In her writing Age Race Class and Sex: Women Redifning Difference, Audre Lorde profoundly writes of (white) feminism: “There is a pretense to a homogeneity of experience, covered by the word sisterhood that does not in fact exist.”(116) Both homogeneity and a sisterhood are non existent because–as she proceeds to examine—a sisterhood cannot exist under the pretense of homogeneity. “As white women ignore their built-in privilege of whiteness and define woman in terms of their own experience alone, then women of Color become “other,” the outsider whose experience and tradition is too “alien” to comprehend.””(117) Something Lorde highlights throughout the text is that it is the differences within feminine identit(ies) are not only to be celebrated, but that in understanding these differences there is an advantage that could lead to true progress. Denying room for difference is to deny room for progress.
At this day in age, the feminist agenda continues to be full of shortcomings involving the exclusion of women of Color in the name of fearful white-guilt. White guilt is one of the pillars upholding our countries modern institutionalized oppression, a notion from which delusional ideas such as a ‘post racial society’ or being ‘color blind’ were born. “Some problems we share as women, some we do not. You fear your children will grow up to join the patriarchy and testify against you, we fear our children will be dragged from a car and shot down in the street, and you will turn your backs upon the reasons they are dying.” (119) This excerpt follows a point Lorde makes involving this willful ignorance of white women upholding the patriarchy and in turn oppressing women. Lorde states: “For white women there is a wider range of pretended choices and rewards for identifying with patriarchal power and its tools.” She continues to name points of seduction to align with the patriarchy, suggesting that if white women “…hate the right people, and marry the right man, then you will be able to coexist with the patriarchy in relative peace…”. This holds true for modern feminism as is has since women joined the work force.
The white-toxic masculinity that we hear commonly used in progressive rhetoric involving social reform extends to women as well in these areas of which Lorde addresses. White toxic feminism mirrors it exactly. For instance, white women taught to adopt practices of climbing social ladders and advance oneself in the workplace by tearing other women down by highlighting what makes you better than they are. Lorde concludes “The old patterns, no matter how cleverly rearranged to imitate progress, still condemn us to cosmetically altered repetitions of the same old exchanges, the same old guilt, hatred, recrimination, lamentation, and suspicion.” (123) Here she summarizes one of the key points of the essay, the refusal to use history as a means of learning how to make real progress. To divide and conquer may be an effective means of dismantling a corrupt power, but it is also the most heavily used tool of the patriarchal structure in suppressing the feminist movement. By ignoring racist actions and by excluding the voices and experiences of Colored women, the feminist movement is no movement at all.
Two questions I propose are:
What parts of the text stuck out to you and reminded you of something you’ve either observed or participated in that could have been oppressing to women of Color?
How does Lorde address the issues surrounding the so-called ‘progressive movements’ that prevent progress from happening?
Audre Lorde, “Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” in Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. (Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1984).
I like how you started off your blog post by explaining white feminism. Before reading Age Race Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference, I knew little about white feminism. “White guilt is one of the pillars upholding our countries modern institutionalized oppression, a notion from which delusional ideas such as a ‘post racial society’ or being ‘color blind’ were born.” I thought this line was important because it highlights how many white woman feel guilty about some privileges they have over minorities. Your blog post helped me understand the reading much better. Great blog post!
The inferiority of women to men was at an abundance in this article compared to todays society, which acknowledges women. Despite being a woman, black woman also have to deal with oppression due to their race. The narrator is a “lesbian woman of color” who feels silenced like the narrators in “The Woman Warrior.” Lorde mentions that white women are often outraged by racist remarks to women of color but do not speak up because they are in fear… “I have seen situations where white women hear a racist remark, resent what has been said, become filled with fury, and remain silent, because they are afraid. That unexpressed anger lies within them like an undetonated device, usually to be hurled at the first woman of Color who talks about racism (Lorde 280). Something that really stood out to me in the second article was when Lorde says, “Traditionally, in American society, it is the members of oppressed, objectified groups who are expected to stretch out and bridge the gap between the actualities of our lives and the consciousness of our oppressor” (Age,Race,Class 114). Society expects the minority groups that they objectify to fix that absence. Many racial minorities live in poverty due to not having equal opportunities because of underlying privileges. These groups are blamed at the same time for needing assistance or being deviant because they have no real opportunities for education and eventually a career.
