Women's Oppression, Racism, Colonialism, and Feminism

Introduction

"The Committee is concerned that women's access to justice is limited, in particular because of women's lack of information on their rights, lack of legal aid, the insufficient understanding of the convention by the judiciary, and the lengthy legal processes which are not understood by women. The Committee is concerned that physical and psychological violence cases are particularly difficult to prosecute in the legal system…"

Feminism and Racism: Living Up to the Feminist Label

— Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, United Nations General Assembly, Sixty-second Session

This paper reviews and critiques the available literature on women's oppression, racism, colonialism, and feminism. Delving into these subjects opens the door to understanding how racism and the political, economic, and cultural effects of a lingering colonialism shape the ways in which women experience oppression.

Referring to oneself as a feminist is perfectly appropriate when sincerity and a focused view of what feminism means to contemporary society are in place. However, there are significant responsibilities associated with the label of feminism in the 21st century, and one of those responsibilities is to look at the broader feminist picture — well beyond clichéd issues like equal pay for equal work and a woman's right to choose. Feminism in a worldly context implies being mindful of how racism is linked to oppression. Understanding what racism does to a marginalized person should not be a subject shrouded in mystery and confusion for women who identify themselves as feminists.

That said, when Professor Rakhi Ruparelia recently presented a lecture to a group of Caucasian men and women at a women's conference in Canada, she was treated with "open hostility" by several of the "feminists" in attendance (Ruparelia, 2014). Admitting in her peer-reviewed piece that she was "the lone racialized woman in the room," she was nonetheless taken aback when several women became "agitated" and launched an aggressive attack on the legitimacy of her remarks. Ruparelia has come to accept that when she speaks of racism in a feminist context, there is resistance — and that is unfortunate, but it sets the table for her main theme: if feminism does not "aggressively attempt to undermine racism and colonialism," it is of "little import" (Ruparelia, 83).

Key Feminist Authors on Oppression and Colonialism

Moreover, Ruparelia, an attorney, argues that systems of "domination" will persist unless and until there is a fuller understanding of the ways in which racism, sexism, colonialism, classism, and heterosexism operate "in tandem" with oppression (Ruparelia, 85). She concludes her essay with the observation that feminist scholarship that is tight-lipped about racism, colonialism, and oppression is in effect denying the existence of these "structures of domination" in the lives of both racialized and white women (Ruparelia, 113).

In her book Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, Bell Hooks wastes little time offering her definition of feminism: "Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression" (Hooks, 2014). She explains that this definition works for her because it does not suggest that "men were the enemy." Hence, it is not men who are necessarily the problem for women; rather, it is "sexist thinking and action." Based on Ruparelia's argument, the problem is also linked to women who identify as feminists but fail to see the connection between racism, colonialism, and oppression.

Hooks acknowledges that there was a great deal of "anti-male sentiment" among early feminist activists, who were understandably incensed and frustrated and responded in anger — anger that fueled the first feminist movement. As time moved on, feminists recognized that women could be just as sexist as men, and so the feminist focus "shifted to an all-out effort to create gender justice" (Hooks). Because most early feminists were Caucasian, and Black women were occupied with civil rights and Black liberation while Native American women worked on indigenous rights, the movement against sexism was largely a white women's movement, Hooks explains. In time, "lifestyle feminism" came to the forefront of gender equality issues — there could be "as many versions of feminism as there were women." That evolution embraced Black and Native American women and meant that denying women their reproductive rights was "a form of sexist oppression" (Hooks).

The continuing discussion of what feminism means — and what it should stand for — is explored in Chandra Mohanty's Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity. Mohanty is careful to define "Western feminism" not as a "monolith" or a specific movement, but rather as a discourse on Third World women from the perspective of the West (Mohanty, 2003). She also takes great pains to define "colonization" — an overused term with many meanings. Essentially, colonization applies to "structural domination and a suppression — often violent — of the heterogeneity of the subject(s) in question" (Mohanty, 18). In other words, colonization relates to cultures unfairly dominated in ongoing social and feminist struggles. This is a key point in the broader discourse on the oppression of women, one that, as Ruparelia insists, is not consistently embedded in feminist writings and attitudes.

