Women of Color in the
Feminist Movement: An
Invisible Subgroup?
By: Carolyn Friend
Problem
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Do women of color have a strong presence in
the feminist movement ?
How did feminist organizations for women of
color take off ? Are there connections
between their rise and the rise of general
feminist and general women’s organizations?
Does there seem to be a connection to
historical events and other social
movements?
Theories and Hypotheses
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Organization dynamic model: growing density
of civil rights organizations promoted
women’s activism and organizational activity.
(Minkoff 1997)
z
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Most ethnic/racial minority rights struggles
spawn separate women’s movement (Garcia 1989)
There should be a steady increase in
cumulative women’s organizations from 1848
with sharper increase in the late 1960s.
Hypotheses
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Organizations for women of color are out
there, but they don’t have the bodies and $ to
be as strong as general feminist
organizations.
Due to institutional racism and the whiteness
of mainstream feminism, organizations for
women of color struggle to catch on.
Background on Feminist
Movement
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Feminist movement- industrialization,
urbanization, displacement of female
functions out of the home, further
education, changing values of women
1830-1865: Women wanted to get
involved in abolitionist movement but
couldn’t because they weren’t allowed to
speak in public
(Freeman 1975)
Background
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First Wave of feminism- centered around
women’s suffrage movement (1890-1920)
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“like White men, many White women wanted the
power of the vote—exclusively for themselves.”
(Taylor 1998, 237)
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African American women were pushed out by
white suffragists but still remained active in the
start-up of the civil rights movement
Background
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Second Wave of feminism- centered around
women’s liberation movement: mid 1960s-70s
z Kick started by civil rights movement: 19541965 (Taylor 1998, 239)
z “frustration with the contradictions between
progressive politics and practice led [women
of the civil rights movement] to organize
independently against male-dominated
institutions” (Minkoff 1997, 783)
Second Wave & Women of Color
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1966- National Organization for Women is
founded by Betty Friedan, Aileen Hernandez,
and Pauli Murray (Taylor 1998, 242)
z
z
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Portions of NOW were modeled after NAACP
In 1974 10% of NOW members were of color
Prior to 1973 black women’s groups dealt
with problems in the black community.
Black Women Organized for Action
National Black Feminist Organization
(Freeman 1975)
Black Feminist Organizing
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z
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1973- NBFO held their first conference and
were very particular about the attendees
Worked to change beliefs that feminism was
only advantageous to white women
Pressured NOW to include issues of women
of color and poor white women
Most influential group in the struggle were
lesbians
(Taylor 1998)
After the protests…
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Late 1970s: sharp increase in density of
organizations
z
z
z
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Mass membership associations
Specialized groups
Single-issue groups
Traditional women’s groups
“Unobtrusive” mobilization (Katzenstein 1990)
(Minkoff 1997)
Methods
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Associations Unlimited
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Subject descriptor “women” & “feminism”
Only national organizations
627 total
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362 feminist
58 women of color
Coded for founding date, staff size, budget, what
racial group the org focused on, and whether or
not the org was feminist
Codebook
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0=general feminist
1=Black
2=Hispanic
3=Asian
4=Middle Eastern
6=general minority focus
7=American Indian
Feminist: promotes equity; physical, mental and
emotional wellbeing; integrate into church; women’s
health policy; advocacy
Minority Focus Women's Organizations
25
20
15
10
5
0
Af-Am
Hispanic
Asian
Middle
Eastern
General
Minority
American
Indian
400
300
200
18
44
18
83
18
95
19
08
19
18
19
27
19
35
19
44
19
51
19
60
19
68
19
75
19
82
19
89
19
96
18
44
18
83
18
95
19
08
19
18
19
27
19
35
19
44
19
51
19
60
19
68
19
75
19
82
19
89
19
96
All Women’s Groups: N=566
Cumulative Women's Groups
Women's Group Foundings
600
35
500
30
25
20
15
10
100
5
0
0
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1995
1993
1991
1986
1984
1982
1980
1977
1975
Feminist Foundings
1972
1969
1952
1935
1858
1995
1991
1987
1983
1979
1975
1971
1967
1963
1956
1951
1946
1938
1928
1921
1916
1899
1890
1858
General Feminist: N=324
Women of Color: N=49
Women of Color Foundings
6
