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Wednesday, May 1, 1996

By Lena Hicks

Daily Bruin Contributor

Images of burning bras and chanting in unison through the streets have traditionally stood out as the trademarks of the feminist movement.

But today, more and more women argue that the chanting has died down and the movement lacks strength, attributing the shortcomings they see to an absence of unity within the movement.

"There exists these different factions amongst feminists which make it difficult to establish one goal," said Petty Tsay, co-founder of the Womynist Collective, a UCLA women's rights group supporting positive changes toward the perception of women and gender relations.

But while some believe that the fire and activism of the feminist movement is on the wane, others argued that the opposite is true.

"I think it's very misleading to think that the feminist movement was at its peak and has declined ... I see the feminist movement as growing," said Christine Littleton, a law professor and chair of the women's studies department.

Although some feminists may not agree on the strength of the movement, most see eye to eye on the idea that conflicting ideologies have resulted in lines of division.

Littleton, who agreed that conflicting goals can be divisive for women, explained that abortion is one of the issues that contributes to lack of unification.

"In focusing only on abortion rights, the mainstream feminist movement marginalizes poorer women and women of color who cannot afford to exercise abortion rights, or who want to bear children but can't afford to raise them," said Littleton, who feels that one way to achieve unity is by including a broader spectrum of issues within the movement.

"What we should be pursuing is a broad agenda that supports women's economic security, reproductive health, and the ability to exercise their choices," she said.

American feminist activism emerged as early as the 1800s, Littleton explained, when women participated in the abolition of slavery and celebrated the passing of the Married Women's Property Act.

The Suffrage Movement of the early 1900s marked the beginning of women's fight to gain the right to vote. Working-class women fought against exploitation of female factory workers during the 1930s and 1940s.

Striving for civil rights and protesting against the Vietnam War during the 1960s and 1970s later inspired young women, as well as suburban housewives, to aim for gender equity.

Up until the Vietnam War, women were working alongside men and given no say in decision making, Littleton claimed.

"It was men who were calling all of the shots ... women were pulling away and making their own organizations," such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), Littleton said.

But the priorities of the Chicana feminist movement are different from those of mainstream Caucasian feminists, according to Sonia Saldívar-Hull, an assistant professor of English.

She explained that the Chicana feminist movement does not solely address women's issues; rather, Chicanas are focusing on issues affecting the Chicana/o community as a whole.

"The demands of our communities are such that we will be protesting against INS policies, immigration laws, Proposition 187 ... that's where I see the activism right now ... Chicanas are protesting for the larger issues in the community," Saldívar-Hull said as she rose from her chair, walked to her wall-to-wall library of paperback books, and reached for "This Bridge Called My Back," a collection of different essays, poems and autobiographies written by Chicana feminists.

"That's the Bible of Chicana feminism," Saldívar-Hull said.

Racial divisions are also a contributing factor to the lack unification within the feminist movement, activists said. The Chicana feminist movement emerged as a result of the exclusion of Chicanas from both the mainstream Caucasian feminist and male Chicano Nationalist movements, Saldívar-Hull explained.

Chicanas borrowed aspects of both Caucasian feminism and the Chicano movement, merging them to their own activism.

"As Chicanas, we had to take from both the nationalist Chicano movement and feminist movement," Saldívar-Hull said. "There may not have been a space for us, but we made a space."

In the Chicana feminist movement, the issues of gender, race, class, ethnicity and sexual orientation all intersect.

"We can't prioritize one issue over another as women of color," Saldívar-Hull said.

To some African-American feminists, issues of race and economics are as important as gender equity.

African-American feminist issues addressed the state of African-American women, women as a whole, the economically disadvantaged, relations with African-American men and the status of the African-American community as a whole.

"Feminism for black women is about survival, and is about including the community ... it's a movement that attacks all forms of oppression," said Kandea Mosley, the affirmative action coordinator for the African Student Union. "I am a black woman, and I can't separate issues of racial oppression from my identity as a women."

