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Difficulty: MediumBlack Feminist and Womanist Movements

Read the following excerpt from Audre Lorde's essay "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" (1979):

"Advocating the mere tolerance of difference between women is the most gross 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... Only within that interdependency of different strengths, acknowledged and equal, can the power to seek new ways of being in the world generate..."

Based on the passage, which of the following best explains Audre Lorde's argument regarding how women's differences should be addressed within the feminist movement?

  1. A
    Differences among women are secondary to the political goal of securing legislative equality under the law.
  2. B
    Differences should be minimized in favor of a universal sisterhood that focuses exclusively on shared experiences of patriarchal oppression.
  3. Differences in race, class, and sexuality must be actively embraced as interdependent strengths that spark creative power and drive systemic transformation.Answer
  4. D
    Differences are inherently divisive and should be resolved by establishing separate, independent movements for each demographic group.

Answer

Differences in race, class, and sexuality must be actively embraced as interdependent strengths that spark creative power and drive systemic transformation.
The correct answer is correct because Audre Lorde explicitly argues that difference should not be merely tolerated but embraced as a source of creative energy and interdependent strength. She defines the mere tolerance of difference as 'gross reformism' and instead advocates for an active, equal interdependency of different strengths (such as race, class, and sexuality) to generate new ways of being and achieve genuine systemic change.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the text for the author's stance on 'difference' among women.
The author rejects 'mere tolerance of difference' as 'gross reformism' and instead calls for seeing difference as a 'fund of necessary polarities' and 'interdependency of different strengths.'
This establishes that difference is not a barrier to be ignored or tolerated, but a constructive force.
2
Evaluate the choices to see which one aligns with the text's vision for differences.
The option stating that differences in race, class, and sexuality must be actively embraced as interdependent strengths that spark creative power and drive systemic transformation matches the author's definition of difference as a creative spark and necessary interdependency.
This matches the core argument of the passage while rejecting the mainstream feminist view of minimizing differences in favor of a universal sisterhood.

Key Concept

Black Feminist critique of mainstream white feminism and the value of difference/intersectionality
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Topics

Black Feminist and Womanist Movements

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