FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY FEMINIST POLITICS tem.Even before race became a talked about issue in feminist circles olutionary feminist thinking was most accepted and embraced in it was clear to black women (and to their revolutionary allies in academic circles.In those circles the production of revolutionary struggle)that they were never going to have equality within the exist- feminist theory progressed,but more often than not that theory was ing white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. not made available to the public.It became and remains a privileged From its earliest inception feminist movement was polarized. discourse available to those among us who are highly literate,well- Reformist thinkers chose to emphasize gender equality.Revolution- educated,and usually materially privileged.Works like Fminist The- ary thinkers did not want simply to alter the existing system so that ory:From Margin to Center that offer a liberatory vision of feminist women would have more rights.We wanted to transform that sys- transformation never receive mainstream attention.Masses of peo- tem,to bring an end to patriarchy and sexism.Since patriarchal mass ple have not heard of this book.They have not rejected its message; media was not interested in the more revolutionary vision,it never they do not know what the message is. received attention in mainstream press.The vision of"women's lib- While it was in the interest of mainstream white supremacist eration"which captured and still holds the public imagination was capitalist patriarchy to suppress visionary feminist thinking which the one representing women as wanting what men had.And this was was not anti-male or concerned with getting women the right to be the vision that was easier to realize.Changes in our nation's econ- like men,reformist feminists were also eager to silence these forces. omy,economic depression,the loss of jobs,etc.,made the climate Reformist feminism became their route to class mobility.They ripe for our nation's citizens to accept the notion of gender equality could break free of male domination in the workforce and be more in the workforce. self-determining in their lifestyles.While sexism did not end,they Given the reality of racism,it made sense that white men were could maximize their freedom within the existing system.And they more willing to consider women's rights when the granting of those could count on there being a lower class of exploited subordinated rights could serve the interests of maintaining white supremacy.We women to do the dirty work they were refusing to do.By accepting can never forget that white women began to assert their need for and indeed colluding with the subordination of working-class and freedom after civil rights,just at the point when racial discrimination poor women,they not only ally themselves with the existing patriar- was ending and black people,especially black males,might have at- chy and its concomitant sexism,they give themselves the right to lead tained equality in the workforce with white men.Reformist feminist a double life,one where they are the equals of men in the workforce thinking focusing primarily on equality with men in the workforce and at home when they want to be.If they choose lesbianism they overshadowed the original radical foundations of contemporary have the privilege of being equals with men in the workforce while feminism which called for reform as well as overall restructuring of using class power to create domestic lifestyles where they can society so that our nation would be fundamentally anti-sexist. choose to have little or no contact with men. Most women,especially privileged white women,ceased even Lifestyle feminism ushered in the notion that there could be as to consider revolutionary feminist visions,once they began to gain many versions of feminism as there were women.Suddenly the politics economic power within the existing social structure.Ironically,rev- was being slowly removed from feminism.And the assumption pre-, , ! , I .1 4 FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY tem. Even before race became a talked about issue in feminist circles it was clear to black women (and to their revolutionary allies in struggle) that they were never going to have equality within the exist￾ing white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. From its earliest inception feminist movement was polarized. Reformist thinkers chose to emphasize gender equality. Revolution￾ary thinkers did not want simply to alter the existing system so that women would have more rights. We wanted to transform that sys￾tem, to bring an end to patriarchy and sexism. Since patriarchal mass media was not interested in the more revolutionary vision, it never received attention in mainstream press. The vision of "women's lib￾eration" which captured and still holds the public imagination was the one representing women as wanting what men had. And this was the vision that was easier to realize. Changes in our nation's econ￾omy, economic depression, the loss of jobs, etc., made the climate ripe for our nation's citizens to accept the notion of gender equality in the workforce. Given the reality of racism, it made sense that white men were more willing to consider women's rights when the granting of those rights could serve the interests of maintaining white supremacy. We can never forget that white women began to assert their need for freedom after civil rights, just at the point when racial discrimination was ending and black people, especially black males, might have at￾tained equality in the workforce with white men. Reformist feminist thinking focusing primarily on equality with men in the workforce overshadowed the original radical foundations of contemporary feminism which called for reform as well as overall restructuring of society so that our nation would be fundamentally anti-sexist. Most women, especially privileged white women, ceased even to consider revolutionary feminist visions, once they began to gain economic power within the existing social structure. Ironically, rev￾FEMINIST POLITICS 5 olutionary feminist thinking was most accepted and embraced in academic circles. In those circles the production of revolutionary feminist theory progressed, but more often than not that theory was not made available to the public. It became and remains a privileged discourse available to those among us who are highly literate, well￾educated, and usually materially privileged. Works like Feminist The￾ory: From Margin to Center that offer a liberatory vision of feminist transformation never receive mainstream attention. Masses of peo￾ple have not heard of this book. They have not rejected its message; they do not know what the message is. While it was in the interest of mainstream white supremacist capitalist patriarchy to suppress visionary feminist thinking which was not anti-male or concerned with getting women the right to be like men, reformist feminists were also eager to silence these forces. Reformist feminism became their route to class mobility. They could break free of male domination in the workforce and be more self-determining in their lifestyles. While sexism did not end, they could maximize their freedom within the existing system. And they could count on there being a lower class of exploited subordinated women to do the dirty work they were refusing to do. By accepting and indeed colluding with the subordination of working-class and poor women, they not only ally themselves with the existing patriar￾chy and its concomitant sexism, they give themselves the right to lead a double life, one where they are the equals of men in the workforce and at home when they want to be. If they choose lesbianism they have the privilege of being equals with men in the workforce while using class power to create domestic lifestyles where they can choose to have little or no contact with men. Lifestyle feminism ushered in the notion that there could be as many versions of feminism as there were women. Suddenly the politics was being slowly removed from feminism. And the assumption pre-