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What is Womanism. It’s origin. Feminism and Nationalism Essay

What is Womanism. It’s origin. Feminism and Nationalism, 495 words essay example

Essay Topic: nationalism, feminism

which was caused by feminist focus on gender oppression and by its embracing of poststructuralist methods in the scholarly discourse of feminist criticism. Womanism originated then as a sign of emerging differences between those African American women who, like for example bell hooks, found feminist agenda sufficient and useful for addressing issues crucial for them, and those who found it too indifferent to the problems of race and class issues which were for them of vital importance. As a result, the new political and critical framework of womanism stemmed from the desire to take up gender issues without turning against men  as womanists believed feminism did and to foster bonds between African American women (Walker, 1983).
Racial and ethnic contexts were neglected in the discussion of many concepts including white feminism (Amos and Parmar, 1984). However, once again in contemporary feminism, it has been proven that race is obviously relevant so far as gender relations as a concept are concerned. In the labour market white women are much more favoured than any other colour of women. Another important variation between white women and black women was that, the level of oppression that white women face was far less than that of coloured women especially dark skinned women. One particular third wave feminist who took this issue of colour or race very seriously was Bell Hooks. She argued this by using the family as a point of reference. According to her, the family as a unit served as an escape from racism or a deterrent for racist sentiments in the world of coloured women but the case was different for white women because the "men are breadwinners" bubble did not exist in white families because the woman had equal opportunities. REFERENCE??????
1.4. Feminism and Nationalism
The three waves of feminism had in common that they arose within the umbrellas of well-established European and North American nation-states. While feminist activists living in the Western part of the world may or not have had strong patriotic sentiments, in any case the independence of their country was not at issue for them. In this respect, the experience of women in a colonial or ex-colonial country like Ghana was very different. They were held in a position of subjugation not only because of their gender or even skin-colour but also because of the fact that they were living in a country that was ruled by another one. In this situation, which identity was the more important one  that of being an oppressed women or that of a member of an oppressed national community encompassing both men and women? This leads us to the question of how feminism is related to nationalism.
Feminism could or could not be compatible with nationalism, depending upon the situation. In any of the cases, there are very significant implications. We could start examining this argument by assessing the views of Chizuko Ueno, the Japanese feminist to develop more than nationalism. According to her, the utmost aim of feminism

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