The essay, Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference, was written by an African American feminist, Audre Lorde, in 1984. She discusses the idea of women being substandard due to their age, race, class, and sex. She states the repression that women have encountered and the troubles that women face in society, especially Black women. Lorde’s argument is that Black women are more targeted because they are black and they are women. When I began to read this essay, the first thing that came to mind was the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Although the play and this essay have been written 25 years apart, I can see some similarities between both texts.
One of the main ideas in the essay is that Black women face double oppression. In A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha faces oppression from not only the white society, but from her brother, Walter, who is a Black male. In the play, Beneatha is only focused on her dreams of being a doctor. But Walter doesn’t approve as he says to Beneatha “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people-then go be a nurse like other women-or just get married and be quiet…” (38). This shows Beneatha’s dreams of being a doctor are frowned upon, even by her own brother. He is implying that women are fit only for supporting roles, such as being a housewife and supporting her husband.
In the essay, Lorde mentions a “mythical norm” which is an ideal image of what an American should look like in society. “This norm is usually defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure” (116). This quote from the essay reminded me of the two themes in A Raisin in the Sun including race and the American Dream. In the play, Walter dreams of having his own business and be able to provide for his family financially. At the time the story was written, it was easier to reach his dream if he was a white male who was financially secure. Walter says “Why? You want to know why? ‘Cause we all tied up in a race of people that don’t know how to do nothing but moan, pray and have babies!” (87). This shows evidence that Walter is furious at his own race who are to blame for their own hardships and inability to achieve their American Dream.
Another quote that Lorde states in her essay was “As members of such an economy, we have all been programmed to respond to the human differences between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate” (115). From the way I understood this quote was that instead of learning about the differences in society and accepting it, people choose to ignore it. If it is something that is influential to them, then they may go along with it. If it’s something that they oppose of, they will abolish it. Relating back to A Raisin in the Sun, I believe this quote from the essay relates to when Mama buys a house in the white neighborhood. Because the Younger family was African American, the white neighbors didn’t want them to move in. The neighborhood didn’t choose to ignore the fact that American Americans were moving into their neighborhood, they decided that they would pay them so they wouldn’t move in to keep them out. This is an example of what Lorde is talking about, as she says “…or destroy it if we think it is subordinate” (115).
Questions:
- In my blog post, I gave examples from A Raisin in the Sun and how these examples go along with Lorde’s Essay. Can you think of more examples from A Raisin in the Sun or The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts?
- Because this essay is written in 1984 (34 years ago), do you think oppression that women encountered in society back then still happens now? Why or why not?
- Off topic question: As you have read Lorde’s essay, why do you think she did not capitalize the word “America”?
