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Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 0
Literature Review: Womanism, Feminism, and Feminist Theory
Introduction
Womanism, feminism, and intersectionality are the “daughters” of feminist theory. This analytical report will attempt to synthesize and reconcile the three positionalities using critical race theory which purports that race plays an integral part in how theories are shaped and used in academia; and that race is unavoidable as it is embedded in the very fabric of how we perceive and act. Race is unavoidable. Womanism was developed due to some feeling that feminism was more of a privileged theory developed and dominated by those who did not have to face racial hegemonies in their work. Also, Black women did not see the reason why they had to give up being Black and a woman as the same time. All women are/were not the same and are not subjected or objectified as in Western societies. In many indigenous societies, women are held places of esteem and power and were included in all decision making. In fact, in many cultures, women had the ultimate or even equal say. Feminism, which accounted for all “women” to having been under the same treatment due to White male patriarchy, did not take into account the fact that advancement for one group of women (White women) did not mean that all women had made progress. Basically, this analysis will explore to detail the eccentricities of feminism, feministic theory, and womanism by using a thematic approach.
Feminism
To begin with, it is important to properly establish a contemporary definition of feminism as it is understood today. There is no doubt that the ideology of feminism has evolved significantly through time. The existence of gender inequalities have been the main factor that fuel its propagation from one generation to the other. Original feminist heroes were greatly inspired by disparities in power and perception of gender in the society. It is true that in very many dimensions, this has significantly changed. According to Ackerly and True (2010), there exists significant influence in both political and social issues that have been used to define feminist theories. In what they term as the feminist school of thought, Ackerly and True (2010) explore the different dimensions that different scholars have taken in defining their understanding of feminism. For instance, it is said to involve a combination of numerous social perspectives like liberal, Marxist, socialist, radical, lesbian psychoanalytic, multiracial as well as postmodern among many other. To establish a reliable perception of what feminism is, it is essential to understand both the historical and contemporary culminations of feminism. Feminism is a sociopolitical platform that has been popularized over the years to represent the ideas that people advocating for better conditions, opportunities and valuation for women embrace.
Unfortunately, discrimination against women on the basis of their gender, sexual orientation feministic stature or race have been the theme of feminist movements for decades. For example, American history has it that the society confined women to domestic chores and visualized them as inferior to men. Feminist movements arose to dispute this social order by asking for economic opportunities for women, education and equality. As these forms of struggle were common among women in most parts of the world, feminist movements became popular. Just like in other spheres of human social development, theorists began studying the numerous facets of feminism to understand and theorize their courses. This distribution saw different theorists develop varying models to explain their perceptions of feminism (Collins, 1996). Over the years, these theories have been subjected to scrutiny and evaluation. Increased communication through globalization has seen the promotion of feminism in a much wider scale throughout the world. This has also necessitated the development of a theory or model that instituted diverse feministic perspectives.
Feminist Theories
Across different regions, the plight of women in domestic, corporate and social setups has been a cause of concern for humanitarian organizations. Despite this open concern, these institutions distance themselves from what is popularized as feminist theories and promotion of feministic ideologies. On the contrary, the plainly describe their input to this struggle as a view based on human rights. Ackerly and True (2010) explore a special perspective in which feminist theories are explored based on three fundamental elements; difference, diversity and deconstruction. Postulated by Dietz (2003), this approach presents a framework with which feminist theories can be evaluated and internal conflicts arising from diverse perspectives understood. To properly understand the significance of these elements, it is important to dig into the fundamental areas that Dietz (2003) discuss as critical determinants of feminism. This research tries to define the female subject based on experiences she faces in different social, economic and political environments today and in the past. This often involves exploration of gender, race, class, sexuality and their significance among others. The most valuable message that anyone can derive from the work of Dietz (2003) is how existing conflicts in feminist approaches are defined and distinguished. There is indeed intense conflict between feminist theorists in relation to the inspiration behind their revolutionary course as well as their styles of protest. In her explanations of this conflict, Dietz (2003) highlights gender equality and cultural rights, feminism and multiculturalism, as well as democracy and difference as critical identifiers of modern feminist theories and underlying conflicts.
