AbstractsWomens Studies

Not all feminists are created equal: the colored women's struggle

by Lilliana Rios




Institution: Rutgers University
Department: Liberal Studies
Degree: MA
Year: 2013
Keywords: Feminists; Feminism – Developing countries; Feminism – Developed countries
Record ID: 1994305
Full text PDF: http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore10005600001.ETD.000067580


Abstract

The disparities and lack of camaraderie there is among feminists is weakening the overall feministic mission instead of strengthening it. Feminism is a movement created by women for women with the objective to end gender discrimination. Feminists, now, are facing new opposition, alarmingly so, amongst their own—Western feminists vs. Third World feminism. This thesis will analyze through the works of Latina literary authors: Judith Ortiz Cofer, Sandra Cisneros and Julia Álvarez, along with articles written by women of color including, but not limited to Gloria Anzaldúa, bell hooks, Patricia Hill Collins and Cherríe Moraga, why feminists are failing miserably on climbing the hierarchy ladder higher than the level they’ve already reached. Examining where many white feminists have gone wrong with a strong analysis on their colonial ideologies, reasons why they are facing enormous resistance by post-colonial feminists who resent them, and how this is leading to the movement’s destruction. Their lack of focus on broader issues affecting all women, inability to coexist, and refusal to acknowledge each other as allies rather than nemeses serves as a barrier hindering them from winning the political, social, and economic battle for equality.