SophEthics

The main text that I am writing about today is bell hooks Ain't I A Woman. As a black woman, I found this text very interesting and have a lot of thoughts. First, I will focus on summarizing the text. In this text, hooks discusses the intersectionality at pay that places us black women in the most unprotected category of all. Being both black and a woman is the perfect storm. Race and sex are not separate issues, they intersect in many cases, and that intersection is extremely important to identify, because we are an example of a group who is facing the brunt end of both racist and sexist ideologies and systems. Stereotypes about black females spawn from racist ideologies and  sexist ideologies. In regards to sexist struggles, feminist movements have white women as the focal point and targeted representation, excluding black women from the movement as well as leaving us unprotected without support. Although excluded, bell hooks does not ask black women to ditch the feminist movemen...

White fragility refers to the idea that white people are protected in society. This means that they are sheltered from race related stressors, as stated in DiAngelo's article. White people have a low tolerance for race related stress, and as shown in the text, may even be infuriated by simple ideas and unable to even acknowledge that white people are truly privileged. They are protected essentially everywhere by society. It is not often that white people are mandated to partake in cultural competency training. Very minimal racial stressors will trigger white people into a state of severe discomfort.  I wrote a paper last semester on Get Out, the film by Jordan Peele. The film was nominated for a Grammy in the comedy genre. Peele posted that "Get Out is not a comedy, it is a documentary." I agree with Peele, but most people are hesitant to see things this way. When attempting to engage with white people about the symbolism in the film, they will often deny that there are a...

In the article The Problem of Speaking for Others by Linda Alcoff, we explore the idea of speaking for other people, who is allowed to speak for others, and if/when/how it may be appropriate and inappropriate. Speaking for others may regard speaking for people lesser than you and not representing them accurately. But, is speaking for those who are more disadvantaged than you ever okay? Well, what if you are using your privilege to give voice to those who cannot speak themselves. As stated in the text, speaking for others is not always about getting out of the way, but this may differ depending on who is speaking. In the comparison between speaking for others and speaking about others, the text identifies that both are problematic. If one is wrong, the other is. In both cases, someone else's, or your own, narrative is in your control. In both speaking for and about, you are constructing their subject positions (Alcoff, 1991). In speaking for self, you create self just like when you ...