One particular view that has significantly influenced the design of feminist theories is the liberal and cultural views. According to Borovoy and Ghodsee (2012), these are distinct approaches to feminism that have been developed and publicized differently. Liberalism refers to the postcolonial environment that created visible imbalances in the position and value of women in the society. For example, the dominance of men in the war, protection and possession of resources created a great difference between women and men. As a result of this, a number of feminist theories rose up to articulate the practices attributed to colonialism that completely depicted women as inferior to men. On the other hand, there is the cultural view which is designed by traditions. Borovoy and Ghodsee (2012) utilizes the work of the moral philosopher, Susan Okin to explain how culture endangers the fight for equality or the view that both gender are equally valuable. Basically, most cultures present social settings in which women are controlled and have their decisions limited. In most cultural settings, women’s freedom of choice are greatly limited. There are very many cultures in the world, a significant proportion of these cultures present dangerous platforms where women are controlled and are not able to make decisions critical for their development. In this context, Borovoy and Ghodsee (2012) postulate that cultural feminism arises from the protests that strive to discourage the impact culture has on increasing the issues that feminism discourages.
Intersectionality
To be able to understand the greater divide between feminism and womanism, it is important to explore one fundamental concept, intersectionality. According to Carastathis (2014), the concept of intersectionality is derived from the fact that the plight of women is multi-dimensional. Most feminism theorists have used gender differences between men and women and how these variations are used to discriminate against women as the definition and fundamental course of feminism. On the contrary, the concept of intersectionality is developed from the understanding that oppression is not a singular process. Gender alone cannot be used to describe and fully conceptualize the extent of oppression against women. The concept of intersectionality refers to the numerous dimensions of oppression or discrimination perpetuated against women (Mirchandani, 2003). In some cases, these elements may not be directly as a result of their gender. The emergence of black feminism played a vital role in compounding the feministic approach to the plight of women.
In many other feminist research, intersectionality has been used as a word that describes modern feminism. In the early days, feminist movements were designed to protest specific grievances. A perfect example is black feminism in America. Women demonstrated for a better value in the society. They wanted to expand their roles in the community beyond domestic chores. This could have been interpreted by theorists to mean a course that was advocating for only a specific condition. The truth is that black women during the black feminism era advocated against many different grievances among them racial discrimination, social representation, economic empowerment and education. For instance, education is one central idea that does not directly resonate to the paradigm of gender as the central role of feminism. There are four major dimensions or benefits with which intersectionality can be understood as it relates to black feminism; simultaneity, complexity, irreducibility, and inclusivity.
In simultaneity, intersectionality introduces the thought that oppression or discrimination against women can happen simultaneously. This helps to understand women as characters who can be impacted by different stimulants within their environment. Holvino (2010) presents a very unique argument that can be used to explain this concept. In this particular research, Holvino (2010) presents a discussion on the simultaneity of race, gender and class in women studies, feminist theory and literal criticism. Of greater concern to this analysis is how the information presented in this research impacts feminist theory. As already mentioned above, intersectionality can be traced to the early protests that characterized black feminism. This however is largely covered in liberal feminism. There was a clear difference between white women and black women. In many ways, this configuration led to oppression of black women. Black feminists there instituted a voice against oppression by their white female masters. This was presented within the colonial framework in which discrimination was wide spread.
In what Holvino (2010) terms as color theorizing, there is a way in which white women and black women are represented in feminist theories. In these differences, the intersections of race, class and gender were well-articulated. This article further brings out a unique platform from where the differences between white women and black women can be understood. It must be understood, for the purpose of this research, that exploring the differences between white women and black women helps to explain the concept of inclusion as a deterministic definition of intersection. Holvino (2010) begins by highlighting the fact that women of color are generally known to work. This is a perception that has had a significant impact on the level of oppression they face as compared to white women. This can help to solve one of the conflicts presented by feminist theorists. White feminist theorists mostly demand a role in the private sphere as a housewife and access to employment opportunities in the public sphere.
