Black Fem. Thought a History

Black Fem. Thought

A History of Alienation: Distinctions in Black Feminist Thought

Several distinctions abound in Black feminist thought that differentiate it from virtually any other type of other feminist theory, as well as from traditional patriarchal notions of social concepts. The historical accounting of such women plays a large role in determining their ideologies. Whether originally from Africa, the Caribbean, or even from parts of Asia (Carby, 1982 p.212), Black women have endured a level of subjugation that cannot be stratified in the typical categories that a social, ethnic, or economic group is usually grouped in. Whether held in bondage in America, sexually or socially repressed in various countries in Africa, or condescended upon during their initial foray to England and to other parts of Europe, Black women have dealt with a systematic repression based upon race, gender and class. These notions are compounded by the virtual omission of Black women -- both their struggles and their triumphs -- from both conventional and alternative historical accounts. This aggregate disenfranchisement due to racism, sexism, and classicism, combined with a lack of existence (until relatively recently) in the annals of history has fostered a sense of alienation -- from Caucasian men, those of African descent, and both heterosexual and homosexual Caucasian women -- is the chief distinction of Black feminist thought.

Such isolation may be seen in a variety of examples and writings which disseminate the sentiments of Black women's feminist aspirations. The distinction of a racial subjugation is readily apparent in several of these accountings, as well as in the (frequently) macabre consequences such subjugation has historically presented Black women with. Audre Lorde's "An Open Letter to Mary Daly" underscores the alienation Black women feel from their white feminist counterparts most effectively in the following quotation. "…differences expose all women to various forms and degrees of patriarchal oppression, some of which we share, and some of which we do not. For instance, surely you know that for non-white women in this country, there is an 80% fatality rate from breast cancer; three times the number of necessary eventurations, hysterectomies and sterilizations as for white women; three times as many chances of being raped, murdered or assaulted as exist for white women. These are statistical facts, not coincidences nor paranoid fantasies (Lorde, 1979 p. 97)."

Implicit in this quotation is the sense of isolation which Lorde remarks upon in several instances, not the least of which is found in the listing of statistics that compare medical complications ("hysterectomies and sterilizations) as well as sociological disturbances (alluded to in the quotation as rape, murder and assault) between Black and White women in the United States. Although it is possible to interpret the final sentence of the quotation in a sardonic sense, the social isolation with which these occurrences present is found in it as well. The fact that Lorde clarifies that the preceding statistics are actual occurrences as opposed to "paranoid fantasies" suggests that she is perhaps anticipating a counterargument from Daly (or any other non-Black female or male reader) to substantiate the value in her point that the risks Black women have to live with are not fully comprehended, or if comprehended, not fully regarded, as they should be. This lack of regard, this lack of comprehension, further fuels a sentiment of isolation between Black women and other groups.

The isolation from other feminists and traditional categories found in typical patriarchal societies is further exacerbated by distinctions of class. In purely economic terms, one of the primary tenets of Eurocentric feminism is that the family structure is a chief source of repression, because it leaves women dependent on their husband's for monetary practicalities (Carby, 1982 p.214). Yet in a system whose racial inequalities subject Black men as well as Black women, such a concern does not exist for Black women, as the following quotation readily indicates. "The use of the concept of 'dependency' is also a problem for Black feminists. It has been argued that this concept provides the link between the 'material organization of the household, and the ideology of femininity'. How then can we account for situations in which black women may be heads of households, or where, because of an economic system which structures high black male unemployment, they are not financially dependent upon a black man? This condition exists in both colonial and metropolitan situations (Carby, 1982 p. 215)."

The distinction between Black and Eurocentric feminism is sufficiently evidenced in this quotation. The author gives more than one example of fairly common situations in which there is no need for Black women to develop a "dependency" on Black men. Yet the greater value of this quotation exists in its allusion to femininity's ideology, which women are supposed to personify, as well as in their maternal role as organizers of households. Since Carby notes that the conception of dependency upon a man connects these two ideas, and also denotes that such a dependency does not exist for Black women, the resulting implications of the femininity of Black women, or the perceived dearth thereof, are demonstrated as well. While White women are often the embodiment of the values of sexuality and femininity that their society relishes (Carby, 1982 p.212), highly prevalent in the Black feminist's agenda is the notion that this idea does not translate to her regard in society, which the following quotation from Sojourner Truth certainly demonstrates.

"I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And aint I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man -- when I could get it -- and bear the lash as well! And aint I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And aint I a woman (Carby, 1982 p. 214)?" Truth's point is quite eloquent, and definitely aligned with one of the primary distinctions of Black feminism thought which further fuels its separation from not only other feminist groups but from any socio-ethnic groups of men, as well. By oftentimes having to labor as hard as a man (quite literally in the days of chattel slavery which Truth's experience alludes to), and being objectified sexually for purposes of pleasure, of breeding, and for pecuniary measures, the femininity of Black women is frequently denied, disavowed, and taken for granted as non-existant by a host of outsiders. That it does still exist, and that she suffers in spite of it, is well evidenced near the end of the quotation in which Truth cries at seeing 13 of her children taken from her by slavery -- tears which were neither heard nor acknowledged by the majority of history books.

Such sexist treatment which all feminism abhors has an intrinsically unique place in the Black woman's feminist thought, largely in part because it is compounded by the other facets of racism and classicism previously discussed. Yet such treatment further serves to alienate Black women from other groups which might have been her allies. Another quotation from Sojourner Truth -- contained in the text of bell hooks' feminist treatise Ain't IA Woman, indicates this vicious dichotomy that was made manifest in the 19th century, but whose insular effects are still quite prevalent today. The latter writes of the former, "Her famous statement, "there is a great stir about colored men getting their rights, but not a word about the colored woman; and if colored men get their rights, and not colored women get theirs, you see the colored men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before," reminded the American public that sexist oppression was as real a threat to the freedom of black women as racial oppression (Hooks, 1981 p.4)."

The duality of the Black woman's oppression (which becomes tripled when classicism is factored into it) is sufficiently proven with this quotation. When Black men were able to overcome a small racial barrier by being given the right to vote, the sexist nature of not including Black women for this right is quite apparent. Similarly, the fact that Caucasian men enjoyed the freedom to vote while African-Americans did not have such liberty is indicative of the arbitrary racial subjugation Black women had to endure, as they were denied the vote on the rights of both their color and sex. Further exacerbating this dichotomy is the polarizing effect it had on Black women and their two potential allies in their struggle for hegemony -- both Black men and Caucasian women. By giving Black men the vote, Truth believed that such a liberty would make them "masters over the women," which underscores an antagonistic relationship between the Black men and Black women. Likewise, granting the right to vote to Black men while denying it to Caucasian women helped to sever any partnership between the two which may have helped them both attain the full rights outlined in the United States Constitution, and which only reinforces the political and social isolation Black women had to endure.