Slide 1Who is Your Mother? Red Roots of White Feminism (1986)Slide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Important FiguresSlide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 13Slide 14Slide 15Slide 16Slide 17Slide 18Slide 19T h e r i c h a n d c o m p l e x h i s t o r y o f Fe m i n i s m . UNTANGLING the “F”-WORDDr. Paula Gunn Allen Key TermsMother/MotherhoodIdentityColonialism Context and MatrixGynarchyWho is Your Mother? Red Roots of White Feminism (1986)“The feminist idea of power as it ideally accrues to women stems from tribal sources” (23).Allen makes the argument that the primary tenets of feminism (equality, presence of women in government, autonomy, etc.) did not originate in the 1800s with the fight for Women’s Suffrage. According to the author, feminism and these elements of social equity were present in pre-colonial Native American societies.Allen claims that Western society advocates forgetting history and tradition; American history omits the “traditional Indians’ view” (19). Conclusively, Allen argues that were American society to embrace the “red roots” of its history, many of the social issues that are experienced would be ameliorated.The Author’s ClaimGynarchy was present in many pre-colonial Native Societies. “During the ages when tribal societies existed in the Americas …untouched by patriarchal oppression, they developed elaborate systems of thought that included science, philosophy, and government based on the belief in the central importance of female energies, autonomy of individuals, cooperation, human dignity, human freedom, and egalitarian distribution of status, goods and services…Gynarchy…was the norm rather than the exception” (19).If American society judiciously modeled the traditions of the various Native Nations, the place of women in society would become CENTRAL:the distribution of goods and power would be egalitarianthe elderly would be respected…as a primary cultural resourcethe ideals of physical beauty would be considerably enlarged…[to include] others who in contemporary American culture are viewed as ‘ugly’). The destruction of …the planet would be curtailed and…[If pacifist models were emulated] war would cease to be a major method of human problem solving (19).Allen illustrates that the “Indian Matron” was the source of inspiration to the French philosopher Montaigne, Karl Marx, and the “radical communities” of Europe…and America (23). An exemplary Matron, Allen reasons, is Sacagawea. The author maintains that the gynarchic, Matron societies are the way to achieve the social equity that feminists desire.“The source of just government, of right ordering of social relationships, the dream of ‘liberty and justice for all,’ can be gained by following the Indian Matrons’ guidance” (24).Important FiguresSusan B. AnthonyElizabeth Cady StantonAlice PaulImages : Iron Jawed AngelsDeclaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca Falls (1848)Key TermsSuffrageAbolitionMoral superiorityInalienable rightModeled after the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions addresses the U.S. government and the gender, social, and economic disparity. The document addressed topics such as marriage, obedience to one’s husband, property, employment, education, Church, and self-respect.“The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having…an absolute tyranny over her.” Resolved, that woman is man’s equal.A BLACK FEMINIST STATEMENTCombahee River Collective (1977)We are actively committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppression and see as our particular task the development of integrated analysis and practice based upon the fact that the major systems of oppression are interlocking.As Black women we see Black feminism as the logical political movement to combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face.This document serves as the basis of intersectionality. It addresses the historical racism that exists in the feminist movementIt identifies the need for inclusivityIt expands on the idea that the personal is politicalKey WordsOppressionIdentityAutonomyLiberationRevolutionaryIf Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.Being on the bottom, we would have to do what no one else has done: we would have to fight the worldMultiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave FeminismBecky Thompson, 2002Pays homage to the Combahee River Collective and the Black Feminist Statement. Challenges feminism’s racist pastThompson challenges the notion the women of color emerged as members of the Feminist movement during the Second WaveOffers retelling of feminist history as a solution to progressKey wordsHegemonyMarginalizeAnalysisCentralityInterlockingCoalition“If the only issues that feminists deem political are those they have experience personally, their frame of reference is destined to be narrowly defined by their own experience.”Multiracial feminism is the heart of an inclusive women’s liberation struggle.Young women [should] know the rich, complicated, contentious, and visionary history of multiracial feminismRadical Heterosexuality (1992)Naomi Wolf Key TermsRadicalGenderSexismPrivilegeHierarchyWhat it is: Radical heterosexuality demands substituting choice for dependencyWhat to do: Radical heterosexuals must try to stay consciousRadical heterosexual women too must give up gender benefitsTHIS IS NOT WHAT WOLF MEANS!You can hate sexism and love men.That’s radical heterosexualityThe Brown Girl’s Guide to LabelsKey WordsEthnic IdentitiesDesiPostmodernFeminist(m)PositionalityThe Problem: Subramanian felt compelled to “pick a label.”She could not identify with the people in the “white-washed suburban” community.She could not identify with the labels present in a “contingent of South Asian Americans.”“White girls were sexy. Bespectacled Indian girls who took AP physics and ran for president of the debate team were not.”The Big “F”: The words feminist and feminism reverberated throughout all the stages of the author’s life but she could not identify as feminist.“Mohanty