Reading Analyses #4

Danae Martin

October 2, 2017

Week 4

Your “takeaway” – this is the author’s central argument from the assigned reading, or the prominent theme that linked 2 or more readings

 

            From week 4 assigned reading the author’s central arguments that linked the three readings was intersectionality and the identity of racialized women compared to the mainstream dominant woman.

            One of Hooks arguments in The Oppositional Gaze was that when racialized individuals looked at film and media it was flooded with power and knowledge of maintaining white supremacy from the dominant culture. Considering this statement mainstream feminist criticism did not acknowledge racialized females. However, black female spectators also chose not to identify with the idea of white womanhood that was being portrayed in films and media. This made me realize the different waves of feminism. Currently, we are in the third wave of feminism which began in the 1990’s and is now recognizing women with different ethnicities, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds, basically multiple intersectionality. This thought connects Crenshaw’s argument in the Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Colour. In this article the author acknowledged that the mainstream dominant culture would exclude and marginalize individuals who are different. Especially when intersectionality takes into consideration race, class, gender, and works towards recognizing gender and class oppression, which was discussed in Crenshaw’s arguments. The Crenshaw argument and Hooks argument were written in the early 1990’s and created tension with the dominant culture about equity and social justice for racialized people.

A new theme or concept from the assigned reading, defined in your own words;

A new concept from this assigned reading is intersectionality. In my opinion, the term intersectionality includes many important factors. Intersectionality is defined by how a person or group can be defined based on their gender, privilege, sexual orientation, and race. The three assigned articles have connected intersectionality as theoretical concepts that effect how we view privilege and oppression.

In addition, a theme that I noticed during the Crenshaw and Hooks article was the incorrect use of language. Examples from the Crenshaw article would be rape, battering, and people of colour. However, the use of this language is probably because the articles were written in the early 1990’s, although it is difficult for me to believe the authors credibility. Instead of the word “rape” it should be “sexual assault”, instead of the word “battering” it should be “intimate partner violence”, instead of using the term “people of colour” it should be “people who are racialized”, because using language like this lumps too many people together and creates labels for people. Using language like this also will continue to oppress and marginalize people and continues to tell people they are “victims”.

How you might use the material in your own research/everyday life

As a historian I might use this research in my everyday life to focus on the first, second, and third wave of feminism and how we got to the current wave. The three articles emphasized the importance of the different types of feminisms, which made me think about the different waves of feminism and how the third wave of feminism focuses on diversity. I think this is extremely important especially related to the reading topics because the third wave of feminism focuses more on individual identity. There is not just one type of feminism but hypothetically multiple umbrellas of feminism that are there to empower women and embrace intersectionality!

 

Question:

In the past film and media oppressed and marginalized people who were not from the dominant culture. Do you think the media continues to oppress and marginalize people who are racialized today?