Feminism and race in the united states in the 1970s
Introduction
Feminism in the 1960s and 1970s came up as a result of the social upheavals that existed in the US during these years. Black feminists by the 1970s felt that the women’s movement led by such feminist organizations as the National Organization for Women (NOW); was too dominated by white middle-class women. They argued that these organizations could not represent the needs of poor and black women effectively. They argued that the predominant feminist organizations catered for middle-class white women, and as such were dominated by issues that affected the white middle-class women . Prevailing events during the 1960s such as the civil rights movement and the collapse of colonialism …show more content…
Feminism during this period was targeted at eliminating unfair labor practices and laws that discriminated against women. Feminists fought this by educating women on issues to do with reproduction as well as by forming political organization, writing books and articles and essays that challenged the prevailing environment of sexism in the society. The women’s movement also actively campaigned to get all methods of birth control legalized. The black feminists believed that despite having some common goals, they faced dual discrimination since they were black and female. To remedy this dual discrimination, they felt that they needed to form their own feminist groups that would address the dual discrimination. At the time the black feminism movement came into being, black feminist felt that they were racially oppressed in the women’s feminism movement, and at the same time sexually oppressed in the black liberation movement. Many of them argued that the word ‘black’ was synonymous with the black male and the word ‘woman’ was used to refer to white women. That resulted in a situation that did not favor black women in either the black liberation movement or the women’s feminism movement . The black women were in effect rendered ‘invisible’ by the society and the dual discrimination against them. These forerunners …show more content…
However, the black men did not find anything wrong with the black men having relationships with white women . According to the black men, an integral part of their liberation was the freedom to have control over any woman regardless of race. This right was however, not extended to the black women as the men in the movement actively disapproved of the inter-racial relationships involving black women. This mindset is an example of the sexism practiced within the black liberation movement; and it was widely quoted by black feminists. The black women objected over these attempts by the black men in the movement to control their
Introduction
Feminism in the 1960s and 1970s came up as a result of the social upheavals that existed in the US during these years. Black feminists by the 1970s felt that the women’s movement led by such feminist organizations as the National Organization for Women (NOW); was too dominated by white middle-class women. They argued that these organizations could not represent the needs of poor and black women effectively. They argued that the predominant feminist organizations catered for middle-class white women, and as such were dominated by issues that affected the white middle-class women . Prevailing events during the 1960s such as the civil rights movement and the collapse of colonialism …show more content…
Feminism during this period was targeted at eliminating unfair labor practices and laws that discriminated against women. Feminists fought this by educating women on issues to do with reproduction as well as by forming political organization, writing books and articles and essays that challenged the prevailing environment of sexism in the society. The women’s movement also actively campaigned to get all methods of birth control legalized. The black feminists believed that despite having some common goals, they faced dual discrimination since they were black and female. To remedy this dual discrimination, they felt that they needed to form their own feminist groups that would address the dual discrimination. At the time the black feminism movement came into being, black feminist felt that they were racially oppressed in the women’s feminism movement, and at the same time sexually oppressed in the black liberation movement. Many of them argued that the word ‘black’ was synonymous with the black male and the word ‘woman’ was used to refer to white women. That resulted in a situation that did not favor black women in either the black liberation movement or the women’s feminism movement . The black women were in effect rendered ‘invisible’ by the society and the dual discrimination against them. These forerunners …show more content…
However, the black men did not find anything wrong with the black men having relationships with white women . According to the black men, an integral part of their liberation was the freedom to have control over any woman regardless of race. This right was however, not extended to the black women as the men in the movement actively disapproved of the inter-racial relationships involving black women. This mindset is an example of the sexism practiced within the black liberation movement; and it was widely quoted by black feminists. The black women objected over these attempts by the black men in the movement to control their