The article Triple
Jeopardy by Maylei Blackwell talks about the ways various women’s movements
had seen themselves as “separate from the others but also each saw their oppression
as the primary struggle” (Blackwell, p. 283). This statement illustrates the
challenge for many social movements to unite and empower issues that fall
outside of immediate or personal interests.
Blackwell writes about the “hierarchy of oppression” that
existed during the emergence of the Third World Women’s Alliance (TWWA) and the
various ways movements were seen as separate instead of interconnected. This
statement reminded me of the Women’s March that occurred in major cities across
the U.S this past weekend. An on-going dialogue, especially in LGBTQ/WOC spaces,
is that many feminist issues center cis-white women and are exclusive to
transwomen, women of color and low-income women (just to name a few). Certain
issues like the gendered wage disparity tend to take the forefront and are seen
as a “real” feminist issue. This “hierarchy” positions issues of marginalized
communities as competitors instead of uniting. Blackwell illustrated the importance of
validating the struggles faced by various communities and how that lead to the
success of TWWA.
TWWA was a pioneer in addressing race/class/gender struggles
as intersecting and simultaneous. This deviated from the notion of issues
seeming secondary to other issues, such as race and gender, because both
stemmed from imperialist oppression. This acknowledgement would redefine
solidarity. Instead of a hierarchy of needs, women read about issues happening
globally and locally. Fostering these connections is critical to resistance and
is something we’re still grappling with several decades later.
The Women’s March of 2017 was one of the biggest in the
history since the march’s creation as many were frustrated and upset over the
recent election of the 45th president of the United States. However,
many radical activists from marginalized communities critiqued it for its
exclusivity on issues like reproductive rights for transgender women,
immigration and its impact on women and police brutality. With the most recent
march occurring this past weekend, many are left wondering “what has changed?”
within the last year. Mabinty Quarshie writes in her critical piece “Is the Women’s March More Inclusive This Year?” that many black women felt excluded
from the march last year and thus felt there was no use to attend the march
this year. This separation of communities and social issues is exactly what
TWWA was working to fix. The current feminist and activist climate leaves me
wondering if we are still falling trap to the “hierarchy of oppression”.
How do we create inclusive spaces for wide ranges of issues
without centering main-stream social issues? In what ways does addressing these
differences unite communities?
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I had a feeling you were going to write your blog post on Blackwell's perspective on the "hierarchy of oppression" that existed during the uprising of the Third World Women's Alliance. Ever since Jennifer's GWS class last semester, you've made it clear how strongly you feel about marginalized women's needs and desires being pushed to the side in order to make room for those of white, cisgender women. From your writing, it is clear that you can recognize the parallels between the feminist movement during that time and the one we are living in today. It is frustrating to know that in previous movements, cis-white women's agenda's have been placed at the top of the pyramid while women of color, disabled individuals, and LGBTQI folks are continuously knocked to the bottom. Similarly, I thought that last year's women's march was extremely disappointing. I also thought that because many women were upset over the election of Donald Trump, the march was going to be filled with women of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Unfortunately, I came to realize that majority of the women marching for their rights were from white, middle-upper class background...thus leaving women of color and other marginalized communities underrepresented. As Blackwell expressed in this piece, because of white women's superiority in the feminist movement of the 1970's, it was extremely difficult to unite forces unite and fight for issues that fall outside of of their immediate interests. I feel uneasy knowing history is repeating itself in today's movement, however I know that if women from different social groups can join forces, we will be able to get more accomplished while also creating a space of inclusivity and acceptance.