Intersectional Analysis In Bell Hooks, Ain T I A Woman

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In the past, there were peculiar differences between men and women, between their roles in society and their models of behavior. For centuries the power and rights of women and feminist has always been lessened compared to a typical male of any color. Women faced many obstacles down the road, such as oppression, segregation, racism and gender. The term intersectional analysis is use by many feminist and civil rights activist, but Kimberle Crenshaw is an American feminist legal scholar and civil rights advocate who made up the name “intersectional analysis” in 1989 which has had many different meanings. Intersectionality is a theory of how intersecting identities, particularly minority identities, relating to systems and different forms of oppression, discrimination or dominance. Forms of discrimination towards black women dates back to slavery, examples of different type of oppression are race, class, and gender. Black women have always been discriminated and till this day it goes against in ways that don’t fit within the legal categories of either “sexism” or “racism,” but as both terms sexism and racism. Some key points of how women were powerless compared to men in Bell Hooks, Ain’t I a Woman was in chapter three The Imperialism of Patriarchy where in the intro she said “there was little discussion of the impact sexism on the social status of black women. The upper and middle class white women who were at the forefront of the movement made no effort to emphasize that patriarchal power, the power men use to dominate women, is not just the privilege of upper and middle class white men, but the privilege of all men in our society regardless of their class or race.” (Bell Hooks, 87) This means any men of race or status had the privilege of dominance over white and black women especially and didn’t take the unbalance of men and women in consideration because of sexism. Another case of gender was “Consequently, the enslaved black male, though obviously deprived of the social status that would enable him to protect and provide for himself and others, had a higher status than the black female slave based solely on his being male. The Higher status did not always lead to preferential treatment, but it was acknowledged by sex-role differentiation.” (Bell Hooks, 88-89) This is a concept that sexist politics of white-ruled colonized America forced into the minds of enslaved black peoples existing belief of men were superior of women. This was also a problem, it made men see women as fragile and weak with limited privileges. Lastly there was a huge difference between races, especially the white and blacks during the nineteenth century. It was hard for men to find jobs due to racist white males refusing …show more content…
Not only did Bell hooks address the feminine side, but also how institutionalized sexism was a system that protected males and legitimized sexual exploitation of black females. Also how black women experiences are ignored by both feminist and equality movements which disproves of their social identity and existence. As for Qwo-Li Driskill she talks about how Two-Spirit itself is a critique and is very complex and explains how she see’s Two-Spirit as a term and the meaning behind it. Also sharing stories of other people within the indigenous communities of how such a problem they have to

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