It is no secret that there has been a painful debate over the relationship between race and gender. It has been building for a long time, but the fierce primary battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton brought it to the fore. We have included links to to two recent articles that have starkly contrasting views on this controversy. We hope that Herstory visitors will read both and then add their voices to the ongoing often heated discussion.
A Continuing Conversation on Feminism: Do You Know Who You Are Fighting For?
Latoya Peterson over at Racialious has a thought provoking commentary on race and feminism that is well worth your attention. The subject of race and feminism has come up a lot over the past year, so we think it's important for Herstory readers to take part in this conversation. We will be publishing more links to commentary in the hopes that you will read the full articles and make your voices heard.
After all the issues in the feminist blogoshere, I had decided I was sick of feminism. Feminism is a space in which I feel like I shouldn’t have to fight so hard, and yet I do. I am getting sick of learning knowledge and tools and tactics at such a high cost. And while I have chosen to stay, it is more out of a sense of duty to others than edification of the self.
For you see, I wrote about the issues I have in engaging with white people last year. I have discussed often how this is still an existing bias, and something I work toward fighting against. What I have not talked about is how this translates into real life.
To read the rest, please go HERE.
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Think '70s Feminists Are Out of Touch? Not So Fast.
Heidi Schnakenberg defends Gloria Steinem, Linda Hirschman and the feminist "Old Guard" in the current debate on race and gender. In this piece that she wrote for Alternet she says,"A lesson from second-wave feminism: Women will continue to be oppressed unless they stop prioritizing other causes over their own." We invite you to read her entire article and add your voice to the often intense conversation about race and gender.
As William Kristol famously said during the primary season, "White women are a problem, that's -- you know, we all live with that."
Indeed, it seems that a lot of people have problems with white women, from our presumptive presidential nominees to feminists who are engaging in increasingly uncomfortable infighting over the implications of sexism vs. racism that emerged this year. There is a great post-primary feminist divide at the moment, and it has raised crucial questions about feminism and its origins, and why feminists and women in general remain so divided. Some of our traditional feminists like Gloria Steinem and Linda Hirshman have come under fire for sounding absolutist as they decry the rampant sexism of the campaign and express frustration over intersectionalism -- a brand of feminism that often buries gender issues in its efforts to highlight other forms of oppression.
To read the rest of the article, please go HERE .