5 Assignment 08

According to Collins, the “outsider within” status of Black women allowed for a unique perspective in society, as they were considered outsiders by the white families they worked for, but had an “insider” perspective as well from working this domestic occupation. This stems from discrimination based on race and gender, with Black women being on the low ends of both, in which these women were not seen as family even though they provided services such as taking care of the children and doing household work. They would even be outright ignored when they were in the room. This allowed them to see oppression on both sides, from the standpoint of the oppressors and as being the victims, revealing the truth about the discrimination.

Collins discussed three aspects concerning the significance of the “outsiders” within perspective that contributed to Black feminist thought. The first theme was that Black women had to create their own definition and validate themselves to strengthen their standing in society. This approach is a response to societal stereotypes that control, dehumanize and exploit the Black woman. By creating a self-definition and self-validation of themselves, it will create a sense of unity and help them reject the internalized oppression from society. The second theme Collins discussed was the understanding and acknowledgement of the oppression stemmed from race, gender and class. The unique experience of oppression face from Black women are different than those from Black men and white women because they face simultaneous discrimination from race and gender, as well as class if they are of the low socioeconomic status, which was typical for Black women. This multitude of oppression allowed them to recognize the struggles from all aspects and realize the importance of fighting against it. The final theme Collins discussed was the importance of Black women’s culture. In order to overcome the oppression, Black women have to know the history of their unique experience. By using this as a foundation, they can teach future generations about their experiences and help strengthen the conceptual ideas of black feminism.

In Collins essay, “Learning from the Outsider Within: The Sociological Significance of Black Feminist Thought,”  she speaks about outsiders.  These outsiders can be people who are not apart of white families.  White families seem to be the norm of standard living and everyone out of that is just an outsider.  These outsiders are able to see reality from the outside and in from the inside, which allows them to understand both perspectives.

Outsiders can contribute to the field of sociology and the understanding of society and culture by having a different glass view of the White people.  Black feminist go through various “marginality”.  Because they go through the oppression of being black and a women, they are able to see things in another perspective. Racism and sexism both share the same ideology of domination that does not see black women as an equal status rather than an other. This creates a dynamic between white women and black women.  White women are seen as secondary to a white man, whereas black women are seen as an object.  They see the lives within their own homes while also observing things with a white household.  This contributes to the field of sociology and our understanding of society and culture because we get to open our minds to another perspective outside of the “norms”.

This essay is very important because it gives us an understanding of the differences in white feminism and black feminism.  Intersectional feminists are usually people who understand the barriers amongst people of color.  I think Black feminism is important to many women of color, regardless if you are black or not, because it shows the importance of speaking out of your oppression.  It gives the women a voice who are not familiar with speaking about things.  They use their platforms to open the door of opportunity and familiarity to other women.

In the situation of the reading, “Learning from the Outsider Within: The Sociological Significant of Black Feminist Though,” black women were consider as the “Outsider”, they were working for white families, became honorary members in that “families,” and make themselves more likely to being a “Insider”. Even the black women were trying to be more closer to the “Insider”, there still had the wall of race and gender between them. According to Collins reading, She argues that, “Black women’s experiences highlight the tension experienced by any group of less powerful outsiders encountering the paradigmatic thought of a more powerful insider community.” She attempts to explain this point by examining the sociological significance of the Black Feminist thought stimulated by Black women’s outsider within status. She explored the idea of three characteristic themes: The black women’s self-definition and self-valuation, the interlocking nature of oppression, and the importance of Afro-American women’s culture.

The importance of Black women’s self-definition and self-valiation is it involves challenging the political knowledge-validation process has resulted in externally-defined, stereotypical images of Afro-American womanhood. The stereotype usually gave the negative image of black women.

The interlocking nature of oppression for Black women is in two way, they were women, and they also were black. The double oppressive make black women faced more difficult situation. And make their standpoint to create the black feminist theory.

In the study of Afro-American women’s culture, the black feminist found out the unexplored areas of the black female experience, they also identified concrete ares of social relations where Afro-American women create and pass on self-definitions and self-valuations essential to coping with the simultaneity of oppression they experience.

In her article, Patricia Hill Collins discusses this idea of the “outsider within” status. This term relates to the marginalization of black women, as they are discriminated against through both race and gender. Black women that worked for white families were able to see what separated the “insiders” from the “outsiders”. Despite all their hard work cleaning, cooking, and taking care of children, they were still never seen as family. They were not acknowledged for their work and were not exactly accepted with open arms, which, ultimately, labeled them as “outsiders”. However, the fact that they were able to view both sides gives them an advantage as they are able to see the truth behind the discrimination. This just proves that it was not about intelligence, or any other factor besides the color of their skin, that set them apart.

When it comes to black feminist thought, Collins discusses three key themes. According to Collins, black feminist thought consists of ideas that are created by black women and strengthens their standpoints. First, she states that it is not possible to separate the historical and material conditions that shape the lives of individuals. Basically, other individuals will not understand Black feminist thought like black women do. Second, there is an assumption that Black women have a unique perspective of their experiences and that common experiences can be shared by black women as a group. Third, being a black women consists of different perspectives, like with class, region, age, and sexual orientation. Also, it is these distinctions that are experienced differently by specifics groups of Afro-American women. Essentially, one role for Black females is to produce facts that will better portray a Black woman’s standpoint for Black women as a whole. Simply put, black feminist thought describes different common themes by using observations about Afro-American womanhood. This brings Collins to two terms, known as Self-Definition and Self-Valuation. Self-definition has to do with challenging the stereotypical ideals of Black women, such as the ‘crazy black woman’. Self-valuation, however, focuses on Black women’s self-definitions by getting rid of the stereotypical images and incorporating authentic black female ideals. The goal, essentially, is to reverse these stereotypical assumptions of black womanhood.

