Blackwomen more likely to lose credibility based on their background· Lafree acknowledges the racial and sexualdiscrimination and subordination experienced by white and black women, and men.But ignores the experience of black women. He ignores the interaction betweenblacks and whites.
· Black women discriminated as their rapists notlikely to get punished, twice as many rapists get sentenced to prison for whitewomen compared to black women. · Criticisms -lafree ignores black women’ssubordination to white women. His analysis suggests it becomes a competition ofwhite/black men to accessing white women. · Lafree suggests- ‘black women are consideredvictims of discrimination only to the extent that white men can rape thewithout fear of punishment.
Rather than being viewed as victims ofdiscrimination in their own right, they become merely the means by whichdiscrimination against black men can be recognised.’ (p372)· Rape and intersectionality -Lafree – test out two claims- the first is that blackpeople face discrimination in the justice system and the second, that rape lawsexist to regulate women. It is the law that constructs rape which discriminatesrace and gender. Lafree suggests that race is the biggest determinant in rapecases. Black men raping white women punished severely but black men rapingblack women more leniently—more interested in protecting the interests of own.
Sexual stratification based on race and influenced by ‘rules of sexual access'(p.372)- blacks punished more harshly for raping white women than black women· Black women more likely to get raped than blackmen raping men, but this is still given more attention, so b/w ignored andridiculed. · Antiracism and rape- antiracist critiques ofrape are how the law operates protecting white women’s rape, discriminatingblack men, and ignoring the rape of black women. Historically white rapists arejustified but black rapists lynched which made the torture of black mentolerated, this is in addition black men often falsely accused of raping whitewomen.
· c· Race and antirape lobby – rape victims measuredagainst narrow, socially accepted standards, law judge’s woman based on hermoral character. Feminist critique is that rape law could be used by rapists totarnish character- scrutinize woman’s moral character. · Crenshaw suggests the problem is with the wayrace is conceptualised, this is because racism is not addressed in feminism,neither is sexism accounted for in antiracist discourses. · Race/rape constructions reproduced from historywhere racial hierarchies more visible, the rape of black women marginalised.
Eg- rape of white women, lead to imprisonment of black teenage youths which waslater found forced confessions. Other reports were made during the same weekbut were ignored. Smith suggests that there is a sexual hierarchy, in whichsome female bodies are worth more, the average sentence of a man raping whitewoman was twice the amount of years of rapes of black women.
Black women alsoless likely to be believed. · Media victim blaming about women ‘asking for it’because of what she was wearing · Made discourse around rape in America is basedon historical conceptions of black men raping white women. White women’s rapetreated differently to black women. For example, the central park case –teenaged boys were dehumanised · Political intersectionality in rape-intersectionality used as a tool to frame sexism and racism – black women andrape little attention · When minority group given grant etc, it is onlytokenistic. Even when woc of colour is considered they need to be ‘qualified’or have credentials to do a job, even if another person who may represent thesame group is better suited to do a job. ‘the problem is not simply that womenwho dominate the anti-violence movement are different from women of colour, butrather, that they frequently have the power to determine, either throughmaterial resources or rhetorical resources, whether the intersectionaldifferences of women of colour will be incorporated at all into the basicformulation of policy.
Thus, the struggle over incorporating these differencesis not a petty or superficial conflict about who gets to sit at the head of thetable. In the context of violence, it is sometimes a deadly serious matter ofwho will survive—and who will not.’· Race and domestic violence support services –strategies of empowerment in services – white women ignore the intersectionalneeds of woc- race, gender, class etc create context, – but depending on thechoices made, can recreate subordination, such as women of colour not beingable to access support. For example, when non-English speakers are turned awayfor not being able to speak English, even though there may be other means oftranslation such as a relative…make a cover up excuse i.
e.., ‘they did not wantto take the woman in the shelter because they felt that the woman would feelisolated.’ (p.365). example of non-English speaking woman used – politicaldynamics – when one excuse does not work they’ll think of another excusebecause they do not want to deal with something foreign.
