subtitled going back to the "Pledge of Allegiance" that I'm sure all of us have said in our lifetime taking from the part that states "with liberty and justice for all." How is there liberty and justice for all if we are sectioned off as we as American people are. I feel that we are African-Americans are always so concerned on how we're being discriminated against that we often forget that we are not the only minority in the world...
2 comments:
The picture in your blog is tight p.s.
But bringing up the election is a very real and current issue that is now mainstream because of the election being at the forefront. It's crazy how the two candidates affect black women on two levels, race and gender at the same time. Is it wrong for someone to choose race over gender, or vice versa? I think the election is airing the dirty laundry about how all of our oppressions are truly intersecting. The presidential campaign is opening people up to the issues, yet allowing them to hide it behind the presidency.
considering the gender vs race divide this statement or exerpt made me wonder that with BLACK WOMEN both being included in the presidential election considering Hillary Clinton (a white woman) and Barack Obama (a black man) how are we supposed to "combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face" if both are included relating to current politics?
I don't think that the question should even consider Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The question should just ask, "how do we as black woman combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face?" And the question won't get answered unless we stop seeing things in black and white. I mean, the fact that the question is even framed around whether we should have an allegiance to one or the other(although it was not explicitly stated that way) makes it difficult to get to the meat of the problem which is just an oppressive system. Lets start by trying to reconstruct the hegemonies in society, it doesn't matter where you start. Just acknowledge that there is something oppressing everybody, directly or indirectly.
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