Short Response to Audre Lorde

In Sister Outsider, author Audre Lorde maintains that the exclusion of race, class, sexual identity, and age from feminist theorizing simply ignores the differences that exist within the female sex and as a result further separates women in their endeavor to rise above patriarchal oppression. She says that since many women who come from fortunate backgrounds ignore class, race, sexual identity and age differences, they too participate as oppressors in a hierarchal relationship, privileged over women of color, or lesbians, or the poor. Furthermore, ignoring the differences that lie among women from different backgrounds also ignores the varying struggles that exist and as a result, the differences that must exist in feminist theory and discussing patriarchal oppression. I think that Lorde’s discussion of race, class, sexual identity, and age differences among women is very important because if we do not aknowledge our differences as a gender, we will not be able to rise above oppression as a community of women.


I think there are many instances today that show there are divisions within the female gender according to race, sexual orientation and class. Women who seek equality with men in the workplace generally come from a priviledged background and have the opportunities to obtain the same education as men. White women who are able to make strides in politics also come from priviledged backgrounds and for the most part represent a small portion of the femal population. We rarely see black lesbians in the media alongside white upper class women in one concerted effort to see change. This division along the different categories that define us certainly hinders the feminist movement and our ability to rise above patriarchy and oppression.