What Feminism is and What it Ain’t to Women of Color

I like the term “women of color” because it covers a large range of women from different nations and ethnicities. And because this phrase encompasses such a such a diverse group of women, divisions are bound to occur, but not necessarily negative divisions. But divisions caused by varying interests and social and political views. All of the readings from were written by women of color: Asian women, indigenous women, Chicana women, and other Latina women. Missing from this particular discourse were women from African countries and African-American women, however the points made throughout the articles expressed similar sentiments that many women from African countries and African-American women would also have. One of the most profound quotes I picked from the readings were “The feminist movement is a unified front made up of both men and women – a feminist can be a man as well as a woman – it is a group of people that advocate the end of women’s oppression” (Nietogomez 302). In addition, Nietogomez sums up the essence of any multicultural feminism with this quote: “I support my community and I do not ignore the women in my community (who have long been forgotten)” (302). It is important that these statements be considered by women of color advocating feminism. Unlike their white counterparts, women of color realize the interlocking oppressions that affect them and don’t seek to alienate themselves from men because they understand by dividing a community already dividing, they lose their power. I feel that if more women of color took this stance, feminism would be a more powerful movement.

In Mitsuye Yamada’s “Asian Pacific American Women and Feminism”, this feminist discusses her struggles as a women of color amongst other women. Often, Asian women’s issues are downplayed and trivialized. The common sentiment expressed about Asian women is that they are happy being oppressed and they have a hard time debunking the stereotype of the content “passive, sweet… ‘Oriental woman’” (Yamada 365). In all four of the readings for this week, I realized that a common issue that was addressed was the division between race and sex. Because women of color hold a variety of social statuses, the question is always asked, what status is of greater importance: sex or race? And for some women there are more statuses like sexual orientation and class. Is it important that someone choose one over the other? It has been said that is should not. Everyday a poor black woman experiences being poor, being black, and being a woman. At no time is she able to choose that she wants to give up any of these statuses. That being said, it becomes impossible to choose which one “oppresses” you more. Being oppressed is being oppressed. How many times have we seen surveys that ask us to rate what oppress us more. If one was every created most people would probably have a difficult time completing it.