Nathan's Post #5: Womanhood looking for privilege

Every minority has said to themselves at one point or another in their lives "I wish I was white". Especially after going through history and seeing all the accounts of white people getting their way, its unrealistic to not want to be in that position. I thought that, as a black male, that other minorities felt that way too. Until this past week I had never really thought that the subaltern can actually be a woman, even a white woman. Hegemonic feminism created the modern woman, but for women to get more privilege in life they may need to divide and conquer.

The traditional idea of femininity comes from a long line of being subordinate to the male. The idea of feminism grew from print capitalism. The women of the "reading class" before print were just servants, but print allowed them to see others in the same position. After years of print capitalism women were consuming information, and with information comes rebellion. Women spoke against the hegemony. The modern women began to look at her hegemonic position and  speak. The subaltern spoke and rebelled against all the things that typified the hegemonic women. With the globalization of the world through print women naturally felt united in their movement. Third World Feminism allowed me to see that women should not have a united front. Women represent a a slice of the world but their are social and cultural differences. For women to further their feminist movement they need to find their niches and fight for their specific needs.

The modern woman is a function of her past. She is rebellious to certain old ideals. To move on to a more ubiquitous society women may need to acknowledge the difference in the group. Noticing the differences will allow womanhood to create niche groups for each voice that wants to be heard.