Group 6

In the Combahee River Collective Statement, the authors and organization were largely comprised of Black lesbian women. They also addressed classism, in addition to racism and sexism. They did not advocate for separatism or fractionalization - they fought for Black people, LGBTQ+ community, and women's rights through their advocacy.

Indigenous Epistemologies

Kaona

Gender as a Social Construct

Leilani Holmes - dialogue between Western and Hawaiian epistemologies and their relationship to bodies, physical movement, and dreams

Gender as a Tool of Imperialism

In "The Social Construction of Gender," Lorber states that Western thinking sees men and women as very differently physically, and that this has not changed for many years. She argues that the only thing that has changed are justifications for gender equality.

Inclusivity within Feminism

Halberstam discusses Trans* feminism and the need to resolve traditional conflicts between feminism and trans identity. A conception of femininity which is more broad than biological traits is liberating for all women and feminine identifying persons

"In the social construction of two sexes and two genders today, one is constructed to be superior, the other to be inferior."

La Facultad, as discussed in the Borderlands, highlights a special sense which marginalized individuals tend to develop. It entails a greater connection to the realm of the soul and the world around us which helps these individuals to survive.

"To look into kaona is to ask what knowledge is, where it comes from, how it is justified, and how we know what we know . . . To look into kaona is also to interrogate one’s practices and responsibilities to the knowledge that continually emerges." (32)

In "The Five Sexes Revisited," Sterling argues that the two-sex system in society is not adequate to encompass the full spectrum of human sexuality.

Collins discusses the "outsider within" positionally that Black women occupy in society. Besides the imperative to include Black women on the basis of their human dignity, Collins shows how Black feminist thought is by necessity oppositional knowledge which seeks to fight oppression.

The destruction of indigenous systems and cultures was a necessity throughout the project of Imperialism regardless of where it was occurring.

In Borderlands, it is discussed how the Western world has situated "objectivity" and "rationality" as the highest forms of knowledge, thus denigrating sensitivity and the realm of the soul which is important many cultures including Mestiza.

Audre Lorde discusses the importance of including marginalized voices (particularly Black and lesbian voices), not only within fields like WGSS but also in other fields. Discussion of feminist theory without discussing our differences with direct and significant input from marginalized women is inefficient.

As Anderson discussed regarding Indigenous feminism, there was a value on womanhood, motherhood, and domesticity as these were all necessary for the community to survive and thrive. However, these conceptions cannot be respected or valued in the same manner under the exploitative frame of capitalism and racial stratification

In the "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" Wollstonecraft argues that "Nature has given woman a weaker frame than man."

Wollstonecraft also argues that women need to strengthen both their minds and bodies in order to not be dominated by men.

click to edit