ipl-logo

White Vs White Feminism Essay

1624 Words7 Pages

In the 1960s and 70s, second-wave feminism was at its peak. Along with that, it brought some iconic figures in the feminist movement that are still active today. Some of these leaders are Gloria Steinem, Angela Davis, and Elaine Brown. These women are iconic figures who were instrumental in the movement of the seventies. What separates them is the fact of race. The seventies were also the height of the Black Panther Party and advocating for the equal treatment of Black people in America. White feminists were not always receptive to the interconnected nature of race and feminism and were racist against their fellow women. “White feminism”, hurts the feminist cause. Thus, I would like to examine the differences between Black and white feminists …show more content…

Davis highlights a few women of note who stood up for both women’s rights and abolition. One example that stuck out was the actions of Prudence Crandall who was a teacher in Canterbury Connecticut (Davis 25). In a move to support integration and universal education, Crandall brought a Black girl into her classroom. Despite the black lash, she received Crandall remained resolute. Despite all threats,
Prudence Crandall opened the school … The Negro students stood bravely by her side. And then followed one of the most heroic—and most shameful—episodes in American history. The storekeepers refused to sell supplies to Miss Crandall... The village doctor would not attend ailing students. The druggist refused to give medicine. On top of such fierce inhumanity, rowdies smashed the school windows, threw manure in the well and started several fires in the building (Sillen 13).
What Davis has done here is provide an example of what it means to be a good feminist. Crandall’s actions said that girls, all races of girls deserve an education, and she put herself in harm's way to defend her student’s rights. Davis has done the labor to educate women on how intrinsically tied race, and gender and shows white women how to be advocates for both. How Crandall acted should represent how white feminists

Show More
Related

Analysis Of Bloody Terrain By Catherine Clinton

327 Words | 2 Pages

The article Bloody Terrain: Freedwomen, Sexuality and Violence during Reconstruction was written by Catherine Clinton, who is a teacher in the Afro-American Studies Department at Harvard University. In her article, she addresses the mistreatment of freedwomen during the period of Reconstruction as well the legal injustice inflicted upon them. This article was to inform the reader of these transgressions and represent the full history of the Reconstruction period. Within this article are some of the few memoirs of freedwomen and their mistreatments, revealing the true injustice of this period.

Read More

How Did Shirley Chisholm Influence The Women's Rights Movement

1440 Words | 6 Pages

Women have had a lengthy battle when it comes to freedom. Women such as Shirley Chisholm, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem helped lead women in the Women’s Liberation Movement. Shirley Chisholm is an important character in taking action to make men and women equal. Shirley was the first African American women elected into congress in 1964, she battled the oppression women faced in working in male-dominant jobs, and worked with pride. Robin Morgan was a writer who was very dedicated to feminism and fighting for women's freedom, she was apart of the New York Radical Women.

Read More

Evaluating Shirley Chisholm's Speech On The ERA

629 Words | 3 Pages

Theoretical Critique: Shirley Chisholm's speech reflects feminist perspectives on equality and rights, aligning with theories that advocate for gender equality in all spheres of life. Chisholm argues for the ERA as a means to address systemic discrimination and inequality faced by women in society. Her advocacy for the ERA is grounded in feminist theory, which posits that gender equality is essential for the realization of human rights and social justice. Chisholm's speech also navigates the intersectionality of race and gender, acknowledging the unique challenges faced by Black women and other marginalized groups. By incorporating feminist theory into her arguments, Chisholm underscores the importance of addressing intersecting forms of oppression.

Read More

Letter From Birmingham Jail Summary

674 Words | 3 Pages

Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?”(Dr.

Read More

Rsc 184 Final Paper

691 Words | 3 Pages

The generic feminist movement consists of “white, middle-class heterosexual women” (Tong 42). These women focus on their needs, and neglect the specific needs of many women of color, who are often of a lower socioeconomic standing. White feminists focus on liberating the oppressive “housewife role,” (Tong 214) and fail to even attempt to include minority women who may in fact dream of a life in which they were able to stay home with their children. White feminists “fail to realize that it is possible to oppress people by ignoring their differences” (Tong 214). This issue makes it difficult for many non-white women to relate to or desire to be a part of the feminist movement.

Read More

Women's Suffrage Dbq Essay

468 Words | 2 Pages

Moreover, notable suffragist Dr. Anna J. Cooper fought tirelessly for black female education and suffrage, contributing to the broader fight for racial justice and gender equality (Source 2). This movement inspired women from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds to come together, challenging oppressive systems and paving the way for societal progress. Notably, women like Carrie Chapman Catt took bold steps by addressing Congress about women's suffrage, further propelling the cause and leading to the 19th Amendment, granting women more constitutional rights (Source 3).