On the other hand, black feminist theories demand more opportunities and better conditions both at home and at work. This difference is very important in presenting how experience impacts the design of feminist theories. African American women are subjected to more discriminative conditions which influence the nature of elements they demand. Holvino (2010) provides a good example to support this point. After the Second World War, with women given access to work in the public sphere, black women were given opportunities in positions that had the least compensation and characterized by monotonous movements. These were jobs that had been rejected by white women as they also strived to establish an economic base for themselves. This saw the development of a clear distinction in what economic empowerment meant for black women as compared to their white counterparts. A significant number of feminist theorists have not included this in their definitions of feminism. On the other hand, inclusion as part of intersectionality provides a platform from which such aspects of oppression even within women as subjects can be explored and theorized.
The second element of complexity, as highlighted by Carastathis (2014), refers to the claim that intersectionality unveils the convergence or imbrication of systems of oppression. Additionally, irreducibility accounts for the fact that oppression cannot be underestimated based on the impacts it has on the victim. The final aspect of intersectionality is of far greater importance in defining the term. It is basically a reflection of intersectionality itself. This is because it provides a solution to the potential conflicts that exist in feminist theories today. Another research that acutely presents the expansive or inclusive nature of intersectionality is Carbado (2013). In this research, intersectionality is perceived as a compound concept encompassing forms of oppression against women in relation to men, masculinity, whiteness and sexual orientation. These are keywords that have appeared repeatedly in many different research exploring feminism.
Oppression perpetrated on the basis of how women compare to men has been well-articulated in the analysis above. On the other hand, masculinity is a reflection of the physical potentials as they are reflected in men as compared to women and how this can provide an oppressive platform against women. A perfect example in this case can be the perception that women cannot succeed in engineering and other technical courses owing to their feminine structures. As a result of this perception, the population of women actively embracing STEM courses are very few as compared to the population of men. There are other elements of oppression that are equally visible in such academic settings. However, there are a number of alternative approaches that can be used to mainstream intersectionality (Dhamoon, 2011). Another example is in politics. The number of women actively participating in politics is very few as compared to men. Across the continent, women have not been able to enjoy the success in politics that men have because beliefs and ideologies of gender discrimination are still influential. This directly resonates with liberal feminism as a construct of postcolonial influences of social order. Many countries in Africa still show greater political discrimination against women. People are generally reluctant to trust women with positions of authority.
Womanism
The concept of womanism is one that has a direct link to black feminism that has been extensively discussed above. However, it introduces other political, social and economic issues that cannot be well-articulated in the greater or wider view of feminist theories. Collins (1996) dedicates the first part of his research to tracing the origin and the definition of the word womanism. Despite considering research from many feminist scholars, Collins (1996) does not find a perfect definition for the word. This is essentially because it was coined to mean a wide variety of characters within the construct of black feminism and the experiences of black women in relation to white women. Womanism offers the possibility of exploring black feminism without compounding white women as the enemy. For the purpose of this analysis, it is important to define black feminism. According to Collins (1996), black feminism refers the view of women are complete human beings capable of participation and leadership in the full range of human activities including intellectual, political, social, sexual, spiritual and economic activities.
Based on how feminism has evolved over the years, it can be described as a global sociopolitical movement that strives to promote equal opportunity for women in different aspects of life. To this point, womanism and black feminism are terms that have been used extensively to address the forms of oppression that women encounter in different social settings. It has been proven that feminist theories provide a skewed profile of what feminism stands for, the influences behind it and how it relates to the position of women in the past and today. This analysis will use this platform to explore the contemporary issues that emerge from the concepts discussed in this analysis to postulate an approach that can be research or investigated in future research on feminism. A research by Norwood (2013) presents the bigger picture of what womanism and black feminism has evolved to become in African women today. Just like most of the research considered in this analysis, this article draws its building concepts from the history of feminist movements and how female oppression has been a progressive affair. Even today, women are subjected to oppressive conditions in different avenues in their lives.
