Not Just Race, Not Just Gender: Black Feminist Readings

By Valerie Smith

Book Overview

From the nineteenth century articulations of Sojourner Truth to contemporary thinkers like Patricia J. Williams, Black feminists have always recognized the mutual dependence of race and gender. Detailing these connections, Not Just Race, Not Just Gender explores the myriad ways race and gender shape lives and social practices.

Resisting essentialist tendencies, Valerie Smith identifies black feminist theorizing as a strategy of reading rather than located in a particular subjective experience. Her intent is not to deny the validity of black women's lived experience, but rather to resist deploying a uniform model of black women's lives that actually undermines the power of black feminist thought. Whether reading race or gender in the Central Park jogger case or in contemporary media, like Livin' Large, Smith displays critical rigor that promises to change the way we think about race and gender.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415903262
• ISBN13: 9780415903264
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

true academic divadom!

Prof Smith is one of the few contemporary academics who understands that writing can be simultaneously theoretically informed and accessible. This book proves this point. In many ways, the title of the book belies the level of involment in which this book engages: Smith works through the vicissitudes of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation in interesting, and frequently novel, ways. While her discussion of "passing" as a genre and trope of literary investigation/performance, in particular, is important and enlightening, her level of insight into the most "mundane" contemporary topic, such as the Supreme Court or murder trials, provoked my interest even more. It is easy to recommend this book to those interested in topic covered in the title (i.e., "race" and "gender") but wholly another to recommend it to those interested in compelling, involved discussions of the ways class and sexual orientation act as markers of subjectivity. Smith's attention to detail, her desire to see culture anew, and her compelling arguments (sans jargon) make this book a "must have."

The need for an analysis of the "intersections"

Valerie Smith takes the reader through recent news stories and artistic works, both those written and those portrayed in film, to explore the need for an interdisciplinary and multi-perspective approach to society's analysis of various phenomena. Specifically, she discusses "Intersectionality," a theory proposed by many Black Feminists, to critique portrayals and actual occurrences of events such as interracial rape and Blacks "passing" for white. This approach is unique because it recognizes the importance of understanding an event from the perspectives of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, simultaneously. Smith's discussion of contemporary events (e.g., the Central Park Rape Case, the OJ trial, and the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings) combined with the critiques of various books and films, shows the reader how film often portrays life, but more importantly, how real life events are often misinterpreted by what is portrayed in popular culture. Despite being a complicated book, Smith provides a convincing argument for the need for this multi-perspective approach. I personally found the chapter on "passing" to be particularly fascinating. I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy an academic, interdisciplinary approach to contemporary issues.