Feminist | Musings of a (Recovering) Strong Black Woman

Many black women have rejected the term feminist because of the history of racial exclusion of nonwhites to the feminist movement. Before women received the right to vote (and black men had the right), white feminist and conservative suffragist leader Carrie Chapman Catt said: “[T]here is but one way to avert the danger. Cut off the vote of the slums and give it to [White] women.” Catt continued that white men should recognize “the usefulness of woman suffrage as a counterbalance to the foreign vote, and as a means of legally preserving White supremacy in the South.” This was during the first wave of feminism (early 1800s-1950s). The second wave of feminism (mid-1960s-present) has had a similar emphasis on race. Because recent feminism has focused greatly on the liberation of middle class white women from white male patriarchy, some black women have not felt that this movement is for them.

This type of emphasis is what led writer Alice Walker to develop the term womanist, and many black women, including some of us who are Christian, have embraced this label. Walker defines womanist as “[a] black feminist or feminist of color. . .who loves other women, sexually and/or nonsexually. Appreciates and prefers women’s culture. . .[and who] sometimes loves individual men, sexually and/or nonsexually. Committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female. . .Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender” (from Walker’s In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens). Do you consider yourself a feminist? If not, do you think womanist is a suitable alternative to feminist? As a Christian, do you think that you should call yourself a feminist or womanist? Why or why not? I am really looking forward to hearing from you.

It’s Women’s History Month. So without a doubt we have to discuss feminism. And because I’m a black woman and this blog is geared toward black women, we will also talk about Afrocentrism. But this entry will only deal with feminism.

A basic definition of feminism is a political theory and practice that seeks to gain equality for women, particularly in political, social and economic contexts. Other definitions speak to women’s freedom from male oppression in the workplace, society and in the home, as well as economic independence. Though I have never identified myself as a feminist (one who practices feminism), throughout my years I found myself engaging in activities that sought to help women. I have always organized and strategized among women, whether in my sorority or in my church. And I long believed that women should be equal to men. We are just as intelligent, talented, gifted and in many ways just more skilled than they. I believed that no man was going to hold me back or down just because I may be a threat to him. While I still believe that women must be free from male oppression, my views are more complex than freedom or equality by any means necessary. I have also learned that sometimes in God’s economy, intelligence, talent, gifts or skill have nothing to do with the person, and God’s advancement sometimes comes to the less qualified (1 Corinthians 1:27).

In my early years, I never embraced feminism because of some of its extreme teachings, such the hatred of men, and the androgynous and even masculine looks that many in the feminist movement seemed to embrace. As a Christian, I don’t embrace feminism because of some of its extreme teachings, such as hatred of men, one of its basic teachings—freedom of choice when it comes to abortion, and equality to men in every area. For the Christian I believe there has to be a parting of ways, in theory and in practice, from feminism. While we must work to ensure no woman is oppressed, our standards must be biblical and not our own.

Musings of a (Recovering) Strong Black Woman

Tag Archives: Feminist

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