“Patriarchal colonialism” and indigenism: implications for native feminist spirituality and native womanism

ID:	HARP-248
Title:	“Patriarchal colonialism” and indigenism: implications for native feminist spirituality and native womanism
Source:	Hypatia-A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, March 2003, Vol. 18, No. 2; Pg. 58; ISSN: 0887-5367, 3879947
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Dispute Resolution Organ:
Year:	2003
Pages:	0
Author(s):
Keywords:	colonial/colonialism, culture, democracy, gender equality, human rights, United States, US, woman, racism, sexism, ethnic minorities, feminist, civil and political rights, indigenous people, minority rights
Abstract:	One perspective on “feminism” among Native American women is that the emphasis has been on individuality as conceived by early Western feminists who wanted more equality with men in the prevailing patriarchal sociopolitical structures in U. S. American society and who premised their struggle on democratic ideals for gender equity. Starting with the suffragettes, women among the upper and middle classes demanded the vote for “white” women within this historical legacy of the women’s movement, but they were not concerned with other “women of color” in this democratic pursuit. Therefore, Native American women perceived this early feminism as a reaction to an existing patriarchal sociopolitical system not concerned with the racialized oppression–as a result of Euroamerican racism–of other marginalized women and subcultural groups of “ethnic minorities,” such as Native Americans as tribal peoples, or with the impact of U. S. colonialism on their traditional ways of life. Feminists of these earlier and more exclusive times were focused on challenging sexism and the chauvinistic behavior of men, in general, toward women in mainstream populations. These feminists were generally more educated in Euroamerican hegemony, married, and of the middle class, in contrast to their “women of color” counterparts.
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