Upon reading Kwok Pui-Lan 's, "Unbinding Our Feet: Saving Brown Women and Feminist Religious Discourse", my vocabulary and understanding of feminist-religious phrases indefinitely extended and increased. The most stimulating and thought provoking terms from this work (in the order introduced) are: colonialist feminism, female subaltern, veneration, phallocentric, and eschatological. This text essentially discovers, "...How saving brown women functions as a colonial ideology helping to camouflage the violence and brutality of colonialism by sugar coating it as a for of social mission." Early in the text it gives the background on how the European male sought (pretended) to "shelter" and "defend" brown women from brown men. However, the most intriguing factor of this piece comprehends and explores women 's, and particularly feminist 's role in bolstering colonialist efforts and unconsciously (or consciously) perpetuating feminist discourse through a patriarchal lens. This was interesting for three reasons which include the fact that an average person usually identifies and reserves colonialism as solely a man 's obligation. Another reason includes the the fact that the credibility of which feminism stands upon is automatically diminished when a scholar seeks to educate someone but …show more content…
As soon as I read, "under the pretext of saving brown women, colonial desire and imperialistic advances have been masked and collectively reconstituted in a blatant reversal as social mission," I was befuddled. In no way am I consciously trying to impose my conception of religion onto colonizers. However, granted that many colonizers were known for practicing Christianity, which usually entails virtuosity and possession of a moral compass, I did not understand what justified colonizer 's
In Under the Cope of Heaven by Patricia Bonomi, she depicts many of the hardships that the new colonies continue to face throughout their settlement. She discussed the religious, political and societal turmoil that all the colonies struggle with, each in separate ways depending on religious affiliation, geographical location, and population demographics. She argues that religion played a very important role not only in the colonist everyday life, but also in the government and economy that is established. She states that the preaching in churches from ministers and other preachers of power was key in molding the public opinion on political standpoints, leading to a great impact on society. She touches on social religion, people using religion
Later at the 1840’s annual conferences it was stated that “there was no religious denomination more closely connected with colonization than the
In 1989, women’s rights were on fire, especially in the eyes of feminist Peggy McIntosh. At this time, she created an article titled “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” that inspected just that: white privilege. As expected, she forms an argument that argues against those who do not recognize their all-too-common- white privilege. After looking into the structure of “White Privilege”, a few obvious aspects make the piece successful in what it does. Overall, the format of the article allows for ease of a compelling reading.
It shows that individuals are never defined by a single characteristic. She emphasises the fact that gender is not the only factor which enhances oppression. Through describing the history of the feminist movement in the United States and the history of emancipation of black people, she shows how race is an important factor determining the situation of women of colour. Providing many examples from the beginning of the 19th century up until the end of the 20th century she shows the different forms of oppression that black women have faced and, which have not been addressed by the mainstream movement. In the different parts of the book she makes a clear distinction between how black and white women understood the feminist movement from the beginning.
The black feminists are fighting against a deep-rooted history of the oppression of black people in the United States dating back centuries when their ancestors were stolen from their homelands in Africa to be used as slaves. The Asian women are fighting against racial oppression in work environments because of their immigrant status. The struggles of these two groups share some similarities and differences, both of these written pieces display courageous women organizing together to fight against oppression during a time when there
Colonized felt emptied of their culture and personal humanity. Stripped of human rights and liberties, colonized people were reduced to savages in need of civilization when, in reality, colonized regions had developed unique traditions and communities. Under imperial rule, colonized communities drowned in the culture of the nation they were under. Often, the religions and methods of an imperialist power were forced upon colonized communities while the traditional religions and beliefs of conquered peoples were desperately suppressed, for they were seen as savage and trivial.
