Blog Week 6
Audre Lorde introduces a kind of consciousness we had not yet discussed in this class—an awareness of one’s self (or others) not only as a woman, but a black woman, or a gay woman, or a black gay woman, or any other combination of factors. It is not enough to say that that person experiences oppression the same was as other people who fall into one or more of the same categories. It is as if to say that all of those factors together create an indivualized experience that is not always comparable to the others. Lorde argues that social positions should be viewed as valuable differences, and not used to create dualisms.
Amzaldua, too, sees a plurality in her personality. To Mexicans, she is seen as an Indian. To Aryan Americans, she is seen as a Mexican. Like Lorde, she cannot be accepted for all components, but instead is oppressed because of them. Lorde is frowned upon by African Americans because she is gay, although she shares the same race. Amzaldua is shunned as a Mexican by whites, although she mixed race. Both scholars recognize and confront the issues of race/ethnicity, sexuality, religion, and class. Amzaldua offers a slightly different solution, however. She believes that her different background(s) make her a hybrid. She is all of her components and yet none of them at the same time. Her solution does not see an intersectionality like Lorde’s does, but a way of balancing everything. The combinations do not necessarily create a unique experience, but ones with the different aspects of oppression.