Across the four-year span of my high school career, the most extensive means by which I was academically exposed to feminism was during a 40-minute class period wherein my history instructor discussed Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963), a classic publication that has been praised as a feminist landmark. Within this presentation, the struggles of the confined housewife were divulged, the work’s “revolutionary” qualities were commended, and its author was praised for her ability to identify the oppressions faced by women of the time period. Yet, in dispersing information about this text and the salient social inequalities that it addressed, my teacher failed to mention that the “problem that has no name”- the famous phrase coined by…show more content… It was originally sparked by women of color in the 1970’s, and is characterized by its “international perspective,” its “attention to interlocking oppressions” which differentiate women, and its support of politics that call for a sense of female solidarity (Thompson 2004: 545). Essentially, this is a feminism which works to resist ostracism by acknowledging the identities and experiences of those who may be ignored in the telling of the seemingly “mainstream,” hegemonic narrative. In this way, it can be understood to exist as the antithesis of the hegemonic movement. In considering this concept and the example that is to follow, it is essential to understand that the idea of gender is necessary in understanding feminist activism, but it is not sufficient in defining it. Whereas hegemonic feminism ultimately makes the assumption that “all” women face the same struggles for the simple fact of being female, multiracial feminism acknowledges that factors such as race, class, sexuality, and nationality do indeed differentiate women, and that each of these constructs must be combatted to achieve overall success. The combination of these different oppressions and the manner in which they define individual identity is known as…show more content… By educating white, upper-class feminists on why a focus on abortion access and the pursuit of other limited interests only considers one side of a very diverse story, it is possible that they can become effective allies in the fight for a universal notion of justice. As cliché as it sounds, the idea of women’s liberation can only be accomplished through a front that says “We are all in this together,” one that looks beyond differences in identity in order to combat a universal source of oppression: the power structure that is the patriarchy (Martínez 2006: 192). Within the greater conception of multiracial feminism, publications such as Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (1981) serve as a literary amalgamation of the tactics that have been mentioned by both allowing for oppressed voices to be heard, and by informing white women of what is required to migrate from hegemonic standings to positions as open-minded, legitimate allies (Thompson 2004:
