Differences; we can't ignore them
Lorde discusses oppression, as well as oppression within oppression. She says that we all have at least one group (“white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, christian, and financially secure�) that we cannot identify with and are inferior to. That group is specific to each one of us and causes us to believe that that one group is the only/most prominent oppressive group out there. For example, white women often fail to realize that colored women face race issues. Likewise, Black women tend to see oppression as a black issue, as opposed to a women’s issue.
I’m sure it’s very difficult for Lorde to live in our society being a colored, lesbian, woman. That is three strikes against her right there. She writes of black women maintaining that black lesbians are a threat to black nationhood, and “are basically un-black.� So, even people within an oppressed group can be oppressive. We’re all oppressive.
I thought it was interesting how Lorde stated that heterosexism is a way of identifying with patriarchy, whereas lesbianism allows women to be themselves (rather than servants of men). I can see how that makes sense, but what are heterosexual women who dislike the idea of patriarchy supposed to do?
The overall idea that Lorde carries throughout her article is that we fear differences, leading us to ignore differences altogether (which never solves anything), or try to fit in with the dominant and avoid the subordinate. I have heard over and over again that “we’re all the same� as people, but that’s not the truth. That’s a reality cover-up. Ignoring differences does not allow for change.