Some African-American feminists also agreed that their movement possesses the same elements as the mainstream Caucasian feminist movement. However, they feel that the African-American feminist movement is more expansive, creating an alternative arena for African Americans and members of other underrepresented groups to feel welcome.

"I think black feminism includes all of what white feminism includes, and then expands on that ... with black women's liberation comes everyone's liberation. With white women's liberation comes white women's liberation," said Kendra Fox-Davis, the African Student Union's empowerment coordinator.

A Caucasian feminist herself, Littleton also agreed that the mainstream movement has neglected issues and concerns of women of color, even though Caucasian women obtained their initial activism experience through the Civil Rights movement.

"Racial inequality was the primary issue on the feminist agenda in the 1950s, because white suburbia was asleep!" Littleton said. "Mainstream feminist leaders have sort of gotten off track in ignoring or marginalizing issues of race and class," Littleton said.

"It's been a very rocky road (for women of color)," she concluded.

Some women of color are concerned with what they see as mainstream feminism clumping all women of color together, disregarding the fact that African Americans , Asian Americans, Chicanas/Latinas and other women of color have different experiences and perspectives.

"I think women of color are a part of the feminist movement, but they're recognized as a group rather than as individuals," said Tsay, an Asian-American woman.

Tsay also explained that she is opposed to the idea of Caucasian women poorly paying their housekeepers and nannies who are members of underrepresented groups.

"Oftentimes, white women hire women of color to take care of their children when they go to work, but they don't pay them the amount that they deserve," Tsay said. "She's not trying to raise the (glass) ceiling for the black woman who's working for her."

Like women of color, some lesbians agreed that their community has been excluded from mainstream feminism.

Homophobia and disapproval of the gay community played a huge role in the exclusion of lesbians from the feminist movement during the 1980s, said Ali Beck, editor in chief of TenPercent, the campus' gay and lesbian newsmagazine.

"Historically, the feminist movement has deliberately excluded lesbians from the movement ... the accusation of lesbianism towards feminists was seen as threatening and something that could ultimately cause the movement to fail," Beck said. "I think that there are women, particularly women our age, who don't understand lesbian rights as a feminist issue."

Many lesbians believed that the feminist movement needs to accept homosexuality as a feminist issue, Beck said.

"I see gay marriage as a really important issue ... some people say that it's a move to try to be like straight people, but I disagree," Beck argued. "The fact that a woman can live and be, and have an identity which is not dependent on having a man in the picture, is a very threatening concept ... and I think a very revolutionary one," said Beck, who feels that women's gender and opposition toward a patriarchal system is the link between feminism and lesbianism.

Labeling oneself a feminist often involves encountering the stigmas and stereotypes attached to feminism. However, feminists argued that such beliefs are misconceptions that do not reflect the ideology of feminism.

"I think the simplicity of the definition allows more women to be a part of the movement," Mosley commented. Feminism is in essence a very basic concept ­ it's about human rights for women."

Other feminists felt that the definition of feminism allows all groups of people to be included.

"I think the notion of feminism does not seek to promote the benefits of one group at the expense of others," Tsay said. "I think it represents the gradual movement towards a gender-neutral society."

However, most feminists argued that before a gender-neutral society can be achieved, an understanding among women must be established and all lines of division erased.

"I think that (unity) is a very realistic goal, because we share two things in common: one, that we are women, and two, that we want to overcome the negative implications of being a woman.," Tsay concluded. "If we continue to label ourselves as feminists, we are able to share our strengths with one another and eliminate stereotypes against feminism."

Daily Bruin File Photo

Felicia Márquez (left) and Tammy Sioux protest a 1992 Supreme Court decision to restrict doctors from informing their patients about abortion procedures, a ruling commonly known as the "Gag Rule."

FRED HE/Daily Bruin

NOW activists hold a candlelight vigil at the Federal Building to protest against domestic violence after the death of Nicole Brown Simpson.