Are minority women able to deal with male oppression better?

Question

...or is it that they are unaware of feminism

...or think they have "bigger" issues to deal with

...or they are scared

...or what?

Basically, why does it seem like many minority women view feminism is a "white woman's problem" and if you go along with it you are hurting minority men?

I understand oppression of minority men, but isn't allowing minority men to oppress minority women, even worse for minority women?

Answer 1

I think when women consider the question, "Who is holding me back?" Or "Why can't I do that" or be fulfilled or whatever...the answer for white women and minority women is different.

For white women, the answer was that those in power, white men, were (are) holding us back.  In the past, this hold on power was overt.  Today it is more precarious, as white men are grasping at the privileges (and whining about the loss of privileges) they once thought were god's gift to them alone.

I think, but can't say for sure, that minority women would answer that question by saying that it was the white majority that was holding them back.  This included white women who were complicit in the oppression and singular in their goals, which oftentimes didn't include issues that minority women faced.

I personally think that feminism is incomplete when it fails to take into account the struggles and desires of minority women.  I believe that feminism would be far more successful if there were a united front on these issues.

Answer 2

they come from non-western countries.. take islamic or countires with low feminism and high power distance.. its typical in their culture for men and women to have fixed roles.

they didnt have the whole 70's feminist revolution..

Answer 3

OVERRULED..

Answer 4

As another answerer mentioned here, minority women are very conscious of feminism. However, they don't carry it around like a chip on their shoulder like white women. Furthermore, they're not scared. When the feminist movement began, I didn't hear of any white women being eager to include black women in their ranks.  No to mention the fact that these feminists didn't bother to get involved with black women's struggles during the Civil Rights Movement.  What's more, what makes you think that minority women are allowing themselves to be oppressed? If you want to know how they're dealing with it, then maybe you need to conduct some kind of survey or do research on that issue.

Answer 5

Well from my perspective and my race(black) I would say from what I've seen black women are rarely met with oppression from black men. So yea I would say its more of a "white woman's problem" to them.

Answer 6

with your concerns you appear to be in the minority,a minority of one -yourself. nobody is in a minority we are all humans we only have an interest in "minorities" to meet our own interests,i'm g*y you must treat me differently, i'm black you must treat me differently,i have a disability you must treat me differently,i'm extremely rich/poor you must treat me differently. now that you are all convinced that so many minorities exist i'm the kind of person (asker) who will show an interest in a minority group and go and earn a fat salary helping the oppressed minorities out there. Asker can you describe a minority woman and explain Why she is in a minority ?.

Answer 7

I think your answer speaks for itself here........

There is no ONE answer as...

...they may have "bigger" issues to deal with

...and / or they are scared

...or there is a cultural dogma that gets in the way.

However, there is not and can not be a singular answer ~ presupposing that your original question is 'accurate' for all minority women anyway.

[ I'll leave aside Which set of Minorities you're actually thinking of in your question. ]

Sash.

Answer 8

iono

Answer 9

1.You are assuming male oppression

2.Everyone is aware of feminism

3.Yes they have more important issues

4.Yes they are scared I am scared of some of them mean feminists

5.or what? Exactly. Main stream feminists of today promote the welfare of white middle class western women. The rest of womankind see this and mostly reject it.

In exactly the same way that feminists don't fight for men's rights they do not fight for working class black women's rights. They have become elitist.

Answer 10

Men do not oppress. Some do.

Women oppress. Some don't.

Your whole question is presumptious.

Your "feminism" is s*x-based and s*x-biased and therefore socially divisive.

Answer 11

George Carlin had a very good take on this.  His point was that the feminist movement (at least in the USA) was dominated by white women who "don't give a s--t about" the problems that ethnic minority women face, they're only concerned about their pocketbooks and their reproductive freedom.

Yes, his stance was politically incorrect, but it's not too far off the mark.  Most of the feminist literature I've seen assumes that all women are literate, educated, and have the same goals which could not be any more thoroughly disconnected from reality.

Ethnic minorities tend to have stronger cultural affiliations than white-bred America and, like it or not, those cultures tend to have very well-defined gender roles.  When you spend the majority of your life within the social structure of a culture, it becomes very difficult to break away from the expected norm for fear of losing that social support.  Let's also not forget that gender-specific oppression within ethnic cultures is a two-way street, men face female-originated oppression just as often as women do, they just don't make as big of a deal about it.