Multiracial feminist theory

Multiracial feminist theory is a feminist theory thought to have gained momentum in the 1970s by feminist women of color. Sociologist Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thornton Dill wrote “Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism” in 1996, a piece bearing a heavy emphasis on intersectionality and the application of intersectional analysis in feminist discourse.^[1]

Overview

A product, in part, of Chicana feminism, multiracial feminist theory covers a wide range of gender-based, racial and political discourses intended to further analyze the interlocking oppressions minorities, women, women of color and other oppressions individuals face.

History

Having first gained steam in the 1970s, multiracial feminism grew as a movement to challenge racist, classist, and sexist barriers not as separate, singular matters but as interlocking identities that make up both privilege and oppression.^[2] Multiracial feminism is described as a “liberation movement spearheaded by women of color” and focused primarily on intersectional analysis and both an international and a multiracial approach to oppression.^[3]

Major theorists

• Maxine Baca Zinn – born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on June 11, 1942, Maxine Baca Zinn is a renowned sociologist known largely as being one of the “foremothers of multiracial feminism.”^[4] Working alongside other feminist powerhouse theorists like Bonnie Thornton Dill, Patricia Hill Collins and Lynn Weber, Baca Zinn’s findings revealed a deeper need for intersectional analysis regarding identities such as race and gender in contemporary feminism.
• Bonnie Thornton Dill
• Becky Thompson
• Patricia Hill Collins

Application

It is widely agreed by many if not most multiracial feminists that multiracial feminist theory is needed in order to broaden feminist discourse and bring much-needed intersectionality to contemporary feminist movements. In spite of this, however, multiracial feminism struggles to gain momentum as an intersectional approach to combating oppression and is fairly new concept in the world of quantitative research. New though it may be, Catherine Harnios in her book, Feminist Measure in Survey Research, writes that multiracial feminism may be more beneficial to feminist discourse than once thought.^[5]

Family study, formation and power relations have been extensively examined using a multiracial feminist approach, the results of which reveal a hidden power dynamic between “advantaged families and disadvantaged families.”^[6] Advantaged families have been shown to rely upon the labor and disadvantage of poorer families, women, women of color, minorities and immigrants.

Activism

Though women of color are rarely credited as being prevalent in the 2nd Wave feminist movement, it has become evident that multiracial feminism was very much present in the 1980s through the 1990s and even today.

In the 1970s, women of color worked alongside hegemonic, white feminist groups but found it to be mostly centered on the white, middleclass feminist issues of the time. With the help of white, anti-racist women, women of color gave rise to multiracial feminist theory and led to the development of organizations created by and for women of color.^[7]

Multiracial feminists of the 1980s challenged white feminism by speaking out of the individual experiences of women of color, immigrants, and “third-world women” who had been largely swept under the rug.^[8] This was mostly done through multiracial feminist writings which have been revealed to date as far back as the 1960s.

Online activism

There has been a notable increase of multiracial feminists, journalists and bloggers using online media to write about and theorize on intersectionality and multiracial experience as it relates to class, gender and race cooperatively in contemporary society.

Journalist for msmagazine.com, Janell Hobson, writes a critique of white feminist activism pointing out the fact that women of color are still being left out of the conversation in current feminist discourse. She claims that it is time feminists “reclaim solidarity” by recognizing race and gender as being intertwined, rather than separate matters to be deal with individually.^[9]

Similarly, Lara Witt, a multiracial woman who writes for Rewire.news, calls upon both her privilege and oppression to understand her role as a multiracial feminist with the ability to speak out against racism towards Black people, Hispanics, and Indian folks.^[10]

Organizations

In April 1996, there was a rally in Middletown, Connecticut led by a multiracial coalition.^[11] Taking place at Wesleyan University, the rally was organized in defense of journalist and author Mumia Abu-Jamal who had been placed on death row in Pennsylvania.

Criticism

Indeed, multiracial feminist theory appears to be an inclusive approach by which proper intersectional analysis can spur a new feminist movement, one that is not only inclusive of all sexes, genders, races and more but one that understands the interlocking oppressions and privileges that make up ones unique experiences. However, some criticisms have been raised challenging whether or not multiracial feminist theory can actually produce measurable results due to a lack of “existing survey tools” by which to quantify or examine those experiences.^[12] It is unclear as to whether or not these criticisms will be the undoing of multiracial feminist theory or if such drawbacks can be overcome with more time and research.

See also

• Feminist theory § History of feminist theory
• Maxine Baca Zinn § Early life and education
• Intersectionality § Historical background

References