One part of the text that stuck out to me was in the first paragraph. Lorde wrote, “In a society where the good is defined in terms of profit rather than in terms of human need, there must always be some group of people, who through systematized oppression, can be made to feel surplus, to occupy the place of the dehumanized inferior”(Lorde). When I read this, I made an instant connection to “A Raisin in the Sun” and “A Case for Reparations”. The use of “systematized oppression” is a reoccurring theme in all three of these readings. In this reading however, the systematized oppression is in a different light. You did an excellent job at explaining this type of oppression through your blog post.
The quote I liked the best from the Age, Race, Class, and Sex reading is “As white women ignore their built-in privilege of whiteness and define woman in terms of their own experience alone, then women of Color become “other,” the outsider whose experience and tradition is too ‘alien’ to comprehend”(117). I think this is a good quote because it also relates to another quote you mentioned in your blog, “There is a pretense to a homogeneity of experience, covered by the word sisterhood that does not in fact exist”(116). These two quotes together really summarizes Lorde’s main point which is that women need to band together their struggles rather than live their lives thinking their oppression is the only and most important oppression. At the end of the day, women are women based on sex, and sex alone. However, I like that Lorde says, “Those of us who are Black must see that the reality of our lives and our struggle does not make us immune to the errors of ignoring and misnaming difference” (119) because I think it further shows her understanding of oppression occuring for all women, but at different levels.
“Today, with the defeat of ERA, the tightening economy, and increased conservatism, it is easier once again for white women to believe the dangerous* fantasy* that if you are good enough, pretty enough, sweet enough, quiet enough, teach the children to behave, hate the right people, and marry the right men, then you will be allowed to co-exist with patriarchy in relative peace, at least until a man needs your job or the neighborhood racist happens along” (Lorde 119).
In the eyes of Lorde, all of these ideals are a fantasy that white women believe will allow them to live alongside all of the white men while at peace. This of course is a fantasy as we can see in current culture. The men still have the power, the higher wages, more human decency towards them if you will. Women are still considered to be lesser as a whole than the men of this world. While this may be true, it only lasts until there is a man that comes along to take away your job or your dignity (in terms of rape).
This quote is speaking of the white* women and their dangerous fantasy. Lorde mentions earlier in this essay that black men and women have always shared their racist oppression, and still do (118). White women and white men didn’t face the same racism or discrimination together at any given time, and therefore have no common ground to fight on. Where black men and women were able to band together and fight their battles as a whole, it wasn’t the same with the relationship between white men and women.
“And true, unless one lives and loves in the trenches it is difficult to remember that the war against dehumanization is ceaseless” (119). Here Lorde is saying that unless you’ve faced unsurpassable amounts of oppression, you will never be able to understand the pain and struggles that those who have faced it do, and that this will be a constant and never-ending battle unless it is lived by all.
I loved when you said, “By ignoring racist actions and by excluding the voices and experiences of Colored women, the feminist movement is no movement at all”. I agree with this fully. In order for it to be a “feminist movement” women of every age, race, and class should have their voices be heard. Otherwise you’re only getting half of the story.
Excellent blog post. Your comprehension of the text is thorough and concise. I really enjoyed your comparison to the present time. This essay is from 1984, 34 years ago, and still rings true today. I find that terrifying.
The way in which you interpreted the text was very well thought out. At the end of the first paragraph, I really connected to the quote, “Denying room for difference is to deny room for progress.” I completely agree with what this means because that is what the whole text talks about and explains why the portrayal of differences among races is holding the progress back. To answer your first question, one part of the text that stuck out to me was when Lorde states, “For as long as any difference between us means one of us must be inferior…” (118). Lorde is making the point of saying that if we do not progress in the way in which we as people see each other, then one race will always be an inferior to a superior race. This is how things have been for so long and I agree with Lorde because she gives the depiction of being stuck.
Very good job Angela!
Your blog was very intriguing and I genuinely enjoyed reading it. In answer to your question, one part of the text that stuck out to me was when Lorde wrote “…who would have believed that once again our daughters are allowing their bodies to be hampered and purgatoried by girdles and high heels and hobble skirts?”. This really stood out to me because she is making a statement that girls are allowing themselves to be hindered and basically brought back to days where they did not have much opportunity. This quote immediately made me think of high school when girls would be ridiculed for wearing shirts that showed shoulders or shorts that did not go below the knee. Girls were told to wear clothing that mind as well have sent them back years into the past. Ultimately, Lorde is trying to show how women are oppressed in many different ways, one being what is socially acceptable for them to wear.