– look for reasons todeny resources—in victims trying to use services they are bombarded with moreproblems with the burden of accessing problems. · ‘I offer this description to suggest that Otherwomen are silenced as much by being relegated to the margin of experience as bytotal exclusion. The effort to politicise violence against women will do littleto address black and other minority women if their images are retained simply tomagnify the problem rather than to humanize their experiences.’ (p.364) –othered, tokenistic, excluded. Imagesare maintained to emphasise the problem- as minorities the problem· Attention given to white women, while minoritywomen victim blamed and rape considered insignificant· Strategies that aim to raise awareness by whitepeople suggest that ‘battering is a minority problem’ (p363) some suggest thatall violence occurs in different communities and classes, however lessattention given to the problem, of exploring stereotypes, more concerned inevading problems. even though some regard given to people of colour, primary concernis given mainly to white women.
They act to politicise problems, and makeproblems important / visible in the dominant group, while indirectlymarginalising minority groups even more. Issues are ‘white washed’ in order to make itimportant/relevant- to protect the interests of their ‘own’ first. It will needto be considered their problem to be recognised as a problem. · Race and the domestic violence lobby – racebased priorities in policies function to cover up issues that POC face· Reporting also exposes different powerrelations- exposing problems has ‘debilitating effects on families andcommunities of colour.’ (p362). · The culture of oppressed group of women mattersas some cultures value honour and the shame of the family, kept as a priority.
Woc from these communities may not want attention from authority figures. Raceand culture plays role, authorities perceive woc and culture as sociallyinferior, may not report due to the desire to create a place separate from thescrutiny of the majority—a racist society.· The cost of exposing gender violence in blackcommunities- perceptions of woc are concealed in popular culture- in contrastwith reality- imagined or real- people of colour are made to look like they areinherently pathologized in some way- either that or not taken seriously. · 2 – political intersectionality – woc oftensubordinated to groups- black men and white women- gendered and racedexperiences ignored and discourses are inadequate in covering all dimensions,as the experiences of women of colour are not the same as white women.
Feminismfailed to account for woc. · Context- American society – anti immigrationpolicy. Public service provision not personalised/contextualised. But immigrantwomen from more privileged backgrounds are more likely to access resources · Race, gender, class differences- policies andinterventions based on the experience of white women – policies still do notcater for different needs- i.e.
, immigrant women not able to access resources,often culture/language barriers. More complication in Asian communities asoften immigrant Asian women are dependent on men-language barrier and threatfrom male partners. Fear reporting and seeking welfare services would haverisks for their families. Turned away from services due to language barrier.
Interactions add dimen woc often from poor backgrounds and resources in placedo not accommodate needs; these women are often unable to help themselveseither – gender and racial discrimination encountered when they try to accesswelfare and employment.sion to existing problems.· 1 – · Woc frequently the subject of intersectingdiscourses of sexism and racism, both of which are usually not represented indiscourses-, and marginalised because of identity – black women. She discusses1- structural intersectionality- this relates the way they are placed- makesabuse different to white women; 2) political intersectionality – howanti-racist politics have marginalised WOC; 3 – the implications ofintersectionality in wider context· Contemporary feminist practices are not a goodreflection of what really happens.
Crenshaw asserts dimensions in violentbehaviour that go untold. – this is the focus of article is on women of colourand violence. · The problem with identity politics is that itignored differences in groups of people- for example, race and gender· Violence according to Crenshaw (1995) has become politicised, it isrecognised as something that is systematic.
In considering people of colourthere have become conflicts in identity politics, but this politicisationaffects different groups of women differently. This clashes with dominantdiscourses of social justice · Which is About considering the multiple layersof discrimination women of colour experience, that race and gender cannot beseparated. Hooks uses this concept to explain her ideas around black feminism .· intersectionality mainly on the works ofCrenshaw (1995). What is intersectionality? It is fundamentality the idea thataspects of identity such as class, race, gender, sexuality and so on are notseparate but work together in understanding different identities.0
