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Women of Color in the Feminist Movement: an Invisible Subgroup?

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Women of Color in the Feminist Movement: an Invisible Subgroup? Women of Color in the Feminist Movement: An Invisible Subgroup? By: Carolyn Friend Problem z Do women of color have a strong presence in the feminist movement ? z How did feminist organizations for women of color take off ? Are there connections between their rise and the rise of general feminist and general women’s organizations? z Does there seem to be a connection to historical events and other social movements? Theories and Hypotheses z Organization dynamic model: growing density of civil rights organizations promoted women’s activism and organizational activity. (Minkoff 1997) z Most ethnic/racial minority rights struggles spawn separate women’s movement (Garcia 1989) z There should be a steady increase in cumulative women’s organizations from 1848 with sharper increase in the late 1960s. Hypotheses z Organizations for women of color are out there, but they don’t have the bodies and $ to be as strong as general feminist organizations. z Due to institutional racism and the whiteness of mainstream feminism, organizations for women of color struggle to catch on. Background on Feminist Movement z Feminist movement- industrialization, urbanization, displacement of female functions out of the home, further education, changing values of women z 1830-1865: Women wanted to get involved in abolitionist movement but couldn’t because they weren’t allowed to speak in public (Freeman 1975) Background z First Wave of feminism- centered around women’s suffrage movement (1890-1920) z “like White men, many White women wanted the power of the vote—exclusively for themselves.” (Taylor 1998, 237) z African American women were pushed out by white suffragists but still remained active in the start-up of the civil rights movement Background z Second Wave of feminism- centered around women’s liberation movement: mid 1960s-70s z Kick started by civil rights movement: 1954- 1965 (Taylor 1998, 239) z “frustration with the contradictions between progressive politics and practice led [women of the civil rights movement] to organize independently against male-dominated institutions” (Minkoff 1997, 783) Second Wave & Women of Color z 1966- National Organization for Women is founded by Betty Friedan, Aileen Hernandez, and Pauli Murray (Taylor 1998, 242) z Portions of NOW were modeled after NAACP z In 1974 10% of NOW members were of color z Prior to 1973 black women’s groups dealt with problems in the black community. Black Women Organized for Action National Black Feminist Organization (Freeman 1975) Black Feminist Organizing z 1973- NBFO held their first conference and were very particular about the attendees z Worked to change beliefs that feminism was only advantageous to white women z Pressured NOW to include issues of women of color and poor white women z Most influential group in the struggle were lesbians (Taylor 1998) After the protests… z Late 1970s: sharp increase in density of organizations z Mass membership associations z Specialized groups z Single-issue groups z Traditional women’s groups z “Unobtrusive” mobilization (Katzenstein 1990) (Minkoff 1997) Methods z Associations Unlimited z Subject descriptor “women” & “feminism” z Only national organizations z 627 total z 362 feminist z 58 women of color z Coded for founding date, staff size, budget, what racial group the org focused on, and whether or not the org was feminist Codebook z 0=general feminist z 1=Black z 2=Hispanic z 3=Asian z 4=Middle Eastern z 6=general minority focus z 7=American Indian z Feminist: promotes equity; physical, mental and emotional wellbeing; integrate into church; women’s health policy; advocacy Minority Focus Women's Organizations 25 20 15 10 5 0 Af-Am Hispanic Asian Middle General American Eas ter n Minority Indian All Women’s Groups: N=566 600 500 400 Cumulative Women's Groups 300 200 100 0 1844 1883 1895 1908 1918 1927 1935 1944 1951 35 1960 30 1968 25 1975 Women's Group Foundings 20 1982 15 1989 10 1996 5 0 1844 1883 1895 1908 1918 1927 1935 1944 1951 1960 1968 1975 1982 1989 1996 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 1858 Women ofColor: N=49 General Feminist: N=324 1890 1899 1916 1921 1928 1938 Foundings Feminist 1946 1951 1956 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1 2 3 4 5 6 1858 1935 1952 1969 Women of Foundings Color Women 1972 1975 1977 1980 1982 1984 1986 1991 1993 1995 Aggregated Budget Aggregated Staff Size Entire Sample $434,482,143.00 4,746 Feminist $203,403,556.00 2,564 Non-Feminist $231,078,587.00 