weekend reading

"The limitations of a sisterhood based on bourgeois individualism or on the politics of personal experience presently pose a very real threat to combined political actions."

Over this past weekend, I read the introduction to The Intersectional Approach (not so closely) and the first essay entitled "Race, Class, and Gender" by Bonnie Thornton Dill (much more closely). Dill was very focused on the future of an "all-inclusive sisterhood"; in fact, her essay was really about the effects of race, class, and gender on the concept of sisterhood. The phrase that I walked away with is "the politics of personal experience", which I think has a lot to do with my topic for this independent study. Dill analyzed the experience of poor, black, American women and how their personal experiences affect how/who they interact with others. She also discussed the danger and history behind "white feminism", even though she didn't phrase it like that outright (xx) (xx). Dill also mentioned how the values one holds affects what they hope to achieve politically. For example, white women historically fought for labor wages and an escape from the home because they felt stifled by the "cult of domesticity" and the like. This was viewed as strange to black women of the time, who had always had higher labor participation, and would have happily accepted the "luxury" of being a housewife. Instead, black women fought for survival and freedom, and against violence like lynching. Going back to my I-Search: Dill discussed how many black women were wary of white, middle-class feminists, because they might have fought for their goals at the expense of black women's needs (a "fragile commitment to racial equality"). She also mentioned something that has interested me personally: the way in which marginalized groups often "battle over the dubious distinction of being the 'most' oppressed". This tendency is discussed very often in the LGBTQ+ community. Dill actually name-dropped Audre Lorde while discussing the division of the feminist movement on the basis of race. Dill ends her essay with a call to action in regards to reforming education: "We must examine [...] the ways in which discrimination becomes a fundamental part of the institution's organization and implementation of its overall purpose." 

I will get in touch with my historian contact and work on scheduling a meeting/Skype time. I am also very interested in the way age factors into intersectionality; one of my pet peeves is the way we often find ourselves justifying the actions of older generations (and previous, as well) by saying "they didn't know better" and "that's just the way they were raised". Maybe it's naive to say so, but I'd like to think we don't have to be a product of our childhood/upbringing. It may shape how we act as adolescents (because I know I was probably a lowkey bigot in middle school), but I think we can all make an effort to grow as individuals and citizens and readjust the way we navigate society [as adults]. In summary: I would be more than willing to add an exploration of age and its effect to my study. Finally, I look forward to reading the paper on race (and maybe soon starting the book on race we had discussed last week). 

some links: xx  xx xx