Comments on: Questions of Idenity: Minority Women & Feminism

By: Anysia Trevino

Anysia Trevino — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:59:18 +0000

I am proud of you Monica
Aunt Rox

By: Nina

Nina — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:39:38 +0000

I must respectfully disagree with this post. Very rarely have I experienced feminists asking me to “forget” my ethnicity. But I have seen feminists ask that gender be made a priority, and this I completely understand. Too often, minority women, especially and almost exclusively in the United States, align with the men of their ethnicity over issues of race when faced with a race/gender issue. In fact, I would say that certain groups of minority women make race a priority 90% of the time. So, when you have a situation where both race and gender are an issue, like in the ’08 campaign with Obama and Clinton, for example, race was given a far higher priority than gender among certain groups of minority women, no matter how extreme the gender issues became. And I saw far more non-minority feminists fighting against both race and gender than minority feminists fighting against both. And this is why I completely understand why feminists end up becoming frustrated and ask that gender be given a slight priority in the feminism movement in order for it to remain feminist. And I, for one, am happy to oblige and I don’t feel excluded or left out one bit by this request.

By: AnneE

AnneE — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:10:07 +0000

When they need our brains, our organizational skills or support, we are part of any group. But when it comes time to hand out the goodies, at the end of the day, regardless of our color, we are just women. And they believe our reward should be to be allowed admission to the group for a time, or to be content with their good will. Or so they think.

I just started to read Marilyn French tomes on the history of women, and she defined misogyny, paraphrasing here, as the belief that women are not fully human. We are service animals in human form placed here to make life easier for men, and when we do not, we are against the laws of nature, some sort of perversion

I think that so many women are fed up with our treatment in the media that the days of us behaving like Victorian damsels, suffering and being silent are no more.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:51:13 +0000

Fair comment, LVL.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:28:13 +0000

Hey Chris
I was not trying to suggest that those particular comments were not racist,because they are.No question.But you are saying that these things were not coming from the fringe.That is what I was trying to get across.I personally fell, that there is a big difference in these fringe extremist on both sides doing something of this nature and when it is perfectly acceptable by the mainstream media and even the same groups that say they stand up against these things.
I am really not trying to down play the severity of the comments themselves but who they were coming from.
When extremist and fundamentalist go around saying crap like that they are looking for attention,it is best to shrug them off.Because that is all they want is attention an their 15 minutes of fame.And it’s just my personal belief that the main stream media,politicians, and even said groups are the ones that we should be keeping our eye on.
And no I have not seen the Condoleezza Rice blog either.But gimme til next week and I will definitely have done.
i was kinda at a lose as well that no body has said anything about it.
Have a good weekend=)

By: LVL

LVL — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:20:13 +0000

Chris,

This is where I agree and disagree with you.

Agreement: TNA should come to the defense of liberal women of color and women who have supported Obama (e.g., Michelle Obama, Judge Sotomayor, Susan Rice, etc. ) when the attack is sexist in nature. In my view, TNA is batting so-so in this area. The stories and comments seem to come quicker and more frequently for conservative, majority women. However, I have noticed a change in a positive direction in this area. I believe TNA is slowly reaching a proper balance between liberalism and conservatism and toning down the overexposure HRC and SP stories.

Disagreement: The attack on Malia was not only a supper fringe group but it appeared to be more racial and political in nature than sexist. My approach would be to keep an eye on this story and if it has legs and is retold by the mainstream media and becomes more sexist in nature – definitely TNA should – and probably would – make a statement regarding it.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:00:46 +0000

Jessica,
I’d suggest that calling one of Obama’s daughters “ghetto street trash” or referring to Michelle Obama as a “monkey” is indeed racism speaking and goes way beyond disagreement with President Obama’s policies. Maybe that’s just me.

I’m not asking that the New Agenda focus on this story or other stories that relate to women of color at the expense of focusing on Palin and other conservative women. I’m just asking for inclusion. If they’re going to stand for ALL women, then stand for all women.

Also, I missed the blog post that deplored the treatment of Condoleezza Rice. Where was that?

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:27:52 +0000

Hi Chris=)
As a woman of both color and white.I will have to disagree with you on this one.
You only have to look at insane treatment that the Palin girl’s have had to face, even the comments about her special needs child, for Christ sake.Not only from obscure bloggers/columist but also the mainstream media/Hollywood.
While these comments that were made about the Obama girl’s is disgusting these are little know bloggers or columnist of the extreme fringe.
This is not based on race this is based on people’s unhappiness towards their father’s policies.Which is absolutely NO reason to go after children.Period.
Just look at the treatment that Condoleezza Rice has received from those on the …I will say far Left.
Will Ferrel’s little play about GWB depicts her as grinding and fondling herself and even at one point…not trying to be carse here but at point was dry humped by Will Ferrel as GWB.
Conveying her as an over sexualized Black woman who could not have possibly have been in the White House working for a white President unless “something else” was going on.
Absolutely disgusting.
But this type of racism and sexism is perfectly acceptable because she is a Conservative woman.
TNA is doing what should be done.
Standing for ALL women no matter their party affiliation.
And personal a woman of my mixed background hopes that other women will see this as well.

I hope you have a great weekend=)

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:08:55 +0000

Fringe it may be, LVL, but I find it troubling that the most of the feminists talking about this were women of color, something that would not have happened had the victims been the daughter of a white president. It would have had much higher exposure.

I’ll just leave you with this link to a post Prof Susurro wrote on her blog Like a Whisper about this issue. It’s the most eloquent discussion I’ve found in which she takes issue with both the conservatives who wrote such things and the feminists who have failed to comment.

http://likeawhisper.wordpress......fam-again/

By: Monica Jean Alaniz

Monica Jean Alaniz — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:50:12 +0000

May I suggest further reading on feminism and women of color?

The book “This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color” Edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa. This is an awesome collection of works that include insightful academic articles, stories, and poems. For someone who’s busy (like I know I am sometimes) you can read just a bit at a time since it’s not one big work, but a good number of pieces.

There is also “This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions of Transformation” Edited by Gloria E. Anzaldúa and Analouise Keating. This is a more recent follow-up to a lot of the ideas in “This Bridge Called My Back.”

I also have to plug Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s “Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza,” my feminist “bible” of sorts that brought me to awareness as a Chicana feminist.