[m2c] "Challenging Imperial Feminism" by Valerie Amos and Pratibha Parmar (Part 2)

[usman x]

From "Valerie Amos and Pratibha Parmar, 'Challenging Imperial Feminism',
Feminist Review: Many Voices, One Chant No. 17 (Taylor & Francis, 1984),
3-19." as printed in "Feminism and 'Race'", edited by Kum-Kum Bhavnani.

"Challenging Imperial Feminism" Part 2


SEXUALITY

Sexuality has been and continues to be a central issue of discussion and
debate within the white women's movement, and much political energy has been
spent on understanding and questioning sexuality and sexual oppression:

". . . feminism has thrown up enormous challenges in the whole field of
sexuality. We have challenged the 'rights' of men to women's bodies; the
compulsory nature of heterosexuality; the stigma and invisibility of
lesbianism; the primacy of the nuclear family; rigid gender roles -
patriarchal definitions of what is 'natural'; the violence of rape; the
exploitation of pornography; sexist imagery and symbolism. Even the
importance and priority given to sexual relationships have been
questioned."13

While such debates rage virulently amongst white feminists, many Black women
have rightly felt that we do not have the 'luxury' of engaging in them in
the context of the intense racism of the British state. But the fact that
Black women have been peripheral to these debates that have taken place
within the women's movement, does not mean that we have not always thought
about and discussed these issues with each other. The ways in which we have
discussed and prioritized issues around sexuality have differed markedly
from white women. [...]

As we have increasingly grown confident in our feminism, some of us have
begun to look at the area of sexuality in ways that are relevant to us as
Black women. The absence of publicly overt debates on and around sexuality
by Black women does not mean that such discussions have not been taking
place. As illustrated in Brixton Black women's group's analysis of the
demise of the Organization of Women of Asian and African Descent (OWAAD),
this was and continues to be one area which has been recognized as an
essential element of Black feminist practice and theory. [...]

More specifically when challenging heterosexuality as the norm many Black
lesbians have had to face the profound homophobia of both Blacks and whites.
As Barbara Smith comments when talking about the American situation:

"Implicit in our communities' attitudes towards Black lesbians is the notion
that they have transgressed both sexual- and racial norms. Despite all the
forces with which we must contend, Black women have a strong tradition of
sexual self determination."14

Black women's continued challenges to the question of forced sterilization
and the use of the contraceptive drug Depo Provera has meant that such
campaigns as the National Abortion Campaign have been forced to reassess the
relevance of their single issue focus for the majority of working class,
Black women, and to change the orientation of their campaigns and actions.
[...]

It is worthwhile at this point to look back at history and highlight the
fact that some of the unquestioned assumptions inherent in contemporary
feminist demands have remained the same as those of the nineteenth and early
twentieth-century feminists who in the main were pro-imperialist. One strand
of early feminism in Britain has its roots in the radical liberal and social
purity campaign work of Josephine Butler who drew on religious rhetoric with
its notions of purity and impurity, virtue and vice and linked her analysis
to aspects of contemporary theories of evolution. Christabel Pankhurst, a
leading light at the time, echoed her agreement with the growing eugenic
lobby when she said, 'sex powers are given ... as a trust to be used not for
... immorality and debauchery, but ... reverently and in a union based on
love for the purpose of carrying on the *race*'.15

While the growth of the birth control movement and birth control information
and clinics in the 1920s and 1930s is to be recognized as a crucial gain for
women in the fight for control over their own bodies, the grounds on which
such a movement gained respectability was not on a woman's right to
self-determination but on the grounds of eugenics and health. Marie Stopes
was a committed eugenist, and the name of her organization - the Society for
Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress - clearly stated her
racialist position. The class interest of many such women was revealed when
such woman's organizations as the National Society for Equal Citizenship and
'The Woman's Co-operative Guild' supported campaigns to legalize
sterilization in the 1930s for certain groups of 'unfit' persons, i.e.
working class women.

Many suffragists campaigned around slogans such as 'votes for women,
chastity for men' and created new spaces for women but their compliance with
the development of an ideology of women as mothers and reproducers of the
race highlighted their interest in upholding white supremacy.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century a healthy and growing population
was seen as a national resource and neo-Malthusians alongside eugenists
recommended contraception not only as an artificial check on population but
also as a means of selective limitation of population growth to prevent the
'deterioration' of the 'race' and decline as an imperial nation through the
proliferation of those they regarded as 'unfit' (to breed). It must however
be said that there was a small section of women who attempted to counter the
Eugenicist movement, such as Stella Brown.

