Redefining Women, Essay Example

The problem of discrimination is one of the most delicate and sensitive problems in the modern society. Sex discrimination makes it difficult for women to earn their living that in its turn makes their economical disadvantage associated with child-bearing even worse. That is the reason why the women’s liberation movement became so popular in the early ‘70s. However, there is also the opinion that the problem is strained and in fact is the result of women’s wish to be superior to men.

In the USA discrimination today is one of the most disputed social problems. Most often people are oppressed because of their age, race, class and sex. However there is not shared vision on the question if it is pervasive and influential enough to be worth discussing. Many state that there are high rates of poverty and unemployment among so called oppressed people as strong evidence that some kinds of discrimination are still very powerful.  The opponents are referring to the fact that inherent abilities of people are equal and large differences in outcome may be also explained by the lack of persistence and industry.  Others argue that these statistics are not the result of discrimination, but are the result of other factors, such as low standards of education, high crime rates, cultural decay and historical reasons.  Very often systematized oppression is explained by inferiority rather than discrimination.

Audre Lorde in her essay Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference makes an attempt to look into the problem of discrimination and find the solution through understanding and redefining of apparent difference between people. Being forty-nine-year-old Black lesbian feminist socialist mother of two children the author of the essay begins with race discrimination. Then, developing her idea she means to convey that incomprehension of difference between people of black race makes it impossible for them to realize their equality to white people and strive for recognition of their equality. So, she writes: “We have all been programmed to respond to the human differences between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ig­nore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is domi­nant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate. But we have no patterns for relating across our human differences as equals” (1984). Thus her essay is devoted to the point of understanding and accepting differences between people.

First of all, Audre Lorde is talking about inability to accept the fact that people are different and use it to the best advantage. The majority of people who are afraid of being accused of racism reject the idea of difference between people. However, it makes the problem even worse. The anthropological and cultural diversity of races is evident. But it should not cause distrust and conflicts. Even if codes of contact and perceptions of one racial group is incomprehensible to the other one, inconvenience can be easily overcome, in case people are aware of the difference and are used to dealing with it. But do not ignore it. When this occurs, it becomes possible to take advantage of the difference – to take from the other culture what yours lacks and in turn complement it by your own virtues. Thus, Lorde’s idea that first of all people should understand that difference does not mean inequality is more than legitimate.

Another point covered by Audre Lorde is that those fighting for equality of rights, as a rule, take only one aspect of oppression. So, the women who participate in women’s liberation movement pay no attention to race or age discrimination. Moreover, they may even oppress those of other age or race. According to Audre Lorde, “there is a pretense to a homogeneity of experience covered by the word sisterhood that does not in fact exist” (1984). This statement is very reasonable, especially for those who want to succeed in their attempt to comprehend natural differences between people and thereby make people of different race, sex, age and class equal in rights. Because in case women striving for their equality to men do no see difference between themselves, it makes them split up and, therefore, unable to act effectively. Audre Lorde is talking much about the conflicts within certain oppressed groups. For her personally the separation between black women is on the front burner.

As a conclusion to her reasoning, Lorde states that it is extremely important for people to review the problem of discrimination in order to be able to survive. According to her, “now we must recognize differences among women who are our equals, neither inferior nor superior, and devise ways to use each others’ dif­ference to enrich our visions and our joint struggles” (1984). So, the aim is to redefine the relationships within groups keeping in mind differences of people which are natural and, therefore, may be used as a means of achieving general objects. To add, it would be impossible to come to any positive changes without a new outlook on the problem.

However, it should be noted that Audre Lorde’s estimation of the discrimination problems is rather subjective. Being forty-nine-year-old black lesbian feminist socialist mother, she experienced the effect of all possible prejudices that, on the one hand, makes her statements sound realistic and urgent. On the other hand, her arguments seem sometimes prejudiced themselves. For example, she is writing about the women’s magazine col­lective which made the decision to print only prose, because poetry was not serious enough for their magazine. Lorde explains this decision by class discrimination: “Of all the art forms, poetry is the most economical. It is the one which is the most secret, which requires the least physical labor, the least material, and the one which can be done between shifts, in the hospital pantry, on the subway, and on scraps of surplus paper… As we reclaim our literature, poetry has been the major voice of poor, working class, and Colored women” (1984). It should be added that Audre Lorde was a poet, so this point was especially important to her. It is not upon us to decide if the women’s magazine col­lective made that decision because poetry was the product of the poor or not, but it seems that the isolated situation like this can not serve as an example of class discrimination.

To conclude, Audre Lorde contributed much to the attempt to solve the discrimination problems. She proved the necessity of major changes including the comprehension of difference between people for ensuring better cooperation. Although Audre Lorde’s statements seem a little prejudiced, we can’t but agree that reformations she suggested are absolutely necessary.

References

Lorde, A. (1984). Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference. Sister Outsider Crossing Press. Retrieved February 26, 2009, from www.cowleyclub.org.uk/index.php?download=age%20race%20class%20sex.doc