Preview

Age, Class, And Sex: Women Redefining Difference By Audre Lorde

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
234 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Age, Class, And Sex: Women Redefining Difference By Audre Lorde
In the essay titled, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference”, Audre Lorde discusses the ways society teaches individuals to believe that when discussing difference, there are only dichotomous views. She describes these dualities as being dominant/subordinate, good/bad, superior/inferior, etc. Within these dichotomies, there is always one group who is the subordinate, bad, inferior, which she believes to be the black/third world people, working-class people, older people, and women. Although there are differences between humans, she argues that “it is not those differences between us that are separating us, instead it is the refusal to recognize those differences, and to examine the distortions which result from our misnaming

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Maria Lugones in her article "Playfulness, “World”-Traveling, & Loving Perception" argues, it is until one designates the time to learn more information about others, they will not have a true understanding of that individual. She argues this by saying, it is a frequent practice of categorizing individuals with similar characteristics (i.e. race) in the same “world”. I will begin this precis by discussing Lugones’ idea of arrogant perception, and how she believes women are taught this practice at an early age.…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    These chapters further acknowledge the efforts of resisting the social patterns and differences that have been created by society…

    • 1389 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Audre Lorde’s, Uses of the Erotic, and Sapphire’s Push, both highlight important concepts surrounding women, race and sexuality. Lorde uses the word erotic and expresses it as a power that women possess. A power which she expresses is related to sex but not bound to it. Lorde emphasizes the importance of connecting with our bodies, our feelings, and those of other women as well. We as women have a power within us which we need to explore. On the other hand, Sapphire introduces us to a young African American woman named Precious who is the victim of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse by both her mother and father. Her inner power has been tainted and introduced to her in a way which confuses her soul. It is because of her abuse that she disconnects…

    • 2058 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Society’s way of thinking intensely about identity, places individuals in specific gender roles. Historically, gender identification has been socially constructed within individuals in a society. The debate on expectations embedded in society has been discussed constantly in the past. During the late 19th century, identity roles have changed with an innumerable influential number of women who fought in numerous ways for the same rights that men were effortlessly granted. The roles of females have also changed significantly for gender equality; however, in the 21st century, women and men are still not considered equal. Also, gender equality differs across cultures as women and men are stereotyped according to the roles they must assume in the society. However, both sexes are still expected to exude a character that is defined by societal expectations, restraints, and religious values.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hurston And Hooks Analysis

    • 1499 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Raising your child with great self esteem destroys the feeling of being the other. Lorde believes that many races don’t fit into the dominant culture. This causes different races to try to fit into a “mythical norm”. She says, “Somewhere,…

    • 1499 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ruth Frankenberg

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This chapter elaborates on Frankenberg’s statement that ‘race shapes white women’s lives’. Ruth begins by comparing this statement to those that are more commonly heard, such as how gender shapes the lives of men and women. She then begins to elaborate on her theory by bringing to the reader’s attention to the broad perspective of ‘whiteness.’…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Afro-Cuban Revolution

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages

    However, certain individuals were given more power and higher status despite their race or gender, because of the higher amount of wealth that they had. However, despite the efforts of certain individuals, hierarchies of race and gender remained throughout the history of Colonial Latin America and beyond. Race, culture and class were all created by humans and as time goes on they were shaped and reshaped. The concept of race was different in the U.S from colonial Latin America. Sadly, the racism that lied between most of these nations in colonial times still exists today. Racism needs to stop, but the solution is yet to be found. The way that we see people will always be in the back of our minds and so it is difficult to get that image out. The same goes with gender; men were always seen as better than women and it’s difficult to get that idea out of one’s mind. Thus, race and gender have created significant systems of power in colonial Latin America, but it’s time for change. The challenge is to assure equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of their skin color, their ethnicity or even their gender. However, to end racism and inequality between genders, the mindset of society has to change which is not easy. Until this happens, if it ever does, then nothing will…

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the video “Kathy and Mo Show”, the ladies examine every aspect of gender stratification. Gender stratification cuts across all aspects of social life, social classes, and refers to men and women’s unequal access to power, prestige, and property on the basis of their sex. Gender roles are portrayed throughout the video as well. Our text explains these are the sets of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Question: Was the development of gender inequality natural or was it created by early humans?…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Argued by Roxana Ng that Ethnicity/race, gender, and class must be treated as social relations which have to do with how people relate to each other through productive and reproductive activities (230). By analyzing the Canadian immigration history it is obvious that men and women and various races were treated differently. As a proof for this argument historical evidences are available. For instance, “Chinese men were not allowed to bring their wives and families to Canada so they could not propagate and spread the yellow menace” (Ng, 234). It is important to know the definitions regarding ethnicity and race are social constructions that shift constantly, reflecting the changing dynamics of gender, race and class relations over time, throughout her paper (Ng, 227). Further on the changing dynamics of race, class and gender as stated “gender, race/ethnicity, and class are not fixed entities. They are socially constructed in and through productive and reproductive relations in which we all participate” (239). Wisely speaking, Ng is arguing in the right direction because by comparing the social construction of Canada today to early 1900s, we can analyze that there have been significant shifts in the definitions and individual’s views regarding race/ethnicity, class, and gender. As an illustration, in…

    • 1282 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Black Like Me

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Although there has been moderate progress and many attempts to further unify races over the past decades, there is still a considerable division. It appears that Blacks will be acknowledged as being less important and treated with little respect in our western society. "He who is less than just is less than man" (55). As we have learned from the history of racism in the Deep South, people treat other races poorly not because of a person’s social and moral traits but because of the colour of their skin. This notion is evident in the book, where people refer to it as a “Lack of Unity” (32), showing that there is a clear division between white and black people in all aspects of life.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Aging and gender impacts in our society in different ways and there are many issues where…

    • 298 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Race, Class, & Gender

    • 2265 Words
    • 10 Pages

    "I am an American," says over 308,745,538 people in the United States this year ("2010 Census Data.") These people originate from everywhere; America is a "melting pot" of culture, and that can unfortunately cause social inequalities to arise through the Matrix of Domination, a theory that mirrors the intersectionality of race, class, and gender, as coauthor of Race, Class, & Gender, an Anthology Patricia Hill Collins claims (Andersen, and Collins xi-xiii.) These two terms give label to the commonplace phenomena of race, class, and gender work within a system of social relationships. The understanding of people from other cultures has grown in many ways over the history of the United States. America is starting to realize that the ethnocentric, or judging of others culture through the values of their own, is no longer an acceptable way to approach others. There is still a long way to go to more firmly develop a country with a general appreciation of diversity and inclusive thought. Knowledge is the power that will keep populations in peaceful, cultural awareness and harmonious equality.…

    • 2265 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Class Divided

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In 1968 the words DISCRIMINATION, RACISM and STEREOTYPING were used every day and no one thought twice about it. It came from fear and ignorance from people who were afraid to see people different from them. When Dr. Martin Luther King was shot, it changed the world, whether it was for the better or not remains to be seen. Mrs. Jane Elliot from Riceville, Iowa set out to change the way her third grade class thought of these things by doing an EXPERIMENT, in hopes that it would spread and hopefully one day get her message across to everyone.…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Need to create new categories of analysis that are inclusive of race, class, and gender as distinctive yet interlocking structures of oppression.…

    • 5658 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Powerful Essays