Feminism: Gloria Steinem and Black Women

Gloria Steinem & Dorothy Pitman-Hughes

While at the Black Enterprise’s Women Of Power Summit Gloria Steinem (a noted feminist) made some important comments on race and feminism.  Back in the 1970s Steinem made some "courageous" moves to place a black woman (Pam Grier) on the cover of her Ms. Magazine and published work by Alice Walker, eventually making her one of the first black editors at the publication. However, in a quick interview at the Summit, Steinem is clear not to paint herself as a savior of these women.  Instead, she says:

I thought they [black women] invented the feminist movement. I’ve learned feminism disproportionately from black women. I realize that things being what they are, the white middle-class part of the movement got reported more, but if you look at the numbers and the very first poll of women responding to feminist issues, African American women were twice as likely to support feminism and feminist issues than white women.

The article discussing her interview (theMarySue) explores the importance of this viewpoint in the following sentences:

But as she [Steinem] herself noted, there’s always a reason when any certain person gets held up as a movement’s hero, and in her case her face and body happened to coincide with the white middle class face of the second wave that was pushed forth the most. And therein lies a key to the third wave: Acknowledging that intersectionality has always been crucial to the movement but that women of color, non-cis women, and other categories of non-white non-middle-/upper-class women have historically been pushed to the fringes and left out of the record of their own achievements and struggles.

To conclude the article/interview, Steinem is asked what she would do to help address this issue, to address the women of other races or backgrounds that feel left out of the feminist movement.  Her reply is wonderfully sincere and insightful:

I wouldn’t say anything, I’d listen. The point is that we help each other to get dignity, and autonomy, and freedom. We’re here to help each other.

I am curious how Steinem's point of view fits in with the current realm of the HeforShe movement spearheaded by a very beautiful, white Emma Watson.  Perhaps before we spend energy redefining what "feminism" is to gain the support of males, we should spend more time unifying and/or acknowledging the complexities of the female gender... the countless races, sexual orientations, disabilities, and differences that it wonderfully encompasses.

Catch her interview in the video at the MarySue site.

#GIRLBOSS Lessons from Chapter 2

Chapter 2: How I Became a #GIRLBOSS? 

In this chapter, Amoruso takes us through how she went from being an ID checker at a university to creating and running her company, Nasty Gal.  It's a good story to read if you are interested in fashion, online retail, and/or running an eBay business selling vintage clothes.  But I'm not going to get into her details of her story here.  You can read the book if you want to know all that.

Here are the more universal lessons I got from this chapter 
 

Drawing Strength from Other Women (and Men):

Throughout this chapter, Amoruso mention many other women who helped her and inspired her along her journey.  When she first started her eBay business, her mother helped her prepare garments and descriptions for listing (25).  She had several models, friends, model-friends, photographers help and believe in her as her business grew.  The name of her store was inspired by "legendary funk singer and wild woman Betty Davis" (22).  Amoruso describes her decision to name her shop out of homage to this woman:

"I thought I was just picking a name for an eBay store, but it turned out that I was actually infusing the entire brand with not only my spirit, bu the spirit of this incredible woman." (23)

Disregarding Gender Stereotypes

Society finds refuge in stereotypes because it provides a safe-zone where you aren’t required to really know someone as an individual and can instead fill in the gaps with prefabricated ideas. Stereotypes are efficient – they are time-savers.  As hard as certain portions of society fight against stereotyping, its allure is stronger than ever in this technologically-driven world where the pursuit of self-gratification, endless efficiency, and the now-dubiously categorized “friends” is tantamount. Most people simply don’t have the time – or don’t make the time – to stop, converse, and truly try to understand the other human beings around them.

Perhaps because I grew up between cultures and, inevitably, was always perceived as Other, I have never felt bound to my stereotypically defined roles. As a child and adolescent I grew up surrounded by “Third Culture” individuals: people who, like me, had lived in different places, had been disassociated from their native country, and had turned into something new that belonged within no national boundaries. It was a space where people held on to a vague sense of nationality but in the end embraced a larger, more inclusive, sense of self. Not being trapped within these confines meant that anything was possible.

I have always done what has interested me and, as I have discovered recently, this has made me very difficult to categorize. By inadvertently defying categorization, I have triggered many different responses in people – ranging from an interest to pursue non-conventional hobbies to a pro-stereotyping defensive stance. Over the past few months, it has been brought to my attention that my combined interests in fashion (borderline shopaholic) and martial arts are simply inconceivable. For the most part, the negative reactions have come due to a perceived threat to masculinity. I never have pursued something because of a specified gender convention and the idea that practicing a martial art can be a threat to someone’s masculinity seems irrational. Is a man who can sew or dance ballet threatening to my femininity? No.

From the comments I have heard, it seems like my martial hobbies would be more acceptable if I were a “masculine” woman – whatever that means. This makes me feel that challenging gender norms is usually perceived as objectionable but that if other stereotyping conventions can come into play, it can be tolerable. However, if stereotyping is completely unhelpful in building a perception of an individual, than the gender-defying activity is seen as increasingly unacceptable. This reaction points to an overall reliance on stereotypes in “creating” the people we meet. Ultimately, the stereotype allows someone to not spend time meeting another person, but instead makes them feel an immediate familiarity with everyone they encounter. In essence stereotyping allows for each individual to construct their own reality that does not truly mirror the actual world they inhabit.

For more information about what a Third Culture individual is check out this website: http://www.denizenmag.com/third-culture-kid/

Are you a feminist?

L posted an article a few days ago "The Many Misguided Reasons Famous Ladies Say 'I'm not a feminist'" and I've reflected on it a bit knowing that my first post was due for this blog.

"Are you a feminist?" is an ever popular question for the leading ladies of our culture, one that I find tedious knowing that the term "feminist" does not mean the same thing to everyone. Many view the word negatively, and despite visibly demonstrating pro-feminist stances refuse to allow themselves to be labelled as such.

I spent 27 months living in Ghana, West Africa as an environmental volunteer for the Peace Corps. There I met and befriended the most fiercely independent women that I will most likely ever meet. Feminism exists on a completely different level in Ghana. These women rule their families and their communities all in an effort to survive and better their lives. Being a feminist isn't a choice, it's a way of life. It is life. And believe it or not, Ghana is miles ahead of the USA in terms of equality for women. But more on that another time.

I never discussed feminism with my Ghanaian friends because I never had to. Now, hearing the female "role models" of our culture reject feminism both scares and worries me especially during these strange political times.

Through this blog I'd like to explore feminism on all levels, but first I thought it best to question how feminism exists in our culture and why the question "Are you a feminist?" receives so many mixed answers.

Lisa