Ellyse McWright
January 22, 2014
Journal #2 850 Words
Women of Latina decent are categorized by their culture and religion. The woman
main focus is to find a husband, become a wife as soon as possible, and raise children,
while putting pressure on the husband to provide. The man only goal is to work. If the
family faces economic issues, he is to live and find more work to provide. The argument
that she discusses is why society would force Latina women to believe they should not
change anything about the way they are “supposed” to live. If a woman steps outside of
the traditional way, such as getting s job or becoming high in power and successful, she is
looked down upon. The “hard life” Chicana women deal with was passed from
generation to generation. The women before may argue that this way dis the only, as
well.
Elizabeth Martinez is the author of La Chicana published in 1972. She discusses
the imperfections in the Latina-American community. Martinez explains, “Our roots lie
in the act of rape: the rape of women, the rape of an entire continent and its
people.”(Martinez 113) As she explains how there is oppression of racism, imperialism,
and sexism against Latina women, the community is hindered, also. Martinez talks about
sexism being a “useful tool to the colonizer” while in the same sentence the Latino men
are allowed to beat and mistreat the women. Sexism is not looked at as serious, but more
so expected. The theory stated is, “Understand that link, and struggle as a united force
with the men and allies.”(Martinez 115)
My argument is the power control over women in the Latino community. Latina
women struggle with the fight against there own men. She is subject to a life of marrying
a man with the potential to raise children in a society where there are not enough
economic resources to provide for the family. If woman are not able work, they should be
able to marry someone that can financially take care of her and potential children. The
evidence states in the text that, “The truth is that we need to reexamine and redefine our
culture.”(Martinez 115) The issue is not the simply sexism and racism, the power
matrices as a Latina women are implies at a young to control her decision making later
through life.
Black Feminist is struggling with the ability to be heard by anyone they feel can
make a change to the black community and the oppressions against them. They discuss
four major topics, “the genesis of contemporary black feminism, what we believe, i.e.,
the specific province of our politics; the problems in organizing black feminists,
including a brief herstory of our collective; and black feminist issues and practice”. Black
feminist are the voice that feels there is nothing being addressed in the black community.
They do not fight for women alone, but their entire community (men and youth). World
War II was the start of black youth entering into a world of oppression with the
opportunity of education, voting rights, but still limited to the necessary resources to gain
equality. In A Black Feminist Statement written by The Combahee River Collective was
published in 1977. What they believe is, “ our politics initially sprang from the shared
beliefs that our liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else’s but because
of our need as a human persons for autonomy” (The Combahee River Collective 118). As
a black feminist, the focus was not simply on the politics but economically. These black
women are not dependent on the access to resources that other women or feminist have,
they stand solely on there on connections. Political work has to be done to the likings of
those of other ethnicity and cannot be taken lightly.
The black feminist movement was only the start to addressing oppression of
sexism and racism being two main factors. Sexism against black women came from white
men feeling the need to rape and destroy black women because they had no power.
Women who may have fought back were killed in the process. Today, this continues but
men of the same ethnicity are doing the most destroying to black women. Men are not
fond of the feminist movement, due to the independence and structure of their beliefs,
men and women should be treated equally in all aspects.
My argument is with the black feminist movement to continue to fight against the
oppression regardless of the obstacles and short-handed resources given. The only way a
culture can move in a society designed for them to fail is if they stand up for what they
believe is right, without the advantages of any other races and ethnicities. With feminism
being “threatening to the majority of black people”, there is no one that can make a
change in the fight against oppression other than the help from one another.
Works Cited
McCann, Carole R., Seung-Kyung Kim, Elizabeth Martinez, and The Combahee River
Collective. Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives. Third ed.
New York: Routledge, 2003. Print.