Section One: Diversity and Difference
Learning Objectives
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To understand how women are oppressed, and how gender affects people’s lives.
To learn how men’s and women’s experiences are affected by race and ethnicity.
To understand how race, class, nationality, and sexual orientation affect the way gender is
experienced.
To gain an understanding of how universalizing the experiences of white, upper-class
women erases the history and experiences of other women.
Section Summary
Gender organizes women’s and men’s lives. The pieces in this section explore the
commonalities and differences in women’s lives.
 Different women have different experiences, but they all share the experience of being
oppressed in their status as women.
 Oppression varies by factors other than gender, such as race and ethnicity, nationality,
class, geographic location, sexual orientation, age, and religion.
 Understandings of gender are shaped by other forms of inequality and social distinctions.
Reading 1: Marilyn Frye, “Oppression”
Oppression limits people’s options and penalizes people who move beyond a restricted set of
roles. All women are oppressed by the forces and barriers of constructed gender differences.
 Women are often caught in a “double bind” where they have conflicting expectations
placed on them.
 The structures of oppression can only be seen from a macroscopic perspective. The forces
and barriers of gender are hidden in the day-to-day actions of men and women.
Reading 2: Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege and Male Privilege”
Women are not only disadvantaged by structures of gender, but men are also over-privileged; at
the same time whites gain dominance from racism while minorities are underprivileged.
McIntosh unpacks her “invisible knapsack of white privilege” and identifies 46 ways in which
she is privileged by being white.
 Denial of the privilege males and whites receive protects this privilege maintaining
sexism and racism. These privileges must be acknowledged so that people will work to
change the social systems that maintain oppressions.
 White privilege is not earned, but people are made to feel that it is their right because
they are part of the mainstream culture.
 Some of the privileges of being white should be extended to all groups, while other
privileges deny the humanity of other groups and need to be rejected entirely.
 Although whites are allowed to choose whether they engage issues of race, more whites
need to study their “privilege” to understand how it hurts both minorities and white
people.
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There are other hierarchical systems of privilege, like sexuality, that also need to be better
understood. It is important to understand how the various systems of oppression operate
and how they work together.
Boxed Insert: Judy Rohrer, “Haole Girl: Identity and White Privilege in Hawai`i”
The privileges of white skin vary by geographical location. Rohrer describes her discomfort with
her identity as a “haole,” a white person who is seen as an outsider or foreigner in Hawai`i. The
term haole comes out of Hawaii’s colonial past and its current structure of power. Rohrer
suggests that white Hawaiians reconstruct their haole identities through awareness of the
privileges of being white and consciously acting on this awareness.
Reading 3: Laura M. Lopez and Frances S. Hasso, “Frontlines and Borders: Identity
Thresholds for Latinas and Arab American Women”
Individual and group interviews with eight Latinas and eight Arab American women reveal that
the university experience causes both groups of women to reconstruct their racial-ethnic identity
in opposition to the racist assumptions of the dominant culture. In addition, both groups of
women struggle with the racial-ethnic/gender norms of “home” and whether or not they were
“authentic” Latinas or Arab-Americans.
 Racial-ethnic identities were emphasized on the college campus, and this pushed these
women to better understand their ethnic background and more fully define their racialethnic identities.
 The Latinas redefined themselves in opposition to their exclusion from the mainstream
university environment, and the ideas that they were unqualified to be at the university.
Arab-American women reconstructed their identities in opposition to the
(mis)representations of Middle-Eastern politics on campus.
 The racism and exclusion of university life led many of the women to better understand
their own ethnic-racial backgrounds and their parents’ languages.
 The experiences of these women before entering college affected their perceptions of
college. Unlike the Latinas, the Arab-American women had already lived their lives in
predominantly white neighborhoods and their parents were in a higher socio-economic
class and had more education that the Latinas’ parents. The Latinas were more likely to
feel that their college experiences alienated them from their home lives.
 The Latinas and Arab-American women consciously managed their physical appearance,
language skill in Spanish or Arabic, the way they portrayed their own class/education
status, and their sexuality in order to maintain ties to their “home” racial-ethnic
communities.
Boxed Insert: Sojourner Truth, “Ain't I a Woman?”
1.
How does Sojourner Truth challenge her listener’s notions of woman? How are her race
and class important to the argument she makes?
Reading 5: Audre Lorde, “The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House”
2.
How can the interdependence of different women challenge patriarchy? What strengths can
be brought to feminism by women of color, poor women, or women in developing
countries?
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What are the problems for feminist theory if women of color or lesbians are left out? What
does this mean for feminist research?
Why won’t “the master’s tools” be able to “dismantle the master’s house”? What does
Lorde mean by this?
Web Links
“Bush, Burquas, and the Oppression of Afghan Women”
Oppression happens, at home and abroad, through a variety of forms of discipline and control.
While the oppression of Afghan women was used by the United States as one rationale for the
war in Afghanistan, American foreign policy had previously authorized that very oppression.
Gary Leupp writes about this in a Counterpunch article (7/16/2002) entitled “Bush, Burquas, and
the Oppression of Afghan Women.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp0716.html
Latino Issues Forum
Information on minority experiences has been missing from much research on American
women’s lives. The Latino Issues Forum seeks to help Latinos by providing research,
community education, and advocacy about Latinos/as particularly related to policy issues in
California.
http://www.lif.org/
Muslim Women’s Association
Middle-Easterners have often faced discrimination in this country, especially after September 11,
2001. This site provides information on the Muslim Women’s Association, a nonprofit
American Muslim organization. This organization is dedicated to supporting Muslim women in
practicing Islam in ways that allow women to be “free, equal, and vital contributors to society.”
http://www.mwlusa.org/welcome.html
Native Culture Links
A former librarian and a social science educator offer information on Native American centers,
nations, languages, art, and cultural events. There are a variety of internet links to other websites
that provide credible information on Native Americans.
http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/indians.html
Native Web
http://www.nativeweb.org/
Women from indigenous cultures, and the way gender is organized in these cultures, are often
forgotten in discussions about women and gender. This site offers a variety of resources on
indigenous cultures around the globe, including information on women in these cultures. There
are links to online resources as well as books, music, and videos.
Sisterfriends
This website provides women of color a virtual space through which to connect with other
women around issues of common concern. Here you can read book reviews, medical advice,
business success stories, and arts and entertainment features that focus on women of color.
http://www.sisterfriends.com
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth has inspired generations of women to claim their rights to full womanhood and
full citizenship. This website provides a brief biography of Sojourner Truth as well as links to
additional information about her life and work.
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/bltruth.htm
“Voices From the Gaps”
Hosted by the University of Minnesota, this website provides resources about artists and writers,
particularly women of color. This website feature critiques of literary and artistic works, as well
as biographies and other information on women of color who are artists and writers. You can
find descriptions of the lives and works of both Audre Lorde and Paula Gunn Allen here, along
with many other important women authors.
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/
White Privilege
The benefits to whites of racism against people of color constitute “white privilege.” At this site,
you can read more about how European-Americans enjoy unearned advantages. Check out the
link to Peggy McIntosh’s classic article on this subject, “White Privilege: Unpacking the
Invisible Knapsack.”
http://www.whiteprivilege.com
Women of Color Web
It is often difficult for students and teachers to find information about minority women, and
writings about how various issues pertain to women of color. This Harvard University website
provides links to writings by and about issues surrounding women of color. Additionally, there
are links to teaching tools, discussions, and organizations.
http://www.womenofcolorday.com