Preview

Womanism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
762 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Womanism
"Africana Womanism: An Historical, Global Prespective for Women of African Descent"

"Africana Womanism: An Historical, Global Perspective for Women of African Descent" is an essay based on Africana Womanism and how it compares to white feminism. The essay was written by Clenora Hudson-Weems, an African American writer and literary critic. She was born in Oxford, Mississippi and she was raised in Memphis, Tennessee. I will compare Africana Womanism and Feminism and discuss the definition of the two the topics. Also I will discuss the important historical figures that are womanists. I think the issue is important because the common misconception is that a womanist and a feminist are the same thing but they are totally different. A womanist is more family oriented and feminists are dealing with the empowerment of themselves. Clenora Hudson-Weems wrote "Africana Womanism: An Historical, Global Perspective for Women of African Descent" and it was about womanism. Another word for womanism is feminism, and feminism is defined as the empowerment of woman. In the era of women's rights, women were not treated as equals, especially black women. Colored women could not get any equality or any empowerment unless they live in a community which they can establish their own racial and cultural integrity. White women and Africana both have the same amount of rights but white women had better accommodations as far as restrooms, water fountains, swimming pools, and everything else that is segregated. I think that Africana women were oppressed more than white women. I believe that black women should be treated just as equally as white women. Africana women are fighting for civil rights and women's rights. Africana women have been more concerned for the whole Africana community. Their main priority is "…race empowerment, with class and gender following…"(Weems, 80). Womanism was important in the Africana community because the Africana women was trying empower not just themselves

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    "Community cannot for long feed on itself; it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond, their unknown and undiscovered brothers."…

    • 4756 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Apush Dbq

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One of the main activists for abolition and African American rights were women. Women believed that by lobbying for black rights they could gain respect and power. This was a failure. Women did lobby for African rights but by attaching there own cause for equality on to it they gravely hurt the cause. Many people attacked them. Eventfully to support there cause they had to relinquish power of these organizations and give up the fight for suffrage momently because men were more unwilling to give women equality than they were to give it to black…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being an African American woman, I pay close attention to the roles women are playing in society. I feel that women, in spite of their race share a common interest. We want to be counted as equal citizens of the…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The roles these woman faced between their community and family were relentlessly altered compared to the female roles that were a tradition in society. 1 As Deborah Gray White stated in her book Ar’n’t I a Woman? “black woman were unprotected by men or by law, and they had their womanhood totally denied.” (12) Unfortunately, black women did not belong to that body of females who deserved respect and protection. Female slaves had the least power in the society. They were also the most vulnerable due to the fact that they were African American in an all-white society and were slaves in…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    2). This statement would seem imply that all people, regardless of creed, gender, race or ethnicity, have equal access to the advancement in all facets of life. Regardless of this conceptions’ status as a distinguish American ideal, complete equality among all groups of people has and will never be a reality in our country. There are too many different groups of people categorized into a hierarchy and sustain innumerable degrees of wealth, power, and prestige, habitually as a result of prejudice and…

    • 3745 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A significant figure that advocated for women, specifically African-American women, is Mary McLeod Bethune. Although her central focus was earning recognition for black women, her concepts of equality spoke for women of all…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Teresa Schopp English 266 Women Writers October 11, 2010 Now That I Am Forever With Child I would first like to quote from an author who is in our text. But we have not read her yet. Her name is Dilys…

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The movement encompassed women such as Mary McLeod Bethune. She portrayed and empowered women by becoming a leading role model in the ideology of education was a crucial component in “racial advancement”. Additionally in the Jim Crow era, were racialists and southern ideologies linking women together in an interracial movement for all women equalities. In turn, strengthen the women’s movement with political activism.…

    • 187 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, these setbacks were the fuel that caused them to actively participate in any way they could. The oppression of Black people, especially Black women goes back to slavery and has taken many forms. They include sexual abuse, spending a limited amount of time with their own families on the plantation, denial of basic rights, job discrimination, sexism, patriarchy and economic injustices (Alkalimat, 208-210). This is why their role in the Civil Rights Movement and the liberation of all oppressed people is important. While they were championing for these causes, they were also doing so for themselves and making waves. They wanted freedom from a system that silenced their opinions. They chose to be activists and leaders who broke standards, despite a society that told them that they were to be subordinate to men. Their struggles created strong, independent Black women who were just as effective as men and have much success to show for…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history both African-Americans and women have fought for equal rights. Their right to work, vote and overall be accepted for who they were. No matter gender or race. In the fight for equal rights, movements were made including abolitionism and women rights activism. In the same way Women and African Americans fought for their rights by speaking out and including their own life experiences.…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminist Theory

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The focus of this essay was on how the female body and the disabled body are seen as inferior in society. This reading really made me realize how we view disabled and female bodies in our society, and how we typically look the disabled so differently. I also thought about how often people so easily overlook the struggles that many disabled bodies have to deal with, like disabled women who want to have children or public facilities not having wheelchair access. It’s sad to recognize how most people see the disabled as inadequate and compensate for that by pitying them, rather than trying to treat them the same way as an able-bodied person. This essay made me think of one of my good friend’s older sister with Down syndrome, and how when we are out in public with her how many people stare at her because her disability is visible. I found it interesting how this essay talked about how the female body is seen as disabled and inferior to men’s: weak, soft, passive, etc. This essay sheds light on how our society has been trained to undervalue those whose bodies are considered abnormal.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Feminism

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Women for years have been socially oppressed and not given gender equality. Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, economical and social equality to man. According to the Dictionary of Critical Theory, feminism’s common core is the thesis that the relationship between the sexes is one of inequality or oppression and that all forms of feminism seek to identify the cause of that inequality and remedy it.…

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Feminist Theory

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages

    * The female lead is still a glamorous actress, who is sexually appealing men. The camera encourages the audience to view the women in a voyeuristic way.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    From Africa to America, African American women have embraced the spirit of creativity and survival. For years the black woman has been the backbone of our culture. It was our faith and positive spirits that played a great part in surviving slavery and being treated as second class citizens during the Civil Rights Movement. Now as we enter the 21st century, it is time to exert our strengths at a new level. The African American woman's role is to grow and prosper in business, support and be active in her community, maintain a strong family foundation, be spiritually grounded and to emend our health.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sexism

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages

    sexes. The notion that women are not on the same level as men has always been in existence. We…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays