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Jezebel, Pocahottie, Mami, and China Doll: Highlighting Racialized Sexual Violence
Sexual violence has always been racialized (as well as gender-biased), and there is no one narrative that can fully capture the diversity of experiences. I reject the idea that there is a "universal womanhood" and universal experiences that all women share. Aside from the fact that these universal ideals exclude non-cisgender women, they ignore complexities of race and class discrimination, which many of us cannot afford to do.
I don't believe in trickle-down effects, and mainstream American rights movements have always been just that. Especially in feminist movements, more marginalized groups of women have been overlooked, while being promised that effects gained by the largely middle class, married White women activists would spread to those groups. Time and time again, the intersectionality of race, gender, and socioeconomic status (and so many more axes) are ignored in these movements and we are delivered empty promises.
Much pushback after highlighting race in issues, especially sexual violence, is due to the fact that White women have expressed that this is somehow demeaning their experiences. This is entirely false; recognizing that women of color experience more sexual violence and silencing than White women is not demeaning the traumatic experiences of White women. It is important in any situation to examine and understand how this situation manifests differently for different people. Still, the sexual assault of a woman of color isn't any more heinous than that of a White woman.
Breaking down the statistics of sexual violence by race, you will find that women of color experience higher rates of sexual violence than their White counterparts. While it is believed that as much as 60 percent of sexual violence goes unreported, in public discourse of sexual violence, the statistics put forth are those averaged out between all groups of women. Thus, the intersectional lives of women of color are ignored.
I don't believe in trickle-down effects, and mainstream American rights movements have always been just that. Especially in feminist movements, more marginalized groups of women have been overlooked, while being promised that effects gained by the largely middle class, married White women activists would spread to those groups. Time and time again, the intersectionality of race, gender, and socioeconomic status (and so many more axes) are ignored in these movements and we are delivered empty promises.
Much pushback after highlighting race in issues, especially sexual violence, is due to the fact that White women have expressed that this is somehow demeaning their experiences. This is entirely false; recognizing that women of color experience more sexual violence and silencing than White women is not demeaning the traumatic experiences of White women. It is important in any situation to examine and understand how this situation manifests differently for different people. Still, the sexual assault of a woman of color isn't any more heinous than that of a White woman.
Breaking down the statistics of sexual violence by race, you will find that women of color experience higher rates of sexual violence than their White counterparts. While it is believed that as much as 60 percent of sexual violence goes unreported, in public discourse of sexual violence, the statistics put forth are those averaged out between all groups of women. Thus, the intersectional lives of women of color are ignored.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anahvia-taiyib/jezebel-pocahottie-mami-a_b_5113462.html
