Soujourner Truth was the original Third Wave Feminist [View all]

[Catherina]

(cross-posted from Meta

I posted this as part of a Meta discussion about the 2nd and 3rd wave because I don't see the waves as chronological phases. I see them as having always overlapped and that even at the beginning of the Suffragette movement, there were plenty of 3rd Wavers and Lipstick Feminists.

It's been posted in the Feminist Group and the Feminist and Diversity Group. Now that I've joined this group, please forgive me for crossposting this a 4th time if you've already seen it. And please forgive me that it's a little clumsy and not tailored for this group. It came up in Meta after all.

If you need a quick rundown on the three feminist waves,

"The wave terminology is shorthand for different eras with different focuses" (Gormy Cuss)

1st wave feminism: voting rights, property rights, birth control (that existed at the time - condoms or sponges and, just as important, education about sexuality and how to prevent conception.)
2nd wave feminism: sexual freedom, legislative work to change sexist law, integration into the workplace, equal funding, integration into the political arena
3rd wave feminism: sexual freedom, inclusion of gendered females, diversity, inclusion of women of color and women from other cultures - plus the issues surrounding both 1st and 2nd wave feminism.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/124096792#post231)

I see her that way because in gender and race issues throughout the history of Feminism the relationship between feminists and civil rights activists, progressive movements was very uneasy and non-Whites felt that the main Feminist groups tolerated the most insidious kinds of chauvinism, patriarchy and bigotry.

"So, too, our histories with feminism. It is because white women inherently kept gatekeeping the right to determine the forms and agenda of feminist movement building that Alice Walker felt so compelled to create womanism, that Barbara Smith and the members of Combahee had to articulate what Black feminism looked like, that Fran Beale and the members of the TWWA had to articulate what a third world feminism looked like, that Gloria Anzaldua had to articulate what a Chicana feminism looked like."

http://crunkfeministcollective.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/i-saw-the-sign-but-did-we-really-need-a-sign-slutwalk-and-racism/

Suggested reading for anyone interested in this

1. Michelle Wallace: "Anger in Isolation: A Black Feminist's Search for Sisterhood,"
2. Margaret Simons: "Racism and Feminism: A Schism in the Sisterhood"
3. "Vol. 9.1 - A History of Black Feminism in the U.S." http://www.mit.edu/~thistle/v9/9.01/6blackf.html
4. Audre Lorde: "I am your sister"
5. Audre Lorde, Cheryl Clarke: "Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches"
6. Anything by Dorothy Sue Cobble, Silke Roth, Bell Hooks and Kimberly Springer who wrote about the racism within the predominately White Feminist movement

and it's still going on, to this day. The transphobia, so viciously expressed by some Feminists, stems from the same roots. So does the demand that you only have allegiance to Feminism and no other -isms.

This is just one current example and write up about the racism still prevalent: "White Privilege Diary Series #1 - White Feminist Privilege in Organizations"

Back to Soujourner. I read her short speech "Ain't I A Woman" as a slap in the face to the racists, especially the racist male and female supporters of Feminism who didn't want her to speak, even to the more kind-hearted but privileged ones who wanted to keep race issues out of the picture.

She was accused of being a man and bared her breasts to prove she wasn't, saying "Ain't I A Woman". Shortly afterwards she gave her famous speech off the top of her head.

The incident at Inez Milholland's grave was another ugly show, among many. It looks to me like the third wave, fighting for inclusiveness and equal rights for everyone, was there from the beginning and gained strength as people's attitudes evolved.


Here's an amazing book on the subject



http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/250792.Ain_t_I_a_Woman