In 1958 Charles Kingsley argued that over-population was impossible 'in a
country that has the greatest colonial empire that the world has ever seen',
and he believed that it was 'a duty, one of the noblest of duties to help
the increase of the English race as much as possible'.16 Women were being
defined as the breeders of the race, bearing and rearing the next generation
of soldiers and workers of the imperial race. Within this context developed
a new definition of women's role and the pressures which led to the
formation of an ideology of motherhood:

"In many cases the terms in which reforms to do with marriage, child rearing
and bearing were proposed also involved reference to the nation, the empire,
or the race ..." 17

White feminists have attacked this for its oppressiveness to them but not on
the grounds of race and anti-imperialism.

Such a development of an ideology of women as mothers duty bound to
reproduce for the race went alongside the development of an imagery of them
as vulnerable creatures who needed protection not only at home but also in
the colonies.

There are historical counterparts of contemporary white male use of the
image of vulnerable and defenceless white women being raped and mugged by
Black men, images which are reinforced by racist ideologies of black
sexuality. Also in responding to the use of physical violence to control
white women's sexuality white feminists have singularly failed to see how
physical violence to control the sexuality of Black men is a feature of our
history (e.g. lynching). This has implications for analyses and campaigning
around sexual violence.

Historically, there are many instances of how white women's vulnerability to
physical violence from men has been used to bring in oppressive legislation
which justified an extension of police and state powers, with oppressive
results for both men and women in countries under colonial rule. For
instance in 1926 a White Women's Protection Ordinance was passed in Papua
(New Guinea), then under British rule, which introduced the death penalty
for the crime of rape or attempted rape of any European female. The 'Black
Peril', or the fear that 'native men', who were seen as endowed with 'strong
sex instincts' particularly for white women, were going around in their
hordes raping white women, was the background to this severe legislation. In
fact there was little proof that this was happening.

Not only were there double standards for white men, who, far from being
penalized for having sexual relationships with local Black women, were in
fact encouraged to 'satisfy' their 'natural' desires; but furthermore Black
women's experiences and vulnerability to male violence was judged to be of
little consequence.

"Doubtless there are native women who set the highest value on their
chastity, but they are the exception and *the rape of an ordinary native
women does not present any element of comparison with the rape of a
respectable white woman* even where the offence upon the latter is committed
by one of her own race and colour."18

The racist ideology that black and immigrant men are the chief perpetrators
of violent crimes against women permeates not only the racist media fed
regularly by police 'revelations' of 'racial' crime statistics as in 1982
but also sections of the white women's liberation movement as illustrated by
their actions and sometimes their inaction.

For example, the compliance of many white feminists with the racist media
and the police is shown in their silence when public hysteria is
periodically whipped up through images of white women as innocent victims of
black rapists and muggers. When white feminists have called for safer
streets, and curfew of men at nights they have not distanced themselves from
the link that exists in common sense racist thinking between street crime
and Black people. Again, when women marched through Black inner city areas
to 'Reclaim the Night' they played into the hands of the racist media and
the fascist organizations, some of whom immediately formed vigilante groups
patrolling the streets 'protecting' innocent white women by beating up black
men. Therefore we would agree that 'any talk of male violence that does not
emphatically reject the idea that race or colour is relevant automatically
reinforces these racist images'.19

Black women's sexuality has been used in various oppressive ways throughout
imperialist history. For instance, during slavery women were forced to breed
a slave labour force, raped, assaulted and experimented on; practices that
still continue today under 'scientific' and sophisticated guises.

For Asian women, one such historical example of control over them was in the
form of the Contagious Diseases Act passed in India in 1868. Throughout the
nineteenth century the British military in India was only concerned with
maintaining an efficient and 'healthy' army who had 'natural' sexual desires
which needed to be fulfilled. Prostitution was encouraged and local Indian
women were either taken on as 'mistresses' or regularly visited in the
brothels both within and outside of the cantonments. Such practices were so
widespread that venereal disease increased rapidly. What the Act did was
call for compulsory registration of brothels and prostitutes and periodic
medical examinations and compulsory treatment of such 'diseases'. The
soldiers were not required to do this. This is just one example of state
regulation of prostitutes which was a result of imperialist policies which
required the maintenance of huge and 'healthy' armies.20

In identifying the institution of the family as a source of oppression for
women, white feminists have again revealed their cultural and racial myopia,
because for Asian women in particular, the British state through its
immigration legislation has done all it can to destroy the Asian family by
separating husbands from wives, wives from husbands and parents from
children.

But while many Black feminists would agree that the ideology of mother/wife
roles is oppressive to women and that marriage only serves to reinforce and
institutionalize that oppression, in a political climate where the state is
demanding proof of the 'genuine' nature of 'arranged marriages' as a blatant
attack on Asian culture, and Asian people's right to enter this country, we
demand the right to choose and struggle around the issue of family
oppression ourselves, within our communities without state intervention, and
without white feminists making judgments as to the oppressive nature of
arranged marriages.

