2. During Second-Wave Feminism, the women’s
movement became explicitly plural. Why?
1. Black women felt their needs and experiences were
not fully addressed in mainstream feminism.
2. Black women argued that an autonomous
movement was needed to battle intersecting
oppressions (gender , as well as race and class)

3.  This approach is one that places Black Women (or
Black Feminism) at the center of the movement.
 Leaders included:
From L-R: Angela Davis, Alice Walker (author of The Color Purple), Audre Lorde, and
Frances Beal (author of Black Woman’s Manifesto)

4. Black feminists:
1. REJECTED sexism in the black liberation movement
2. REJECTED racism from white feminists
3. REJECTED classism by highlighting how middle-
class assumptions and values were inherent in both
movements

5. Key Differences:
1. Abortion – class issues and
history of eugenics and
forced sterilization (see
image)
2. Family – perception that
white feminists saw family
as an obligation, while black
feminists saw family as a
refuge
3. Motherhood – black
feminists argued for choice
and control (rather than full
retreat)

6. Black feminists faced criticism from members in the Black
community (being called “race traitors”) and the Black
Liberation Movement, who largely:
 Adopted middle-class values
 Sought to maintain traditional gender roles in the Black
community
 Feared that birth control would lead to Black women
refusing to have babies (and thus the Black population
would dwindle)
Black feminists challenged each of these barriers!

7.  Movement develops a bit later,
1970-1980
 Developed out of 1960s Chicano
movement that focused on
social justice, equality,
educational reform, etc.
 Begins with realization that the
Chicano movement’s emphasis
on “cultural pride and cultural
survival” fails to see the need
for change in male-female
relationships in Chicano
community

8. A. Skeptical of “machismo”
1. Recognized it as cultural trait that blinded Chicanos
to the economic challenges and colony-like exploitation
(578)
2. Disagreed that machismo was a positive value for
Chicano communities
B. Split develops between Loyalists and non-
Loyalists

9. Founded on completely
different sense of equality
than mainstream feminism,
which can be seen in
two main ways:
 Tribal sovereignty is valued
over personal sovereignty
(American Indian before
woman)
 Social structure is different in
Native American culture,
which emphasizes extended
family (rather than nuclear
family)
Zitkala-Sa, Sioux writer and
political activist

10. Importance of tribal sovereignty was based on two
main ideas:
1. People must have sovereignty to keep legal and
spiritual connection to the land AND to survive as a
people (tribe)
2. Equality within tribal community is MORE
important than equality within standards of feminism
or American norms