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Question

Difficulty: HardBlack Feminist and Womanist Movements

Read the excerpt below from Audre Lorde's 1979 address, 'The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House':

'Advocating the mere tolerance of difference between women is the grossest reformism. It is a total denial of the creative function of difference in our lives. Difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic. ... Poor women and women of Color know there is a difference between the daily manifestations of marriage, motherhood, and work for us, and for white women whose mortgage payments are subsidized by a husband's job. ... What does it mean when the tools of a racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that same patriarchy? It means that only the most narrow parameters of change are possible and allowable.'

Based on the passage, which of the following statements best captures Lorde's critique of mainstream, second-wave white feminism?

  1. A
    It advocates for the complete separation of women's organizations along racial lines to preserve the purity of each group's political agenda.
  2. B
    It successfully challenges patriarchal oppression but requires Black women to temporarily deprioritize their racial identity to achieve gender equality.
  3. It preserves existing power dynamics by treating the experiences of middle-class white women as universal, rather than addressing how race and class intersect with gender.Answer
  4. D
    It focuses too heavily on structural economic reform rather than addressing the cultural and psychological dimensions of gender solidarity.

Answer

The correct answer is the statement that mainstream feminism preserves existing power dynamics by treating the experiences of middle-class white women as universal, rather than addressing how race and class intersect with gender.
The correct answer is correct because Lorde's critique focuses on the failure of mainstream feminism to account for the intersecting forces of race and class, which results in treating the experiences of privileged white women as the universal standard for all women. By failing to recognize these differences, mainstream feminism operates within the existing framework of the racist patriarchy rather than dismantling it.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the primary source excerpt from Audre Lorde's 1979 address to identify her main arguments regarding 'difference' among women.
Lorde highlights that differences of race and class (such as the contrast between the lives of poor women of color and middle-class white women) must not be ignored or merely tolerated, but rather integrated into the feminist struggle.
To understand the core critique of mainstream, second-wave white feminism presented in the text.
2
Connect Lorde's warning about using 'the tools of a racist patriarchy' to the structures of mainstream feminism.
Lorde argues that ignoring intersectionality and replicating exclusionary practices represents using the oppressor's tools, which prevents true structural change.
To determine the consequence of failing to acknowledge intersecting systems of oppression.
3
Evaluate the options to find the one that accurately describes Lorde's critique of mainstream feminism as failing to address intersectional oppression.
The correct statement explains that treating white women's experiences as universal preserves existing power dynamics, while the other options misrepresent her stance on separation, intersectionality, or economic focus.
To select the option that best captures the author's argument.

Key Concept

Intersectionality and the critique of mainstream second-wave feminism by Black feminists.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Topics

Black Feminist and Womanist Movements

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