Many white feminists have argued that as feminists they find it very
difficult to accept arranged marriages which they see as reactionary. Our
argument is that it is not up to them to accept or reject arranged marriages
but up to us to challenge, accept or reform, depending on our various
perspectives, on our own terms and in our own culturally specific ways.

NUCLEAR POWER ON THE NORTH LONDON LINE

With the setting up of the Greenham Common Women's Peace camp in 1981, world
attention has focused on the women's peace movement in Britain. Thousands of
women have identified the threat of a nuclear war as a priority issue to
organize around. While some feminists have sought to distance themselves
from women peace activists who have fallen into the trap of elevating the
feminine nature of women with its stress on mothering and nurturing, finding
its organized manifestation in groups such as the Families against the Bomb
and Babies against the Bomb, other problems remain.21

The women's peace movement is and continues to remain largely white and
middle-class because yet again their actions and demands have excluded any
understanding of or sensitivity to Black and Third World women's situations.

Black women's political priorities have not been to organize around the
siting of American cruise missiles at Greenham or to focus on the
disarmament campaigns. This has been inevitable given the implicit and often
explicit nationalist sentiments of its campaigns as much as the overall
framework within which they have addressed these questions. The patriotic
cries of 'We want to protect our country' which extend both to the mixed
left anti-nuclear groups as much as sections of the women's peace movement
is not one with which many Black people seek to or want to identify with,
particularly when we know that we are not recognized or accepted as
legitimate and equal inhabitants of this island and are continuously
fighting for our right to be here. The parochial concerns of the Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the women's peace movement are manifest in
their unwillingness to take up any international issues. Why, for instance,
are they not exposing, campaigning and mobilizing against Britain's role in
illegal mining of uranium in Namibia for fuel for its Trident submarines?
Why are connections not being made with people in the Pacific who are
fighting for land rights? Why is there continued silence and inaction on the
war going on in Britain's own 'backyard', Northern Ireland? Why is it that
some white women who have sought to involve Black women in their peace
campaigns at Greenham can only include them by asking them to service them
yet again and play the role of caterers?

It is inevitable that such questions and issues do not feature on the
agendas of either the women's peace movement or the CND, because both these
movements are imbued with the uncritical acceptance of the concept of 'the
nation', in particular the 'British nation'. Their failure to distance
themselves or be critical of anti-Americanism prevalent in public opinion
which supports nuclear arms but opposes American nuclear arms is a result of
their deep-seated and entrenched patriotism. In Britain, there is not a
single social or political institution that has not been fundamentally
affected by the ideology of Empire and its corollary of British superiority.
[...]

The slogan 'Yanks out' and 'Yankees go home' has been widely adopted by many
women peace activists and is an illustration of racism arising out of a
confusion of collapsing the American state with individual Americans. An
example of such a tactic is an incident witnessed recently when a group of
white, middle-class women began to shout and chant `Yanks out' and `Yankee
go home' at a Black American soldier walking through the train carriage they
were sitting in. To some of the Black women present this was reminiscent of
'Blacks go home' and 'wogs out'. When confronted with the racism of their
action one woman justified their actions by saying that in an individual
situation, such confrontations are necessary and legitimate. Necessary and
legitimate to whom? [...]

Internationally, while Black and Third World women are fighting daily
battles for survival, for food, land and water, western white women's cries
of anguish for concern about preserving the standards of life for their
children and preserving the planet for future generations sound hollow.
Whose standards of life are they fighting to preserve? - white, middle-class
standards undoubtedly. Recently, Madhu Kishwar, an Indian feminist, came to
speak to the Women For Life on Earth and she stressed that what is needed is
a realization that:

"A movement for disarmament begins with a movement against the use of guns,
the everyday weapons. Here (in Britain) you may have a fear of a nuclear
holocaust and death and destruction - in India millions die of water
pollution - that is a more deadly weapon for women in India. I think it is
very important that nuclear piles be made targets for political action, but
we have to begin with confronting the guns and the dandas (sticks) that is
disarmament for us."22

[...] In saying that as Black women we have sought not to prioritize our
political energies on organizing around 'peace' and disarmament, does not in
any way mean we do not consider these as crucial political issues.

Indeed, the arms race is fundamentally political and the complexities of the
new cold war and the increasing drive for American global supremacy are
crucial questions of importance which concern us all. But, it is only when
Western peace activists, be they male or female, begin to broaden the
parameters of their campaigns and integrate an international perspective
within their frameworks, will there be a radical shift away from the
predominantly white composition of these movements.

