Feminism In Alice Walker's Coming Apart

"The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men." A quote by Alice Walker conveying her strong belief in feminism and racial equality. The author 's life had an impact on her writing. Between attending segregated schools, poor family and a victim of bullying, Alice Walker converted her struggles and beliefs into award winning writing. She worked as a social worker and civil rights activist. Another groundbreaking section of her writing explored what Alice Walker refers to as "womanism", a social theory dealing with women from minorities. Walker 's early life, womanism and civil rights activism which she fought for displaying …show more content…
In "Coming Apart" by Alice Walker, she first uses the term womanism when describing the protagonist of her short story. In the past, feminism has been seen racist to women of color. Womanism allows African Americans and women of minority to embrace their heritage and culture. Feminism 's main cause works end the inferiority women against men. On the other hand, black women and white women do not have the same struggles, womanism searches for fulfillment of their surroundings with other beings, relationships and nature (Lewis). "Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender," (Alice Walker) explains the meaning of the coined phrase rather abstractly. In Walker 's writing of The Color Purple, the protagonist, Celie, faces an African American man who has beat, raped, stolen letters and her own children to later state he no longer obtains power over her. The previous example, conveys Walker 's womanistic views of a woman from a background of minority fighting back against the restraints of her ethnicity. Walker experienced life during the most radical of times fighting back against people of color suppression, and conveys experiences into her