Race and Essentialism in Feminist Legal Theory

“(Harris, 1990) provided a distorted understanding of Black women’s lives precisely because they failed to consider the”

“According to CRF, there is no all-encompassing gender experience or race experience that is independent of other identities (Harris, 2003).”

“From this perspective, critical race theorists have explored, for example, black women’s ‘multiple consciousness’ (Harris 1990) and their outsider status as scholars (Matsuda 1993).”

“Further, to the extent that task force inquiry is claimed to be about women generally, task forces manifest he essentialist assumptions-or what R. W. Connell has described as dichotomous categoricalism-that haunt feminism (Connell 1987, 54-61; see also Harris 1990; Gordon 1991; Grant 1993).”

“Or, is feminine identity a function of one’s multiplicity (i.e., diverse ways of knowing and experiencing), thereby affirming that “differences [between women] are always relational rather than inherent” (Harris, 1991, p. 250)?”

“Trump, is a Cuban-American based in Miami, Florida. Galvez (2016) considers herself ‘American first’ and shared that immigration is not a concern of hers because not all Latinos, ‘think [the current president] is racist’.”

“(Harris, 1990).”

“We speculate that these results could reflect the internalization of cultural beliefs related to obese individuals, who are perceived to be less attractive than their thinner counterparts (Harris, 1990; Sobal et al., 2006; Puhl and Heuer, 2009).”

“Given the numerous communities that one may navigate in their social terrain, one may have the experience of enacting, adopting, and being treated as more than one social self – especially in the case that one belongs to one or multiple marginalized groups (e.g., Anzaldúa, 1987; Harris, 1990; Wing, 1990; Ortega, 2001;…”

“Since in this framework, the incomes of white as well as black workers are lowered, claiming white workers have falseconsciousness is not a sufficient explanation of their racism (Whitehead & Harris, 1999). According to the Urban Institute (2008), employment is an important component of the reentry process.”

“The anti-essentialism idea suggests identities and structures are inextricably linked and mutually shaping (Grillo, 1996; Harris, 1989-1990).”

“Harris also offered a critique of categorization, however, based on a much different premise. Harris (1993) was critical of feminist legal theorists who speak of “gender” as though it were both universal and separate from other systems of domination.”

“Although not all Blacks and Whites may necessarily fit into our racial essentialism (Harris, 1990), we use socially constructed terms people of African descent and Blacks interchangeably to mean individuals born in Canada, the Caribbean, Guyana, and Africa living in Canada who trace their ancestral…”

“Harris (1997) refers to this as the ‘nuance approach’ in which white researchers claim that they can be sensitive to differences between women by offering statements about ‘all women’ in general but qualifying these with the particularities of experience of specific groups of women, these often…”

“This study takes the position that although thrice marginalized – by age, race and gender – African-American girls are not exclusively defined and victimized by their social positioning (Harris, 1990; Ladner, 1972).”

“New theorizations were developed about the differences between women in terms of race, class, age, sexual orientation, ethnic origins, ability, and other complex inequalities (Hooks, 1981; Amos et al., 1984; Lorde, 1984; Barrett and McIntosh, 1985; Bhavnani and Coulson, 1986; Harris, 1991; Anthias and Yuval-Davis, 199…”

“Harris, A. P. (1990). Race and essentialism in feminist legal theory.”

“…would therefore lead to a form of gender essentialism, which Angela Harris, for example, has described as “the notion that a unitary, essential women’s experience can be isolated and described independent of race, class, sexual orientation, and other realities of experience” (Harris 1990, 585).”

“In her critique of second wave feminists espousing a putative “women's experience” (Harris, 1990, p. 588), Harris builds on the work of the American writer, feminist, and civil rights activist Audre Lorde (1984).”

“-7, July, 2014 14 | P a g e 1995; Harris, 1990; Hunter, 1996).”

“Essentialism is problematic because no social group holds a singular perspective and every member holds multiple, salient, and intersecting identities producing unique experiences (Crenshaw, 1991; Harris, 1990).”

“…of Critical Race Theory, CRF is a reaction to traditional and feminist legal theories, which rely on essentialist notions of gender that a single woman’s identity ‘can be isolated and described independently of race, class, sexual orientation, and other realities of experience’ (Harris 1990, 585).”

“There are a number of critiques of MacKinnon’s work that may be consulted for an elaboration of its various difficulties (Brown 1995; Cornell 1991; Haraway 1991; Harris 1990).”

