Origins within black women’s long-standing struggles for survival and dignity. Developed in response to the exclusions of the black power and women’s movements. The Combahee River Collective was a black feminist group, composed of black lesbian feminists who had met while attending the larger meeting of the National Black FeministOrganization, a large national organization of black feminists, which operated in the office space of the National Organization of Women, one of the biggest national feminists organizations. The members of what would become the Combahee River Collective met this larger gathering and started to splinter off in conversations realizing that their politics around sexuality and anti-capitalism were a bit too radical for the larger black feminist organization. Barbara Smith one of the founders of the collective, suggested the name in honor of Harriet Tubman who, as a soldier in the Union army during the American Civil War led some 750 black slaves to freedom through the Combahee River in South Carolina is one of the biggest military campaigns of the Civil War. This military campaign designed by Tubman was the first military campaign in US history led by a woman and was believed to be the single largest liberation of slaves at any one moment. In Is Capitalism Gendered and Racialized, Joan Acker exposes the development of gendered masculinity that now persists in the system of capitalism. For centuries, men have consistently been in power and dominated many fields including what Acker states as an ” ongoing male project, capitalism “. Immediately, Acker’s words highlight the peculiarity of this project with her emphasis solely centered on men and capitalism, and for good reason. Men are treated as the epitome of success. In becoming more masculine, a man obtains more power in controlling the business market. However, masculinity is but a social construct. According to Acker, ” ‘ being a man ‘ involves cultural images and practices. It always implies a contrast to unidentified femininity. Society has become so centered on making sure men are conforming to this social construct that men and women who are considered feminine are often seen as weak and unassertive in the business world.
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It’s interesting that you think that in the business world men and women don’t make it far being so Feminine. It’s true most authority figures I would say aren’t mean but just don’t come off the friendly. Most of the supervisors, bosses I’ve meet in real life are stricter and more come off more manly / less sensitive. Very good discussion post tho I enjoyed reading this.
Hi Heylee,
You gave a great perspective on this subject. I never though of it in this way – that black women are continuously oppressed because men want to uphold their status. We’ve talked about the patriarchy and hierarchy built into our society. White men are at the top of this patriarch leaving women and people of color to be lower on the order of power. Black women are oppressed because of their gender as well as race. They are the easiest target for mistreatment and oppression for men. In a way, they target women of color to assert dominance and keep their position in society.
Hey Heylee,
I enjoyed reading your response a lot. Something that stood out to me was when you wrote ” Immediately, Acker’s words highlight the peculiarity of this project with her emphasis solely centered on men and capitalism, and for good reason. Men are treated as the epitome of success. In becoming more masculine, a man obtains more power in controlling the business market. However, masculinity is but a social construct”. The reason this stood out to me was because I found it interesting how you mentioned masculinity being the one thing to thrive within a business as compared to femininity. In other words, it made me thing about how it is very common in the business world for people to be more serious (where masculinity may play) as compared to more friendly or ‘gentle’.