5
4
3
2
1
Aggregated Budget
Aggregated Staff Size
Entire Sample
$434,482,143.00
4,746
Feminist
$203,403,556.00
2,564
Non-Feminist
$231,078,587.00
2,182
Women of Color
$14,788,230.00
237
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Feminist Organizations
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47% of aggregated budget
54% of aggregated staff
Average Org: $562,000; 7 staff members
Women of Color Organizations
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3.4% of aggregated budget
5% of aggregated staff
Average Org: $255,000; 4 staff members
Women's Org Budgets
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
under $25,000
$25,000 to
$100,000
$100,001 to
$500,000
$500,001 to
$1,000,000
Feminist Budgets
Women of Color Budgets
40
8
35
7
30
6
25
5
20
4
15
3
10
2
5
1
0
0
under
$25,000
$25,000 to
$100,000
$100,001 to $500,001 to
$500,000
$1,000,000
over
$1,000,000
over
$1,000,000
under
$25,000
$25,000 to
$100,000
$100,001 to
$500,000
$500,001 to
$1,000,000
over
$1,000,000
Staff Sizes, Women's Organizations
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Zero or
missing
One
2-4
5-7
Staff Sizes, Feminist
8-10
More than
10
Staff Sizes, Women of Color
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Zero or
missing
One
2-4
5-7
8-10
More than
10
Zero or
missing
One
2-4
5-7
8-10
More than
10
Analysis part 2
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Chose around 15 large women of color
organizations to profile
Encyclopedia of Associations – every 5 years (1970present)
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Membership
Staff
Budget
Issues
Goal was to see how issues changed over the
course of the organizations history
Why it didn’t work
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Needed to work forward in time instead of
backward
High mortality rate of organizations when
looking back
Insanely time consuming
Many entries that did show up in many
editions also stayed exactly the same
Other Issues
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Founding black women’s organizations aren’t
in the Encyclopedia so I wonder what else is
missing
I would have liked to do the same sort of
analyses with civil rights organizations
Out of all feminist organizations, 230 are
missing budget information and 157 are
missing staff information
There is no research on this topic
Interpretations
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All the literature backs up that the civil rights
movement opened the door for the women’s
liberation movement. I couldn’t separate them if I
tried.
Women’s organizations do begin increasing in
numbers after Seneca Falls
Feminist organization foundings also seem linked to
historical events- 19th Amendment, Civil Rights Act,
founding of landmark organizations
Organizations for women of color increase after the
Second Wave of feminism begins. In response to
racism within the movement?
Further Interpretations
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It appears that women of color organizations do
actually have the staff to keep the orgs running, they
just lack funding
z Women of color are less likely to have the time
and $ to devote to worrying about social issues
(Freeman 1975)
Donors tend to be wealthy whites (Ostrander 1999)
Since my part 2 analyses didn’t quite work it is
obviously that women of color organizations do
struggle to keep going
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Conclusions
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Feminism is a very white movement
Organizations for women of color are out there, they
follow similar patterns to general feminist
organizations, but they encounter more roadblocks
It would be very interesting to trace how major
feminist organizations issues have changed.
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Perhaps issues concerning women of color have been
incorporated more recently? Hence the mortality of many
organizations.
Bibliography
Associations Unlimited Online Database. 2003. Gale Research Co. http://www.galegroup.com/.
Feminist Pedagogy Resources and Tools. 2003. OSU Women’s Studies Dept. http://www.womensstudies.ohio-state.edu/pedagogy/Teaching/timeline.html.
Freeman, Jo. 1975. The Politics of Women’s Liberation. New York: David McKay Company, Inc.
Gale Research Company. 1970-2002. Encyclopedia of Associations. Vol 1, National Organizations.
Detroit: Gale Research Co.
Garcia, Alma. 1989. “The Development of Chicana Feminist Discourse, 1970-1980.” Gender and
Society 3: 217-238.
Hunter, Andrea. 1998. “Feminist Attitudes among African American Women and Men.” Gender and
Society 12: 81-99.
Katzenstein, Mary. 1990. “Feminism within Institutions: Unobtrusive Mobilization in the 1980s.” Signs
16: 27-54.
Minkoff, Debra. 1997. “The Sequencing of Social Movements.” American Sociological Review 62: 779799.
Ostrander, Susan. 1999. “Gender and Race in a Pro-Feminist, Progressive, Mixed-Gender, MixedRace Organization.” Gender and Society 13: 628-642.
Scott, Ellen. 1998. “Creating Partnerships for Change: Alliances and Betrayals in the Racial Politics of
Two Feminist Organizations.” Gender and Society 12: 400-423.
Taylor, Ula. 1998. “The Historical Evolution of Black Feminist Theory and Praxis.” Journal of Black
Studies 29: 234-253.