“Multicentered feminism embraces the concept of “multiple consciousness,” welcoming a conception of identity as a compound, developing, and possibly contradictory individual and social process (Harris 1990 , p. 584).”

“…kind anchored by an insistence on specific material and historical contexts within which gender and race gain cultural meaning were not the first levelled at MacKinnon and by the 1990s, the US feminist uproar over pornography had waned considerably (see, e.g. Harris 1990, Duggan and Hunter 1995).”

“The problem identified above is intensified when race is factored into the equation (Crenshaw, 1988; Harris, 1991).”

“Others assert that marginalization cannot be conceptualized as ‘‘more of’’ a disadvantage experience (Harris 1990); rather, the effect of disadvantage is produced by both autonomous and intersecting effects of systems of power.”

“While the failure to acknowledge the unique experiences of Black (Harris, 1990) and Indigenous (Kline, 1989) women has been critiqued, the lessons of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1994) have not been well applied in practice (Hillsburg, 2013).”

“Quadagno, Sly, The study focused on sexual behaviour and decision making Harrison, Eberstein amongst Hispanic, white and African American women. & Soler (1998) Whitam, Daskalos, This research examined the ‘emergence of lesbian sexuality and Sobolewski & identity cross-culturally’ in Brazil, Peru, the Philippines and t…”

“…in which the experience of the white, middle-class, heterosexual woman is ’normalized’ while the voices of those who depart from this ’norm’ are silenced (see, for example, Harris, 1990; National Action Committee on the Status of Women, 1992:1-2; Monture, 1992; Leonard, 1990; Rozack, 1991 a).”

“In many instances, a strategic essentialist approach has enabled political action aiming at real transformation of the gender status quo (Spelman 1988; Harris 1990).”

“Although the concept of intersectionality was developed by Black feminists, the same idea can be extended to other groups of people who experience marginalization through multiple forms of oppressions including Asian American men (Crenshaw, 1989; Harris, 1990).”

“Within the Latino population, just as with various groups (Harris, 1990), there are various experiences, dialects and cultures, by far a homogenous experience.”

“It aims to challenge global feminism and address complexity by recognizing that the intersections of gender, race, and class uniquely impact the lives of women of color (Harris, 2003; Wing, 2003).”

“The analysis of this study is guided by the belief that one of the ways to dismantle systemic racism is by acknowledging that the violence against Black women has largely been ignored by the same system that perpetuates violence against Black men (Harris 2003).”

“We can understand why affectivity and emotion might be decisive conduits in work that play upon our internalised commitments and loyalties (Azar, 2007b; Hardt, 1999, 2007; Hardt and Negri, 2000).”

“We used the CRF concepts of intersectionality and anti-essentialism (Grillo, 1995; Harris, 2003) to highlight the nuanced experiences of WOC HESA administrators.”

“And yet, does such a conclusion risk suggesting a certain form of essentialism in relation to women and the act of judging (Harris, 1990)? Do these statistics show us that women judges have a shared perspective on the world, a perspective that would stem, by necessity, from their feminine essence? Can one conclude tha…”

“…(Collins, 1986, 1990; Harris, 1990; hooks, 1981, 1984, 1989; Crenshaw, 1989) have challenged the notion “that a unitary, ‘essential’ women's experience can be isolated and described independently of race, class, sexual orientation, and other realities of experience” (Harris, 1990, p. 585).”

“Law and policies adopting either women or gender approaches turn out to be essentialist and exclusionary (Harris, 1990; Young, 1994).”

“Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a legal framework developed decades ago by a group of legal scholars who examined the intersectionality of race, gender, society and law (Bell, 1980; Crenshaw, 1989; Delgado, 1988; Freeman, 1978; Harris, 1990; Lawrence, 1987; Matsuda, 1986; Williams, 1991).”

“…ubiquitous, but also as a sudden rupture in their lives.20 Th e notion of atmospheric violence is invoked by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (1991) and Angela Harris (1990) as inextricably linked to the existence of multiple, interlocking systems of oppression.21 It is not incidental that the…”

“L’incontournable intersectionnalité Dans les milieux féministes, tant scolaires, professionnels, communautaires, politiques que militants, l’intersectionnalité est devenue une notion incontournable (Nagy Hesse-Biber et Yaiser, 2004, p. 108-114; Brah et Phoenix, 2004; Poiret, 2005; Kebabza, 2006, p. 168-170; Phoenix, 2…”