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Collins Reading Assignment 08

Patricia Hill Collins’ “Outsiders” represent Black women not only as a group, but as a symbolic foundation of sociology hidden underneath the the facade of white American patriarchy. Collins explains that their oppression is a significant portion of Afro-American Women’s culture, but also to culture as a whole. The “Outsider within” refers to how paradoxically these women are ostracized through multiple negative stereotypes, yet remain relevant as the backbone of black feminism and the targeted minority. This is seen in Collins’ example of African American women being often employed as nannies or house keepers, taking care of white families when they fail to do it themselves.

African American women in particular deal with two fronts of oppression, their gender and race. Being put in the lowest possible position in a white male managed institution creates a necessary perspective on society that must be viewed in order to understand the functioning of American culture. Collins stresses the struggles laid out before Black women, and the sole choice of conforming or rebelling. These are concepts that the white majority do not come across, as there is no need for white males to organize activism against any oppressors. This attributes a unique value to feminist Afrocentric resistance to the inherent domination present in their lives.

It is important to consider this viewpoint due to the impact it has on paradigms, which Collins explains in relation to social consciousness. Outsiders see cultural practices differently than insiders, therefore oppositional thinking within society yields an inequality that is better observed through the eyes of the oppressed rather than the oppressor. This is because, as Collins points out, the status of black women in America as outsiders is the key factor of generating tension with insiders. Only by experiencing true oppression can one make a validated judgement on sociological concepts and issues present in reality.