February Blog Post

To me the most important sentence from the readings is from Lorde’s “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” is: “What woman here is so enamored of her own oppression that she cannot see her heelprint upon another woman’s face?” I think we live in a world where this question is ever prevalent. No matter who we are, each of us have our own soapboxes upon which we stand. Sometimes our deeply rooted causes prevent us from seeing opportunities to help others in need. There’s a certain amount of interconnectedness that must exist within minority cultures in order for them to survive oppression and hegemony.

When minorities oppress other minorities, their movements tend to lose credibility and support from other minority groups. Since minority groups understand the thumb of oppression, they can offer to one another an empathy that the majority cannot simple muster up. When they unite their voices, their power is much more easily recognized. Let’s consider third-wave feminism as an example. Before third wave feminism (the time Lorde primarily was in), the movement tended to be a bit exclusionary. First and second wave feminisms in their dominant forms did not represent alternative sexualities or identities. This left individuals like Lorde feeling ostracized from the feminist community at large (though she was inarguably a part). Third-wave feminism sought to be a more inclusive group. Men are encouraged to join the feminist movement. The LGBT community has become a major ally to feminism in its various forms. The inclusiveness of feminism in the third wave has created a much more accessible and formidable movement against hegemony and oppression. We mustn’t get so entrenched in our own personal battles that we fail to connect to those who are in need of our aid. What good is equality for one if there is not equality for all? The battle for equality will never have a predestined point of success. Because of that, we cannot reach the mystical point of acceptance at the cost of those who do not yet have it.