African American Feminism Today Panel Discusion

On Monday February 6 I attended a lecture about African American Feminism today. It was very interesting to get a different perspective of other issues affecting feminism today. I think sometimes it’s easy to overlook the hardships that others face because I do not face those same hardships. It’s very important to understand that certain differences cause a different world view, especially for a cause such as feminism. We all as females can relate to feeling underappreciated due to our sex, but beyond that oppression do exist. The panel had a great insight into some different scholars that I am not familiar with and was interested to learn more about. The first person we discussed was Malcolm X. The woman on the panel who taught us about Malcolm X was a political science major and found his work to be very interesting. She also had a vested interest in feminism. She said that much of what is written about Malcolm X today illustrates him as a chauvinistic man who agreed with the oppression of women. She found this hard to believe because so much of his work was fighting against the oppression of African Americans in society. She decided she would do her research on Malcolm X beyond his seemingly chauvinistic ways. Although most of her research agreed with the opinion that he had been incredibly racist, she felt that it was not explaining the entire story. She said in his auto biography it explained that he looked up to strong female figures in his life, his sister for example would offer him much insight. The women from the panel example that much of what people considered his sexiest ways had much more to do with his culture and religion that anything else. He did not actually see women as second class citizens; he was just raised within a culture that did not believe women wanted anything more. He still very much respected the women in his life, although his main fight against oppression had to do with the unfair treatment of the African American society at the time. The second women we heard from on the panel sparked a discussion that was very touching. She began to speak about modern feminism as a whole, and how the media portrays feminism. She asked “who are some women you all would consider African American feminist you see today?” Some answers, such as Michelle Obama were very well received. Many people in the class agreed that she was a great role model. She is strong and well received; she does important work, yet it seen as a caring and good mother. She is proud of her race. The next discussion is what surprised me. Someone answered Beyonce as a good role model. She is strong and seen as independent. Everyone nodded in agreement; I mean who doesn’t love Beyonce? This is when the panel brought up a point that in my mind really highlights the different things that should be taken into account while still encompassing feminism. She said that Beyonce is strong and a good female role model, but that she lightens her skin on magazines and album covers, that in actuality she is much darker then she seems in the media. This started a discussion of all of the beauty treatments women of color must go through to obtain a “whiter” appearance. Girls talked about how they must perm their hair, and how they would rather just cut it all off. And why would the “white standard” be the standard of beauty anyway? It was very interesting to hear other peoples perspectives of an issue I had never really entertained.