The spread of religion was the justification for most European countries to imperialism and set up colonies in the Americas. Walter Raleigh, and Richard Hakluyt convinced Queen Elizabeth I to support the colonists, through the idea that the “New World’s inhabitants” were “crying out to come and help”, with the intention of converting the Indians to Christianity (52). Although, the intentions for conversion drove the imperialistic ambitions, they were not entirely successful. “The aim of converting Indians to Christianity foundered on Indian indifference to the religious disputes that wracked Europe and the unavoidable reality that churches transplanted to English america had their hands full providing religious services for European colonists” (56-57). Overall, imperialism and conquest of North America by Britain was influenced by religious conversion, that may not have been successful, but helped to drive
Africa went through significant changes due to the civilizing missions carried out by European imperialists throughout much of the late 1800s and the early 1900s. From these “civilizing missions,” we can concur those missions were carried out to further European imperialist efforts for their own benefit with the rationalization of their racist and aggressive actions. The evidence in this chapter suggests that European rule was conducted in detriment to African peoples by presenting an almost Darwinian form of “superiority” that white imperialists wished to “improve” the African continent with. This was achieved by justifying their actions by the using racist rhetoric that Africa was “uncivilized,” introducing Christianity to Africa, and ignoring critics of imperialism.
“This women has violated the roles rightly reserved for women participating in “manly activities”’, many rules made it so that it was not a land of opportunity for women, children and even Native Americans. During the 1600’s many people such as Native Americans, English, and African Americans, (both men and women) which played an important role in the question was it a land of opportunity for children, women, indentured servants, colonist and Native Americans. Children had to work before and after school, working on plantations or chores such as weaving clothes, or feeding animals which gave them little free time. Women didn’t have the rights they should of had, the men thought that women weren’t strong and that they shouldn 't be doing manly
Hypocrisy was manifested in the fact that many colonists had faired the seas seeking religious tolerance and an end to persecution for themselves, but they could not seem to, for the most part, extend this tolerance to other groups. Furthermore, the Christian religion, at least as it is presented in the Bible, condemns the use of violence and a self-serving love of riches. There were certainly examples of great men like William Penn who displayed a sense of shared humanity with the Natives and a truly democratic plan of government, which I myself would have advocated, that would have been useful in building a multi-cultural nation, but such men were few and far between. This is further complicated by economic considerations that many colonists had. That the United States could become a superpower with a completely humanitarian outlook, assuming it needed to become a superpower (which it did not), is a near impossibility.
Just as there are many feminist views of rights towards women, a few critics have surfaced. Theirs has not been an acceptance story since as Heyward (66) says it is dangerous to dare to criticize any aspect of feminism. A critic of the feminist agenda will always be viewed as an enemy of the fight for equal treatment of both women and men. Ruether (15) explored the struggle for equal rights for women with a special interest in women like Teresa Okure in Nigeria and Teresa Hinga in Kenya. These two women have coined for themselves important titles in the battle to register the philosophy of inclusion of women in everyday life.
As I continued reading Colonize This! I found a section of this book that talks about women of color facing racism in their communities. The racism section captured my attention because it is also giving examples of women who resist racism in their belonging spots. I think it is great to read about those women who suffer racism because. In addition, all the people know that there are now many laws had been issued to protect women’s rights.
Words such as ‘unspoken assumption’, ‘insidiously’,‘exaggerating’, and “preoccupation” show suspicion towards the topic of women's rights and movements . In addition, the author also gives emphasis towards the downfall of men’s rights by including details such as “special privileges and protection to women” and “men’s supposed mistreatment of women”, thus showing how the author is directly opressed by the fight for equal rights. The author sees men's rights and their struggle with oppression as them being expected to have traditional cordial manners and fall into the traditional role of the patriarchy of the family, and decides to ‘debunk’ feminism by using these few points against a legacy of hatred, oppression, and misogyny that created
During this week, we have covered numerous topics, none more prominent than the oppression of women. Everyone had different opinions, allowing me to take into account different views on the issue. In one of the texts we examined, “Oppression”, Marilyn Frye, a philosopher, debates the subjugation of women. She states the cultural customs that causes oppression of women. I do agree with her view that women are oppressed, but I do not agree that it is just women.
A pivotal part of the novel is when the Catholic Church Group comes to the reservation in order to Christianize the Indians. This action carries deep currents of white supremacy. Throughout history, especially in American Indian history, White Europeans have made an effort to christianize and civilize what they view as an inferior race or group. The earliest efforts of Spain to colonize the Americas included converting Indigenous populations to Catholicism. Likewise, contemporary Christian churches take mission trips to impoverished, developing areas in order to help the citizens and the community.