The Rivival of Feminism, Essay Example

The Relationship of Women of Color and Lesbians of Feminism  

Lesbian feminism emerged as a result of women liberation exclusion movement of lesbians. On the onset of second-wave feminism in the 1960s, lesbianism was largely ignored by the feminist discourse.  During that period, several feminists developed a hostile attitude towards lesbians. Though Lesbianism was a political issue, it was viewed as a sexual issue.  Others also believed that the feminism project would do away with the strict sexual categories and introduce what was called natural polymorphous sexuality which would render the irrelevant the lesbian politics. According to the current phase of feminism, including feminism in the lesbianism agenda would be considered an overall undermining of the credibility of women’s movement.

The lesbian feminism of color emerged as a result of a text that was written by a white feminist author in late 1970s. It emerged as a strong liberation movement for the freedom of women. Women of color and other splinter groups formed aimed to protect women from discrimination. Initially, the constitution had not given explicit standards of dealing with cases of sex discrimination. Divisions emerged among the women groups, and this changed the way women fought for equality in the American society. More organized groups were formed to oppose the discriminations women faced. Women argued that American laws proved to be detrimental to women. The women movements, however, faced discrimination within themselves because of their races. The feminist movements were more organized in the black splinter groups (Rosenberg, 2008).

Rosenberg, (2008) describes the emergence of lesbian feminism in the 1960s. He also describes the formation of the lesbian secessionist movement as a result of the homophobic opinions presented by the homosexual feminist organizations during that period.

As a result of being ostracized, various lesbians came up with organizations and adopted political ideologies that would take care of their needs.  They even wrote books that addressed the resistance that lesbians face from the liberation movement of women.  Rita Mae Brown was one of the leaders of the Radica lesbians group.

The activists ordered a lesbian and female separatism claiming that only women are capable of giving each other a new sense of self. The activists also argue that heterosexuality and homosexuality are groups that were created by the male-dominated society with the aim of dominating and separating women (Rosenberg, 2008).

Lesbianism became a serious problem on May 1, 1970, during the second congress that was held to unite women.  The conference was specifically chosen by the lesbian to educate the feminists regarding the political barriers that they face. Attempts to present lesbian problems at the conference did not bear fruits leading to the passing pro-lesbian resolution at the final assembly. The Radicalesbian group was letter disbanded in 1971.

During this era, several heterosexual feminists showed a lot of disappointments in having sex introduced to their feminist lives. They strongly believed that their world had nothing to do with the internal relationship of sexuality.  Therefore, the introduction of sex was disadvantageous to most of the heterosexual feminists liked the women movement without the sexuality recipe.  As a result of the discomfort from the homosexual aspect, lesbian feminists had to isolate themselves from the sexual aspect of lesbianism. Instead, they made it clear to the feminists that lesbianism had only to do with sensuality rather than sexuality. They also had also to convince feminists that lesbianism had nothing to do with bedroom issues but made it clear that lesbians are obsessed with love and fidelity (Rosenberg, 2008).

From the ideology, lesbianism was billed successfully as a form of feminism. This practice did not involve men at an emotional level. Heterosexual feminists were therefore considered to be inferior since they continued to interact with men.  Therefore, lesbians took the front line and became true owners of feminism. Heterosexual feminists exited the movement when the association between radical feminism and lesbianism was becoming strong.

In several cases within the feminist movement, lesbian feminists bragged of being the vanguards of feminism. They were therefore accused of arrogance and elitism. The difference between lesbians and feminists led to the formation of a new separatist group known as The Furies Collective. The group became famous. However, despite being famous, they did not succeed in launching a bigger separatist movement.  The group operated together and raised kids together. They were even unapologetic about their stances and beliefs on political issues. This attracted the anger of several homosexual feminists. The separatist movement, however, lets The Furriers to a more insular and separated experience. The group had to be disbudded after the departure of their leader Rita Mae Brown.

In the 1980s onwards, there was the emergence of the black feminism. The black feminism challenged practices and perspectives that were developed among white feminists that oppressed and excluded black women. Black feminists beseeched the white feminist to take with seriousness the inequalities and differences between women, take into consideration how racism affects black women and address racism within the movement. The research on Black Feminism and theory makes the perspective and experience of black women very important.  Black feminism strongly opposes the assumption of common sisterhood among women. This version of feminism also does not describe men as oppressors. They argue that all blacks, men, and women, must do everything it takes and work politically to battle against racism. It goes without saying that most of the feminists both in the United States and the United Kingdom are anti-imperialists. This means that they have the international perspective.

In conclusion, lesbian-feminism transformed communities in the 1970s and gave them new hopes. The formation of new spaces changed the way lesbians felt, how they related to each other and this has slowly transformed the world.  The new groups and committees have helped in transforming the world’s view of lesbianism.

Work cited

Rosenberg, Rosalind. Divided lives: American women in the twentieth century. Macmillan, 2008. 204-2015