Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)
Studies - András Tarnóc: Voices From the Wild Zone: Three Versions of the Feminist Aesthetic in American Culture
The Black Female Aesthetic While the white middle-class version of feminism is essential ism oriented, black and Chicano feminists emphasize race, class, and ethnic origin in addition to gender. According to Barbara Smith the roots of black feminism are the home peopled by strong Amazon-like female figures. Her description of "strong, fierce women who could stop you with a look out the corners of their eyes" (xxi) brings Wittig's Amazon to mind. The view of the home as a source of black feminism is somewhat ironic, as black males regard black feminists as people who left the race, a group without a home (xxii). Reaffirming Hurston's description of the black woman as the "mule uh de world, "(14) Smith describes the double discrimination black women are exposed to. As the white man handed the load of the world to the black man to carry, the latter passed it on to black women. The black woman is a subject of two-fold oppression, once due to her skin color, and again due to her sex. The blues, another source of black feminism, commemorated black women's aspirations for freedom both in the public and in the private spheres (xxiii). The notion of black women's independence is also present in their concept of marriage, where the institution is viewed as a "pragmatic partnership" (xxiv). Smith argues that The Color Purple (1982) demonstrates that the rural South and the "lives of our mothers" housed the origins of the movement (1). Celie's experiences display the interlocking systems of oppression, as her subordinated status was reinforced by her sex and her economic position. The rural South compelled black women to fight myths. For Celie political equality and racial liberation did not mean freedom from the incestuous advances of her stepfather, and racism, demonstrated by the mayor and his wife's response to Sofia's efforts to reaffirm her personal integrity, was not the primary enemy. The very act of writing Celie engages in is a revolutionary act as her writing leads to the weakening of patriarchal restraints. Referring to mature women and "outrageous, audacious, courageous or, willful behavior" Alice Walker defines black feminism as womanism (qtd. in Smith xxiv). However, the term "womanism" is not clearly delineated. Arguing that a womanist is committed to the survival of all people regardless of gender, both Walker and Anna 106