I like how you started your blog with a definition of white feminism that you were able to stem off of in the rest of the blog post. A part of the text that stood out to me was when she stated that, “As a group, women of color are the lowest paid wage earners” (Age Race Class and Sex 120). Over the weekend, I attended a Taste of Africa meeting with my roommate, who is from Nigeria, and the guest speaker spoke about food sustainability in Africa. She discussed how in farming, women are expected to tend to their own fields AND help the men with theirs, but are given no credit for their impact in food production. This quote appears to be a translation of the same issue, just into our culture. Women of color are under appreciated for the work they do, and it is reflected in their wages.
I like how you started your blog post by talking about homogeneity and sisterhood. I don’t think I ever heard the word “homogeneity” so I was a little confused on what this meant. In your blog post, you mention how different women identities can lead to “new progress”. This is really awesome; to embrace difference instead of mock or make fun of differences. On page 115, Lorde states in “Age, Race, Class, and Sex”, “it is rather our refusal to reconize those differences, and to examine the distortions which result from our misnaming them and their effects upon human behavior and expectation” (Lorde, 115). This quote is saying that too often humans see difference and automatically see it as “bad” or “abnormal”. In order for their to be progress and change, society and humans must reconize differences in a way that doesn’t shut them out. Embrace differences!
This is a very powerful passage and your blog post was very interesting to read because you explained a few of the most important points that stuck out to me as well. Another piece of text that caught my attention was when Lorde stated “A fear of lesbians, or of being accused of being a lesbian, has led many Black women into testifying against themselves. It has led some of us into destructive alliances, and others into despair and isolation.” This stuck out to me because in this case they are more afraid of being accused of being a lesbian than being black, which in their case is not helpful because it caused the colored women to go against each other instead of sticking together in a time like this.
I like how you started off the post with defining white feminism. It really helped move your blog smoothly. “For as long as any difference between us means one of us must be inferior…” (118). Lorde is making the point of saying that if we don’t change our view of people of color or sexuality, then one race will always be an inferior to a superior race. This is how things have been for so long. I agree with Lord that there should be a big change in society that embraces everyone! (I also wanted to say I agree with Sarah’s point about how this article was written in the 1980’s and how scary it is that it’s still relevant!) Great Job Angela! 🙂
The part that stuck out to me the most is when you referred back to the quote “Some problems we share as women, some we do not. You fear your children will grow up to join the patriarchy and testify against you, we fear our children will be dragged from a car and shot down in the street, and you will turn your backs upon the reasons they are dying.” (Lorde 119) as you go on to explain how this is a point Lorde is making about “this willful ignorance of white woman”. I agree with the idea of the white woman using their ignorance as an outlet to get what they want out of “feminism” without having to help and understand that colored women are not seeing the same benefits. This is further explained in the passage when Lorde makes a statement that “Traditionally, in american society, it is the members of oppressed, objectified groups who are expected to stretch out and bridge the gap between the actualities of our lives and the consciousness of our oppressor.” (Lorde 114) Lorde is explaining that it is obvious that there are unfairly treated minority, and a privileged majority in this society and that it is the minority that usually has to try to make the efforts the create some unity between the two.
One part of the text that stood out to me was when Audre Lorde said, ” This is a very complex question, but I believe one of the reasons white women have such difficulty reading Black women’s work is because of their reluctance to see Black women as women and different from themselves. To examine Black women’s literature effectively requires that we be seen as whole people in our actual complexities— as individuals, as women, as human — rather than as one of those problematic but familiar stereotypes provided in this society in place of genunine images of Black women. And I believe this holds true for the literatures of other women of Color who are not Black” (Age Race Class and Sex 117-118). When I read this quote I related it to how sometimes in society it is often hard for people of a certain race to understand racism. If you have never experienced racism how others have then you have no idea how hurtful it can actually be to them. No one can understand how demoralizing racism can be to others until you have walked in their shoes. If it isn’t possible to take a walk in their shoes then you can’t understand how bad racism can be for others and therefore people believe it isn’t a big issue.
I loved this blog post, because I am able to connect it to “The Woman Warrior”. In both of these readings, the narrators feel silenced in their own time periods. They are told what to do and what not to do, and Lorde knows for a fact that it isn’t just. She writes, “Traditionally, in American society, it is the members of oppressed, objectified groups who are expected to stretch out and bridge the gap between the actualities of our lives and the consciousness of our oppressor” (Age,Race,Class 114). Lorde is writing how in today’s society, we expect the minorities who are being silenced to fix the gap between our lives, as well as being criticized for needing assistance and help. The minorities are being silenced and looked down upon for being in a situation that they cannot control.