2,182 Women of Color $14,788,230.00 237 z Feminist Organizations z 47% of aggregated budget z 54% of aggregated staff z Average Org: $562,000; 7 staff members z Women of Color Organizations z 3.4% of aggregated budget z 5% of aggregated staff z Average Org: $255,000; 4 staff members Women's Org Budgets 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 under $25,000 $25,000 to $100,001 to $500,001 to over $100,000 $500,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 Feminist Budgets Women of Color Budgets 40 8 35 7 30 6 25 5 20 4 15 3 10 2 5 1 0 0 under $25,000 to $100,001 to $500,001 to over under $25,000 to $100,001 to $500,001 to over $25,000 $100,000 $500,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $25,000 $100,000 $500,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 Staff Sizes, Women's Organizations 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Zero or One 2-4 5-7 8-10 More than missing 10 Staff Sizes, Feminist Staff Sizes, Women of Color 180 35 160 30 140 120 25 100 20 80 15 60 10 40 20 5 0 0 Zero or One 2-4 5-7 8-10 More than Zero or One 2-4 5-7 8-10 More than missing 10 missing 10 Analysis part 2 z Chose around 15 large women of color organizations to profile z Encyclopedia of Associations – every 5 years (1970- present) z Membership z Staff z Budget z Issues z Goal was to see how issues changed over the course of the organizations history Why it didn’t work z Needed to work forward in time instead of backward z High mortality rate of organizations when looking back z Insanely time consuming z Many entries that did show up in many editions also stayed exactly the same Other Issues z Founding black women’s organizations aren’t in the Encyclopedia so I wonder what else is missing z I would have liked to do the same sort of analyses with civil rights organizations z Out of all feminist organizations, 230 are missing budget information and 157 are missing staff information z There is no research on this topic Interpretations z All the literature backs up that the civil rights movement opened the door for the women’s liberation movement. I couldn’t separate them if I tried. z Women’s organizations do begin increasing in numbers after Seneca Falls z Feminist organization foundings also seem linked to historical events- 19th Amendment, Civil Rights Act, founding of landmark organizations z Organizations for women of color increase after the Second Wave of feminism begins. In response to racism within the movement? Further Interpretations z It appears that women of color organizations do actually have the staff to keep the orgs running, they just lack funding z Women of color are less likely to have the time and $ to devote to worrying about social issues (Freeman 1975) z Donors tend to be wealthy whites (Ostrander 1999) z Since my part 2 analyses didn’t quite work it is obviously that women of color organizations do struggle to keep going Conclusions z Feminism is a very white movement z Organizations for women of color are out there, they follow similar patterns to general feminist organizations, but they encounter more roadblocks z It would be very interesting to trace how major feminist organizations issues have changed. z Perhaps issues concerning women of color have been incorporated more recently? Hence the mortality of many organizations. Bibliography Associations Unlimited Online Database. 2003. Gale Research Co. http://www.galegroup.com/. Feminist Pedagogy Resources and Tools. 2003. OSU Women’s Studies Dept. http://www.womens- studies.ohio-state.edu/pedagogy/Teaching/timeline.html. Freeman, Jo. 1975. The Politics of Women’s Liberation. New York: David McKay Company, Inc. Gale Research Company. 1970-2002. Encyclopedia of Associations. Vol 1, National Organizations. Detroit: Gale Research Co. Garcia, Alma. 1989. “The Development of Chicana Feminist Discourse, 1970-1980.” Gender and Society 3: 217-238. Hunter, Andrea. 1998. “Feminist Attitudes among African American Women and Men.” Gender and Society 12: 81-99. Katzenstein, Mary. 1990. “Feminism within Institutions: Unobtrusive Mobilization in the 1980s.” Signs 16: 27-54. Minkoff, Debra. 1997. “The Sequencing of Social Movements.” American Sociological Review 62: 779- 799. Ostrander, Susan. 1999. “Gender and Race in a Pro-Feminist, Progressive, Mixed-Gender, Mixed- Race Organization.” Gender and Society 13: 628-642. Scott, Ellen. 1998. “Creating Partnerships for Change: Alliances and Betrayals in the Racial Politics of Two Feminist Organizations.” Gender and Society 12: 400-423. Taylor, Ula. 1998. “The Historical Evolution of Black Feminist Theory and Praxis.” Journal of Black Studies 29: 234-253..
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