Women's Studies Final Overview - Comparative Analysis of Readings

Many views have been explored on the topics of women and the normalization of gender, sexuality, desensitization of violence and marginalization of minority women. In Lila Abu-Lughod's argument surrounding Muslim women, she challenges the ethics and morals by which American people view what they considered to be other or not equal to. The superiority of knowledge, power and civilization is often mishandled when the U.S. approaches transnational issues.

Even is the U.S., women whom are deemed minority often find themselves subjected to 'whiteness' and have limited access to healthcare, education and are often written off as second class citizens. Loretta Ross explores this in depth in her piece, The Color of Choice. She addressed the marginalization of the minority woman and the positioning of disadvantage applied to these women and African-American women more specifically. African-American women have less access to appropriate healthcare, family planning options including abortion and in the past have endured sterilization abuse and population control at the hands of white supremacy. She argues that the reproductive rights and the lack of these rights simply violates basic human rights.

Since the early seventies minority feminists have attempted to band together in the hopes of reversing the system that oppresses them on a daily basis. In the Combahee River Collective Statement Black Feminists addressed the issues of psychological stress of simply being a Black woman, structural oppression which results in unequal access of education and career opportunities and exclusion from white feminists movements. Intersectionality is dissected as well highlighting the balancing act of being a woman of color in a certain class, of a certain sexual orientation, of a particular faith and the multiple layers of discrimination faced by these women. Gloria Anzaldua's writing on Borderlands, The New Mestiza continues this conversation of intersectionality and the different aspects of subjectivity, self oppression and the hybrid identity that is formed blending the fragmented versions of the multiple identities. This is then used to navigate different spaces in order to remain complicit in the company of the majority or societal standard.

Women in general face unrealistic and unaccommodating standards placed on them by men who define femininity, sexual desire and even sexual pleasure for women. Virginia Braun wrote about female genital cosmetic surgery and how most of the marketed procedures are generally for increased pleasure of the man or increased aesthetic for his acceptance. These medical procedures again place the woman in the position of an object and her sole responsibility reduced to the pleasuring of a man. It also attempts to create a norm for the way female genitalia looks and silently reinforces the idea of the more virgin or prepubescent like, the better. Jane Kilbourne's work draws connections from the media images of women to the violence of women, rape, eating disorders and the constant objectification of women that has been normalized.

As the third wave of feminism continues, the struggle for equality of women continues as well. These authors and activists show it is important to gain the necessary knowledge of the past struggles and triumphs of the feminists movements overall. They challenge us to not become complicit and accept the so-called norms that exist today. The general themes found are that women must continue the push for change, bridge the gap, being careful to acknowledge the differences among themselves in order to reverse the systematic marginalization and oppression that they face everyday.