Women of Color in U.S. Society

By Maxine Baca Zinn

Book Overview

The theme of race, class, and gender as interlocking systems of oppression unites these original essays about the experience of women of color-African Americans, Latinas, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. The contributing scholars discuss the social conditions that simultaneously oppress women of color and provide sites for opposition.Though diverse in their focus, the essays uncover similar experiences in the classroom, workplace, family, prison, and other settings. Working-class women, poor women, and professional women alike experience subordination, restricted participation in social institutions, and structural placement in roles with limited opportunities.How do women survive, resist, and cope with these oppressive structures? Many articles tell how women of color draw upon resources from their culture, family, kin, and community. Others document defenses against cultural assaults by the dominant society-Native American mothers instilling tribal heritage in their children; African American women engaging in community work; and Asian American women opposing the patriarchy of their own communities and the stereotypes imposed by society at large.These essays challenge some of our basic assumptions about society, revealing that experiences of inequality are not only diverse but relational. Author note: Maxine Baca Zinn is Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University.Bonnie Thornton Dill is Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Maryland.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566391067
• ISBN13: 9781566391061
• Release Date: December 1993
• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Important book on a double minority!

I read this after borrowing it from a library, but now I really wish I had a copy to keep. If you are a good liberal, you already know that women of color are doubly oppressed. You know that many ppl think all the feminists are white and all the antiracists are male, so the topic can get tired. However, this book was really well done. It covers Black, Latina, Asian, and Native women equally. It talks about women of various class backgrounds and immigration statuses. The articles are accessible to non-academic readers without boring highly educated readers. I particularly love one article which discusses the "domesticization" of bright black girls in public schools. This book may be a little dated by now. But for what it was at the time, it is quite excellent. All womanists and mujeristas should get a copy.