Who-Stole-Feminism.-How-Women-Have-Betrayed-Women

NEW EPISTEMOLOGIES 81educated, white, middle-class women who have for the past two decadesbeen denouncing men for treating them as "the Other" now find themselvesdenounced for having marginalized and silenced Native Americanwomen, Hispanic women, disabled women, and other groups, all ofwhom claim to be victims in a complex ecology of domination and subjugation.Even the beloved "click experience" has become a symbol of white,middle-class privilege. Two African-American feminists, Barbara Smithand Beverly Smith, have written an article unmasking the elitism ofwomen who describe the "click" as "an experience that makes you realizeyour oppression as a woman." 14They point out that clicks are for thosewho are relatively privileged. Minorities, whether male or female, do notexperience them: "The day-to-day immediacy of violence and oppression"suffices well enough to remind them of their condition.The feminist leaders and theorists are somewhat discomfited by theseunexpected reproaches. But it would be a mistake to underestimate theself-assurance and resolve of the gender feminists. They are not about torelinquish their dominance, not even to other women whose bona fidesas victims are greater than their own.The typical gathering of gender feminist academics illustrates the uneasyand somewhat unstable compromise that has been struck. The audienceconsists largely of the white, middle-class women who are themainstays of academic feminism. On the other hand, minority women aregiven strong representation in the panels and symposia, and the rhetoricof feminist transformation is given a multicultural cast.The April 1993 Parsippany, New Jersey, conference on transformingthe curriculum that I discussed in chapter 3 is a case in point. All theleading gender feminist transformationists were there: Catharine Stimpson,Annette Kolodny, the Schuster and Van Dyne team, Elizabeth Minnich,Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Sandra Harding, and, of course, theubiquitous Peggy Mcintosh. 15Professor Paula Rothenberg, the conference moderator and selfdescribed"Marxist-feminist," welcomed us and invited us to join her "toimagine together a curriculum for the next century." The mood wasgenerally upbeat, but one presenter after another warned of impendingbacklash. Rothenberg cautioned the audience to be suspicious of theClinton administration's announced commitment to diversity; she calledit an "ethnic foods and fiestas" version of inclusiveness.Annette Kolodny explained how her position as dean of humanities atthe University of Arizona had given her the means to promote transformationistchanges there. Kolodny had been instrumental in introducing