Solidarity created via black feminist discourse is empowering. The acknowledgment of a collective black female identity can lead African-American women to value rather than shun their identities and to embrace the fullness of their culture. Psychological empowerment is a precursor to economic and political empowerment. Empowerment ultimately does not depend on conformity to the predominant social institutions. Another reason why it is important to sustain black feminist thought is that this alternative discourse is the only means by which the voices of the oppressed may be heard. In the same way that empowerment means not having to participate in or condone white male institutions, black feminist ideology defines its own methodological tools. Those tools cannot rely on scholastic sources or the scientific method. A European-masculinist academic institution imposes positivism on all discourse. This shuts down valid voices offering personal opinion, immediate experience, narrative, and other means by which black women gather knowledge. Black females should not be using the tools of the oppressor to give voice to the oppressed.
Patricia Hill Collins explains what black feminist thought is, how it is socially constructed, and why it is important to academic integrity. Collins describes the methods that black feminist scholars use to explore the issues important to African-American women. The author also describes the methods by which ordinary black women communicate the issues that are meaningful to them. The crux of Collins' argument is that black feminist discourse is substantially different from mainstream academic discourse. While the two can coexist within academic institutions, it is important to define the experiences of oppressed populations using the tools, ideas, and values meaningful to that population.
I. What is black feminist thought?
1. experiences of pol and econ status are unique
2. this creates...
Power, Inequality and Conflict The two theorists used in this paper to explore the theme of “power, inequality and conflict” are W. E. B. Du Bois and Patricia Hill Collins. The theme is one that gets to the heart of the struggle within the American Experience. The great attraction of the American Dream has always been that people are created equal and are endowed with a natural right to pursue life,
Collins cites participation in the abolitionist movement, anti-lynching campaigns of the early 20th century, and recent civil rights work in the South, where Black women have not only worked on behalf of themselves but for all African-Americans (Collins, p. 218). The overarching theme, however is the belief that teaching people how to be self-reliant fosters empowerment. Collins cites Angela Davis (1989), who wrote that activism was designed to empower
From girlhood," Sula shows a natural gift for daring, Lorie Watkins Fulton writes in African-American Review (Fulton, 2006). Sula in fact persuades Nel to join up with her in order to confront the bullies on Carpenter's Road; and when Sula shows the guts to pull her grandma's paring knife from her pocket and slice a piece of her finger off, the boys star "open-mouthed at the wound" (Morrison 54). If I
Feminist Critique The primary distinction between the perspectives of Patricia Hill Collins and Esther Chow on feminism and gender consciousness stems from their diverse interpretations of the influence of culture. Chow assumes a near apologist stance in her justifications for the slow uptake of feminist theory by Asian-American women. Chow cites the many barriers to the gender consciousness and ability to organize around women's issues, and suggests that they have been
Sexism in the Context Of American Racial Identity "That's sexist." The term 'sexism' is often used by both feminist and anti-feminist writers as a way of constructing men and women as opposite entities. Sexism presumes an inherent difference between the genders as a matter of course. In the usual dichotomies constructed by a 'sexist' mentality, women are perceived as weaker and less capable then men, while men are associated with the
QUESTION THREE: "Is inequality of social classes inevitable?" The conflict theory put forward by Ralf Dahrendorf begins with a discussion of Marxism and the fact that in industry, the conflict between classes - the capitalist and proletariat (worker) - the worker had a natural inclination to be in conflict with the capitalists who were the authority, the bosses. The same kind of conflict carried over into the political realm as
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