Intersectionality and Feminism

HTH 1002 History of Thought IIKara Heitz

Intersectionality & Feminism• Waves of Feminism

• 1st Wave• 2nd Wave• 3rd Wave

• Intersectionality

Silvia Federici (1942-present)QUESTIONS:• According to Federici, how is housework conceived

of differently than other kinds of work? And what are the implications of housework being seen as a “natural attribute” or “labor of love” instead of work? How does the capitalist system benefit from women’s free labor?

• Federici contends that the demand for wages for housework not just about getting monetarily compensated for work performed, but this demand is also a political statement. What are the revolutionary implications of this demand according to Federici?

Combahee River Collective (1970s)QUESTIONS:• What is the Combahee River Collective’s main argument about

the importance of a black feminist perspective? When they state “We believe that the most profound and potentially most radical politics come directly out of our own identity, as opposed to working to end somebody else’s oppression”, what do they mean?

• The Combahee River Collective states early on that "we are actively committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual and class oppression" and describe their particular task as the "development of integrated analysis and practice based upon the fact that the major systems of oppression are interlocking." What do you think this specifically means? Do you agree all major systems of oppression are interlocking? Can you have a feminist politics without an anti-racist politics?

Audre Lorde (1934-1992)QUESTIONS:• What specific experiences does Lorde have that

influence her to write this essay?

• Lorde is famous for her statement; “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House.” What does this statement mean? And how does she apply it specifically to what she seems as the shortcomings of “mainstream” (white, straight) feminism?