Moreover, Mohanty explains that Western feminist scholarship is not simply presenting "knowledge" about the subject at hand; it is "purposeful" and "ideological" and constitutes an "intervention into particular hegemonic discourses" (Mohanty, 18). Feminist scholars who write about colonialism and Third World hegemony are ultimately writing about "power" (Mohanty, 19). However, they should not generalize when using "Third World" women as a theme unless the feminist writer is alluding to an "international male conspiracy" (19). Specifically, Mohanty argues that Western feminists should acknowledge that a Third World woman leads "an essentially truncated life based on her feminine gender (she is sexually constrained) and on her being…ignorant, poor, uneducated, tradition-bound, domestic, family oriented, victimized" (Mohanty, 22).

In covering issues concerning Third World women, Western feminist writers must understand that it is not only economic and social hegemony that affects the Third World woman; it is also "male sexual politics" expressed through genital mutilation (Mohanty, 24). In Africa and the Middle East, this practice is widespread and is intended to "mutilate the sexual pleasure and satisfaction of women," thereby controlling her sexual and reproductive rights (Mohanty, 24).

Professor Sylvia Walby, quoted in a 2003 article by Mohanty, argues that Mohanty has made pivotal points in this context: "Mohanty is claiming, via a complex and subtle argument, that she is right and that (much) white Western feminism is not merely different, but wrong" (Mohanty, 502). Walby insists that Mohanty is "not content…or comfortable" with white feminists' perspectives. In fact, Mohanty's search for "a more universal truth" is presented through the "power of argument" (Mohanty, 502). Mohanty further notes that in 1986 she wrote mainly to challenge the "false universality of Eurocentric discourses," but was told by some feminist writers that she should "not dabble in feminist theory"; instead, she was urged to keep her focus on her work with "early childhood education" (Mohanty, 504). The writers who urged Mohanty to stick with safe subjects appear to share a mindset with the white women who attacked Ruparelia at that women's conference in Canada — a reminder of how many self-identified feminists continue to avoid the more meaningful subjects of colonialism, racism, and oppression.

Any narrative that examines the various aspects of feminism should seek to explain where feminism came from as well as in what direction it should be heading. In that regard, Gender Transformations by Professor Sylvia Walby reviews some of the achievements of the feminist movement. She credits "first-wave feminism" with helping women gain access to educational opportunities and with "the winning of political citizenship" (Walby, 2003). Women in the UK and other Western democracies have benefited from the feminist movement through increased opportunities in education and paid employment. However, those gains have been "tempered by…the poor conditions of nearly half of employed women" (Walby, 2). Too many women are offered only part-time work and are oppressed by the "tenacity of occupational and industrial segregation."

Walby notes a "dramatic closing of the gap in educational qualifications of young men and women" in university settings, and while the wage gap has narrowed in full-time employment, it has not closed at all for women in part-time work (Walby, 2). She also observes that women have become more independent and are not as quick to marry as in the past: the percentage of married women in the UK (ages 18–49) declined from 74 percent in 1979 to just 57 percent in 1994 (Walby, 2). Meanwhile, the share of households headed by a lone parent — nine times out of ten, that parent is a woman — rose from 8 percent to 23 percent by 1994.

Walby also addresses the political dimension: women are still "significantly underrepresented in the state and many forms of public life," including Parliament, law enforcement positions, and "influential non-governmental bodies" (Walby, 3). After the 1992 UK election, women made up only 9.2 percent of Parliament. According to the British Parliament website, as of 2010 there were 143 women in Parliament out of 1,495 total seats (845 Lords Temporal and Spiritual and 650 Members of Parliament). In total, 369 women have served in Parliament since 1918, meaning that approximately 92 percent of members of Parliament since 1918 have been male and only 8 percent female. Such a dramatic imbalance in gender representation makes it difficult for female elected officials to push for the social change necessary to advance a more focused discussion on racism, bigotry, and the oppression of women.

Conclusion

In the Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the United Nations is attempting to accomplish what amounts to an enormously difficult task. The record of this formal report notes that in the 1989 session, the Committee addressed the "high incidence of violence against women" and asked all UN member states to submit information regarding this problem in their respective countries. The Committee adopted Recommendation 19, which requires UN members to include in their reports "statistical data on the incidence of violence against women," along with information on what services are being offered to women who are oppressed and subjected to violence. This is laudable, but one must ask, realistically, whether it is reducing the oppression of women.