Read More

Black Radical Feminist: Shirley Chisholm And Angela Davis

967 Words | 4 Pages

#1 African Americans and women have both had to struggle through obstacles to be treated equal as white men, but being an African American women meant there was going to be even more obstacles. Black Radical Feminist such as Shirley Chisholm and Angela Davis both had shared the same ideals of women gaining better job opportunity and speaking out on their oppression. Shirley Chisholm did not understand why is was acceptable for women to be secretaries, librarians, and teachers, but not acceptable for them to be managers, administrators, doctors and lawyers. She knew there was a prejudice assumption that women do not have the executive ability orderly minds, stability, leadership skills, and they are too emotional.

Read More

How Did Alice Paul Changed American History

1810 Words | 8 Pages

Alice Paul Women’s equality has improved and is now very common for one to witness every day. But unlike today, back before the 2000’s, women didn’t have as many privileges or opportunities as they do now. Luckily, in the age of understanding that women could do more, there were inspiring leaders who rose up. One important, influential, and renowned, women suffragist was named Alice Paul. Alice Paul stepped up to what she believed in.

Read More

Colonial Women Vs White Women Essay

329 Words | 2 Pages

In colonial America, white women and white men had two different and distinct roles, whether it may be the first migration, the transitional period, or the revolutionary era, women had to the responsibility of taking care of domestic matters. In the early colonial period, women had the expectation and role of ensuring the colony’s survival and longevity through childbirth and rearing. As new colonies emerged and the original colonies of New England and Chesapeake expanded, women were not only responsible for birthing children, mostly boys that will inherit their father’s wealth, now they were also expected for the moral upbringing of their children. Women, in predominantly patriarchal religious communities like the Puritans, had to raise religious

Read More

White Women In Early America Essay

1647 Words | 7 Pages

Early American social hierarchies differed markedly for women of color—whether free or enslaved—whose relationships to the white regimes of early America were manifold and complex. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, women in the colonies of the English West Indies and Carolinas, particularly women of color, were seen as subordinate by white male slave owners because of race and shared oppression of the female gender. However, these women were a means of economic gain for white slave owners. Taken from Africa to the New World as slave laborers, white slave owners valued these women for their ability in domestic work and fieldwork where they performed primarily unskilled agricultural tasks, as well as their potential to bear children. White slave owners of the Early Americas, driven by greed and opportunism, used political laws, physical characteristics of women, and social constructs of gender roles to appropriate

Read More

Comparing The Women's Suffrage And The Civil Rights Movement

542 Words | 3 Pages

In today’s society we still have a form of Movements within the racial and gender aspects. Now we have the NAACP that is one of the eldest organization groups for African-Americans in the United States. One of the original members included Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, James Weldon Johnson, and many more members that participated in the civil rights. Some original member were abolitionists such as Mary White Ovington and Oswald Garrison Villard. Feminist that still live on today fight fir the right of gender equality, race, sexual, and etc.

Read More

White Privilege Essay

102 Words | 1 Pages

I sometimes get irritated when people don’t agree on the same ideas that I have or when the other person says something that I don’t agree with. The objective of this chapter made me comprehend that based on an individual’s experiences and viewpoints impacts the person’s behavior. Some experience may deal with the oppressions and privileges a person has, the article “Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person…” made me realize that I am more privilege than what I thought. The author didn’t think she was privilege until she read a book she got recommended and from her article she summarizes

Read More

Gloria Steinem Intersectional Feminism

1090 Words | 5 Pages

Gloria Steinem: Female Activist Gloria Steinem rose to national fame as a feminist leader in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s for her work as a journalist, activist and political organizer. Her tireless efforts to lobby for social and economic equality allowed Gloria to emerge as an enduring symbol of female liberation. She advocates for intersectional feminism which examines the intersections where forms of oppression overlap and looks at the institutions and conditions hindering women from advancing as a whole. Gloria adapts her approach to issues as the social and political landscape transforms and she continues to promote an intersectional feminist agenda in a paradoxical world where many changes have occurred, but many issues remain.

Read More

How Did Daisy Bates Influence The Civil Rights Movement

515 Words | 3 Pages

Introduction The Civil Rights Movement, beginning in 1954 and ending in 1968, brought upon drastic change on American society and is often remembered by the great leaders of the movement such as Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Goodman, Philip Randolph, E.D Nixon and many more. Often times, however, individuals with long-lasting impacts and influences are overlooked, simply because of their gender. Numerous women have spurred the movement forward when it was at a standstill acting as leaders and activists in their communities and yet history classes skim over them or act as if they were non-existent. One such influential woman of the movement was Daisy Bates.

Read More

Essay On White Privilege

531 Words | 3 Pages

I never really thought about our racism being hidden by our silence making it invisible “in the background of Whiteness” (Rothenberg 19). I think often the media plays a negative role in this form of discrimination, as while watching the news most of the broadcasts show people of color being arrested for felonies. Our text points out that whites stereotype African Americans as being dangerous.

Read More

More about White Vs White Feminism Essay

Related Topics

Open Document