Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

"Black Women - Shaping Feminist Theory"

In this chapter, the author develops the thesis that feminist theory and the feminist movement have been defined by a certain sort of feminist - a middle-class white woman who, in spite of the conviction that "all" women are oppressed, has no real awareness of the life of a non-white, non-middle class woman (see "Quotes, p. 11). She cites Betty Friedan, author of what is often regarded as a seminal feminist work (see "Objects/Places - The Feminine Mystique") as a prime example of this sort of feminist, and points out the racist, classist flaws in her (Friedan's) theories. She presents anecdotal evidence (based on personal experience) that efforts made by black feminists (such as herself) to expand the basis of feminist thought have been met for the most part with resentment and derision, but on...