I chose to focus on the reading “Ain’t I A Woman; black women and feminism” by Bell Hooks. I specifically chose to focus on intersectionality and how it affects organizational and institutional communication. The reading discusses the black women’s struggle with supporting the women's rights movement, since they have been taught to accept sexual inferiority since the beginning of history. Hooks points out that “contemporary black women could not join together to fight for women’s rights because we did not see ‘womanhood’ as an important aspect of our identity” (Hooks, 1). Contemporary black women have been taught to devalue their female identity, which was emphasized during the 1950’s civil rights movement. Hooks talks about how “Black women were placed in a double bind; to support women’s suffrage would imply that they were allying themselves with white women activists who had publicly revealed their racism, but to support only black male suffrage was to endorse a patriarchal social order that would grant them no political voice” (Hooks, 3). This reading did a great job of showing how intersectionality shows up in people's lives in regards to institutions, specifically black women. They had to choose between their two evils: racism and sexism. This was very interesting when thinking about the black men that were leading the movement, and how they subconsciously were playing into the same oppressive institution that was affecting them by having black women submit to their sexist role. They encouraged and demanded that black women stayed home and essentially
This reading was a huge eye opener and helped me have a better understanding of intersectionality, especially when it comes to institutions. When I think back on history, I don’t often think about the civil rights movement happening simultaneously during the feminist movement. When I learned about them in High School, my teachers had never emphasized the fact that they were happening at the same time, and the influence that intersectionality had on both of the movements. The reading emphasized the intersectionality of black women at the time and their struggles of having to choose one movement to support and stand behind, when both of them directly influenced their lives. I was also upset when reading about how this was the start of black women’s strength and perseverance being romanticized. When hook talk about how “when feminists acknowledge in one breath that black women are victimized and in the same breath emphasize their strength, they imply that though black women are oppressed they manage to circumvent the damaging impact of oppression by being strong – and that is simply not the case” (Hook, 6). This brought up the problem of speaking for and about others, and created a cultural narrative: black women did not need liberation because they could overcome oppression. White feminists should have supported black women in the feminist movement, yet they were hurting and causing more harm upon them.
Hooks, Bell. Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism. Routledge, 2015.
I also didn't really have the perspective that the feminist movement and civil rights movement were during the same time. It's interesting when we talk about intersectionality especially of marginalized identities. I know a big narrative I hear a lot is sort of the "deal with it" mentality. People often say "well that's just the way it is" and people shouldn't victimize themselves, instead they should in some effect ignore what they feel is negatively impacting them. To connect to your article, when you're looking at a black woman, especially back during those times, those were and still are two very oppressed identities. But to maintain some respect and credibility, woman couldn't "be victimized" or complain about those identities. To make progress in efforts to gain rights, you do have to recognize your oppression then be able to speak to why it's wrong like these women did.
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