According to this research, the experiences African women have today are diverse and distributed regionally. Despite this distribution, they still face similar issues that define a common struggle. This research outlines that culture plays the biggest role in defining the predicament of African women in the postcolonial Africa. Culture is a very strong force that influences behavior and shapes the social and economic environment that women in Africa exist in. There is a way in which modern approaches to feminism have eroded the original meaning of womanism and black feminism as well. There is no doubt that today, the political and social environment has significantly changed. The success that was achieved by historical feminists paved a way for modern women to enjoy specific milestones towards equality that were never before.
Modern Feminism
There have been intense debates about the course of modern feminism. Indeed, feminism today is two-fold, the freedom women in specific environment or positions has seen their influence and inspirations evolve. This can be good or bad depending on the effect it has on the objective of their feminist actions. Despite the possible confusions that have been presented by past feminist theorists discussed in this analysis, there is no doubt that the plight of women is a huge factor in telling their inspiration. Today, the interpretation of a number of feminist movements have been soiled with modernity, an aspect that induces a shift from the original objective of improving conditions and opportunities for women, to modern goals and objectives of privileged women. As such, there are women or characters who use feminist movements to advance interests of power and privilege.
On the other hand, it is true that women still experience significant challenges in their efforts to become better people and increase their value in the society (Xue, 2015). There are a lot of statistics to back a theory that feminist movements still have a lot to do in delivering women from the chains of inequality. It is true that women have increasingly assumed productive proles in the economic sphere of influence today. Still, women are discriminated against within their positions of work and domestic settings. Another fact that shows this disparity is the proportion of employed as compared to unemployed women. For instance, African countries present how much change is needed in terms of understanding and implementing feminist objectives in these regions. Women are largely unemployed and are reduced to domestic tools.
White Women vs Black Women
It is presumptuous sign of White privilege for White women to see themselves as the standard bearers of femininity, feminism, or on the forefront of such when women of color have been relegated to a far less position or status in American society far below that of White women and have had to endure far worse. It is/was their struggle that is overlooked, recognized, or exalted due to their race and socioeconomic status. The consciousness of this has failed to be addressed in the development of feminism and to this day its effects are still being felt by women of color who have not, to-this-day, separated themselves from their male counterpart. When things such as the wage gap is talked about, often the fact that women of color have an even wider gap than White women when compared to White men is not brought up.
The failure to disaggregate women and the disparities they all face, and how complex that looks, is a failure which some would like to keep in place. In the buildup of this analysis, various situational examples comparing feminism in the perception of white feminists and black feminists have helped to bring out the differences between existing feminist theories. Most importantly, this analysis has utilized these differences to bring out the needs for a universal understanding of how intersectionality compounds feminism. The aggregate effect of feminist movements is that women of color are still subjected to more discriminative conditions and treatment as compared to their white counterparts. This has also raised questions on the possibility that white feminist ideologies may be pulling down the full potential of black feminism.
Conclusion
In conclusion, feminism has evolved through history and still exists as one of the most popular sociopolitical movement that has existed across generations. This analysis has cruised through history to highlight the numerous forms through which feminism, as an idea has evolved. There seems to be very little distinction between feminism and womanism except for its affiliation to black women. However, this research has used the concept of intersectionality to bring out the main differences between these elements. Intersectionality is a very important element when trying to understand the greater meaning of feminism and how it is propagated from one generation the other. Moreover, this analysis has explored contemporary feminist movements and how they relate to the original objectives in improving conditions of life for women. Furthermore, it is clear that the plight of women continues to be a significant social problem across regional platforms. This accounts for the projections of more studies and feminist activities in future for as long as equality, oppression and discrimination continues to subject women to struggles in different sociopolitical environments.
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Use these articles to find newest materials by using citations of them to find related material. There is an interaction with legal changes and policy that you may need to note and relate. Also be careful in covering the history of these viewpoints not to take for granted which ideas came first and later. You may be able to develop a review that could lead to further theory building.