Black Feminism

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at three modern Black feminists and shows how modern Black feminism is plagued by exclusionary principles. The paper examines Kimberly Springer's critique of the wave theory of feminism and how Sheila Radford-Hill responds to Springer by reinforcing the idea that there is one Black feminism to fit all modern Black women. The paper explores how Jennifer Hamer and Helen Neville take a more dogmatic approach to Black feminism than either Springer or Radford-Hill. The paper concludes that a way to increase the participation of young Black women in the modern feminist movement is to return to classical feminism, but together with an education about the pivotal role that Black women have always played in the feminist movement.

From the Paper:

"One of the most striking features about modern Black feminist writing is that, despite frank discussions of the limitations of classical feminism in the lives of Black women, Black feminists seem reluctant to discuss the limitations of Black feminism in its application to the real lives of most Black women. Because Black feminism continues to make assumptions about women, which may not accurately reflect the goals and aspirations of Black women, especially poor Black women, Black feminism, like classical feminism, continues to be a theory by and for the middle class. As such, Black feminism does little to redress the very social inequities that it perceives as both result and cause of institutionalized and de facto racism and sexism in America. In fact, Black feminists, like Black activists of prior generations, still place more emphasis on race than gender, which marginalizes women of all ages."

More papers on Black Feminism:

• Term Paper # 120666 : "Black Feminism"
• Essay # 11633 : "Black Feminism"
• Research Paper # 25882 : "Afrocentrism, Feminism & Poverty in the Black Community"

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