CONCLUSION

For us the way forward lies in defining a feminism which is significantly
different to the dominant trends in the women's liberation movement. We have
sought to define the boundaries of our sisterhood with white feminists and
in so doing have been critical not only of their theories but also of their
practice. True feminist theory and practice entails an understanding of
imperialism and a critical engagement with challenging racism - elements
which the current women's movement significantly lacks, but which are
intrinsic to Black feminism. We are creating our own forms and content. As
Black women we have to look at our history and at our experiences at the
hands of a racist British state. We have to look at the crucial question of
how we organize in order that we address ourselves to the totality of our
oppression. For us there is no choice. We cannot simply prioritize one
aspect of our oppression to the exclusion of others, as the realities of our
day to day lives make it imperative for us to consider the simultaneous
nature of our oppression and exploitation. Only a synthesis of class, race,
gender and sexuality can lead us forward, as these form the matrix of Black
women's lives.

Black feminism as a distinct body of theory and practice is in the process
of development and debate both here in Britain and internationally and has
begun to make significant contribution to other movements of liberation, as
well as challenging the oppression and exploitation of Black women.

Notes

l. Some attempts have been made to look at both racism and feminism. For
example, Jenny Bourne in her essay 'Towards an Anti-Racist Feminism', Race
and Class, 25 (Summer 1983), 1-22, attempts to locate anti-racist practice
within a (white) feminist context. However, Jenny Bourne's essay fails
adequately to address contemporary debates within feminism and ignores the
contribution of black feminists to the broader debate around issues of
racism, feminism, class and sexuality.

2. Hazel Carby, 'White Women Listen! Black Feminism and the Boundaries of
Sisterhood', in Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (eds.), "The Empire
Strikes Back: Race and Racism in 70s Britain" (London: Hutchison, 1982).

3. Gail Lewis and Pratibha Parmar, 'Review Essay of American Black Feminist
Literature', Race and Class, 25 (Autumn L983).

4. Angela Davis, Women, Race and Class (London: The Women's Press, 1982);
Veronica Ware, 'Imperialism, Racism and Violence Against Women',
"Emergency", 1 (Winter 1983/4).

5. There have been a range of debates around socialism and feminism which
have ignored the issue of race. See for example, Sheila Rowbotham, Lynne
Segal and Hilary Wainwright, "Beyond the Fragments: Feminism and the Making
of Socialism" (London: Merlin, 1979), and Lydia Sargent (ed.), "The Unhappy
Marriage of Marxism and Feminism" (London: Pluto, 1981), which has only
one essay on `The Incompatible Menage a Trois'.

6. Maxine Molyneux, 'Socialist Societies Old and New: Progress Towards
Women's
Emancipation', "Feminist Review", 8 (1981), 1-34.

7. Bill Warren, "Imperialism, Pioneer of Capitalism" (London: New Left
Books,
1980); for critique see A. Sivanandan, 'Capitalism, Highest Stage of
Imperialism.
Warren and the Third World', "Race and Class," 24 (1982).

8. Audre Lorde (ed.), "Sister Outsider" (Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press,
1984).

9. Manning Marabel, "How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America" (New
York: Southend Press, 1983).

10. See Michele Barrett, "Women's Oppression Today Problems in Marxist
Feminist
Analysis" (London: Verso, 1980).

11. See Christine Delphy, "The Main Enemy: a Materialist Analysis of Women's
Oppression" (London: Women's Research and Resources Centre Publications,
1977).

12. See Errol Lawrence, 'Just Plain Common sense: the "Roots" of racism', in
centre
for Contemporary Cultural Studies (eds.), The Empire Strikes Back, 47-94.

13. Sue Cartledge and Joanna Ryan, "Sex and Love, New Thoughts on Old
Contradictions"
 (London: The Women's Press, 1983).

14. Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott and Barbara Smith (eds.), "All the
Women are
White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave" (New York: Feminist
Press, 1982).

15. Lucy Bland, `Purity, Motherhood, Pleasure or Threat', in Cartledge and
Ryan,
"Sex and Love." Emphasis added.

16. Anna Davin, 'Imperialism and Motherhood', "History Workshop Journal," 5
(Spring 1978).

17. Ibid.

18. Ware, `Imperialism, Racism and Violence Against Women'.

19. Ibid.

20. Kenneth Ballhatchett, "Race, Sex and Class Under the Raj: Imperial
Attitudes
and Policies 1793-1905" (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980).

21. Radical Feminist Papers, "Breaching the Peace, Collection of Radical
Feminist
Papers" (London: Onlywomen Press, 1984).

22. Madhu Kishwar, Interview, "Outwrite," 22 (February 1984).


---------------------
Prospero, you are the master of illusion.
Lying is your trademark.
And you have lied so much to me
(lied about the world, lied about me)
that you have ended by imposing on me
an image of myself.
underdeveloped, you brand me, inferior,
That ís the way you have forced me to see myself
I detest that image!  What's more, it's a lie!
But now I know you, you old cancer,
and I know myself as well.
- Caliban, in Aime Cesaire's "The Tempest"
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/margins-to-centre