According to Collins, “outsiders” help contribute to the field of sociology and our understanding of society and culture by providing a unique perspective. Many black women were put in the place of being an “outsider” by being a part of the domestic duties for white families. Even though black women became so intimate with the families they worked for, they were still considered an “outsider” due to the fact that they would never truly belong. To help understand the situation, Collins believes that black women must first define and validate their true-selves. This is a response to the stereotypical claims that the world has made to dehumanize blacks. Creating this definition will unify those who share the same experiences and will expose leaders among the community. Collins argues next that understanding the connection of oppression between race, gender, and class is the second crucial theme of black feminists. Collins shows the importance of this connection by referencing Sojourner Truth and Nancy White; who were both women that were black and poor. They were able to first-hand recognize the struggle in all areas of life and therefore, truly realized the importance of bringing to light all aspects of oppression. Lastly, Collins discusses the third theme of black feminist thought to be the importance of Afro-American women’s culture. She believes that understanding the foundation of their culture will help other young black women overcome other situations of oppression when dealing with race, class, and gender issues. Creating this foundation also tells the unique story of the Afro-American women experience. Learning from their own experiences, as well as others, can help black women teach their daughters to go further than they did in life. This applies to all aspects in life; such as education, employment, politics, etc. Collins puts an emphasis on the fact that all genders, races, and cultures can learn from the ideas of black feminism. By using the struggles of one group, we can see the fault in our society and change it for the better.

According to “ Learning from the Outsider Within by Partricia Hill Collins, the outsiders a group people who hold different points of views and perspective ideas in the society. Also, it’s symbolize means the “marginality” of society stand point on self and family. In the article, the outsider is the black woman who struggles with the oppression. There are many stereotypes about the self-definition, self-valuation and culture background. Collins explains about the situation and oppression black women were facing at that time. Also, it’s a key of how the Africa-culture is developing in the society.

In the society pyramid, the white man on the top of the pyramid compared to the black woman. They usually working for the white family and have inequality stand position in society. There is many literature and art works prove that the Black female culture is on the wedge of the society. They are being limit of academic knowledge and personal identity. There is growth of self-valuation in history, because of the stress and pressure of others. Also, many works prove that the stereotype of race, it’s a factor to push black women to change the negative ideas and impacts. They have more images and ideas about their next generation and future.

The nature of oppression is point out by the black feminist, not only between the different races, but also between woman and man. The self-identifying is shown in the history of black women. It’s constructed the structure of sociology and humanity. Most major key of context is the African-women’s culture is influence the society in political, economies and religious. The creativity oppression effects the group of people to study black women’s culture. Compared to the white man, the Black women’s behavior is a critical way of consciousness. The culture of black women’s history is the oppression of gender inequality. In conclusion, the “outsiders” of the sociology structure become a symbol of different ideology and consciousness.

Patricia Hill Collins voices her opinion on the fact that “outsiders” contribute to the study of sociology and how we understand society and culture in her essay, “Learning from the Outsider Within: The Sociological Significance of Black Feminist Thought”. Right in the beginning of the reading, the author begins to talk about how a minority significantly affects the lives of the majority, the example she uses is of African American women. Those women who work domestic duties for white families, and she calls this an “insider” relationship, one where both parties are satisfied, to the point where some whites might say they reveal their love for their black “mothers”. It also allowed for these African American women to realize that white power is not all because of talent or intellect, but more so because of the advantages, they hold due to racism. However, although they were called black “mothers”, the women knew that they could not be a part of these families, they were the “outsiders” (14). Many believe that the outsider within status is quite beneficial than some may think. The benefits include the high probability of individuals deciding to confide in the “strangers” in the way they can’t with each other, the patterns and problems they can notice that others who are involved in such a situation can’t, and Simmel’s definition of objectivity. Mannheim also believes that individuals who hold the outsider within status may develop creative development skills of academic disciplines from the situations they usually have to deal with. Much of these women help Black Feminist scholars in analyzing race, class, and gender, and explaining the sociological significance of black feminists (15). The author uses cross-disciplinary literature to explain not only the Black Feminist thought but also the idea behind sociologists who describe African American women’s outsider within status as usage of their standpoint to conduct research (16).

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.

Outsiders can contribute to the field of sociology and our understanding of society and culture through their experiences and everyday life challenges that they face and how they would tackle that challenge. Collins mentions how African American deals with the oppression that they face from the whites. In one example she mentions how African American women take care of each other because they are in the same position and only have each other to help each other out. By doing this this allows the Afro-American women to deal with the oppression in their own ways while also keeping themselves safe and fighting the oppression in their own quiet way. Collins also mentioned how these Afro-American women consciousness is hidden because they are being oppressed and by not revealing anything they are protecting others African American. One way for them to reveal something without being pressured by the oppression is through creative expression where they are aware of themselves being oppressed and they find different ways to cope with it and continue different activities without letting the oppression get into their ways.

Also outsiders tend to be able to see things that the insiders or sociologist don’t see such as the oppression/racism in a certain area. Collins mentions how Judith Rollins was hired to work in a place and while working the people (employer) there ignored her existence and had a conversation as if she wasn’t there. The people that ignored Rollins were playing the part of the norm that the society had set. Collins mentioned earlier how the dichotomy of white/black and male/female was unstable and that one will always be superior to the other counterpart and this is that norm that was set by physicians (people with the knowledge). Also another example is if you are traveling to another place you will see a different perspective of that place you went to compared to if you were to live there. This is because each person has a different perspective and experience of that place and they each view the place differently. Similarly the African American women has a different perspective compared to white American because they are the ones experiencing the oppression not the whites. That’s why they will find ways to cope with it, but if it were to be the other way around what would happen then?