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Audre Lorde and Minnie Bruce Pratt

Audre Lorde and Minnie Bruce Pratt, in their poems “Who said it was simple” and “Two Small-Sized Girls, respectively, both express their individual intersectionality across the topics of feminism, discrimination, oppression, and Liberation.

Feminism

Feminism plays an influential role for both Audrie Lorde and Minnie Bruce Pratt. They both however rejected second-wave feminism because they felt that it didn’t address their specific intersectionalities, and the latter of the two found themselves closer aligned to the World Worker’s Party (Dudley 3; Outhistory). Never the less, these two authors were active among feminist related causes, though they didn't always subscribe to the feminist label (Anderson 93-94; Dudley 3).

Feminism in poetry

Feminism in poetry

Audre Lorde was very much concerned with the feminist movement, but this excerpt from her poem “Who Said It Was Simple” exemplifies the spirit of her own contribution to the movement: highlighting the marginalization of people of color and LGBT folk – “Problematic girls.”

"Sitting in Nedicks

The women rally before they march

discussion the problematic girls

they hire to make them free"

(Audre Lorde 305-306).

"Despite our raw hearts

Guilt from men who used our going to take our children

We know we've done nothing wrong, to twist and search,

for the kernels of fire deep in the body's shaken husk."

(Pratt 307).

Minnie Bruce Pratt, in her poem "Two Small-Sized Girls,” remarks upon the consequence of laws marital laws that have been utilized to suppress women’s autonomy and punish those that identify as LGBT. In her case, such laws lead to her losing custody of her own children due to her sexuality (Schlib and Clifford 305).

activism

activism

Both Audre Lorde and Minnie bruce pratt are considered activists for not only the women movement, but also LGBT causes and class related rallies (OutHistory; Schlib and Clifford 305).

Audre Lorde speaking in Germany

Minnie Bruce Pratt being arrested for civil disobedience

Minnie Bruce Pratt did not view the world from solely a feminist lens, or rather, she felt that color, sexuality, and class were all relevant to feminism (OutHistory).

Pratt organizing a student protest.

Today, Audre Lorde still inspires feminist activists

Criticisms of second-wave feminism

Criticisms of second-wave feminism

The second-wave feminism started in the late 1950s and moved into the 1980s, but criticisms grew regarding how certain women were percieved (DailyHistory).

Audre Lorde and Minnie Bruce Pratt, though their poetry and civil activism, represented many of those that were associated with the feminist movement, but felt that "difference, diversity, and inclusion should be the lifeblood of the feminist movement" (Dudley 4).

Discrimination

Audre Lorde and Minnie Bruce Pratt both face discrimination throughout their lives. These author were both lesbians born in the earlier half of the 1900s. This alone give indication that throughout their lives they faced much discrimination.

Discrimination Against Lesbian Women America

Discrimination Against Lesbian Women America

Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.

In every country, discrimination and stigma are a daily fact of life for most LGBT people.

-Lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women face disproportionate levels of violence at the hands of both strangers and intimate partners.

-Lesbian women face discrimination and criminalization in a variety of settings such as laws, healthcare, education and housing.

-75 countries continue to criminalize consensual same-sex relationships and up to ten countries have the death penalty for “homosexual conduct.”

Two Small Sized Girls by Minnie Bruce Pratt

Two Small Sized Girls by Minnie Bruce Pratt

"Made wrong knowing we've done nothing wrong"

- Society makes the women feel and look wrong because of their views on what life should look like.

"And hers? Wanting to have her her small garden the way she wanted it, and wanting to go her own way"

-Relatable to life with discrimination. Many lesbian women could not do whatever they wanted because of the fear of discrimination.

Who Said It Was Simple by Audre Lorde

Who Said It Was Simple by Audre Lorde

Title alone discusses that it is not easy to fight for equal treatment. Life with discrimination is extrememly difficult.

But I who am bound by my mirror as well as my bed see causes in color

as well as sex

-Things in life are based off beliefs and appearence. Audre Lorde faced tons of discrimnation as an African American lesbian woman, who was actively fighting for equality.

Oppression

Audre Lorde and Minnie Bruce Pratt fought against the oppression of women in the LGBTQ community and women of all cultural backgrounds. Minnie Bruce Pratt was persecuted after she came out and lost custody of her children. Audre Lorde faced oppression as a lesbian and a black woman. Lorde felt that there was no hierarchy of oppression, meaning that LGBTQ and people of color should unite to fight their oppressors.

Rights as a Mother Revoked

Rights as a Mother Revoked

“Despite our raw hearts, / guilt from men who used our going to take our children, / we know we’ve done nothing wrong, to twist and search / for the kernels of the fire deep in the body’s shaken husk” (Pratt 42-46)

Minnies Bruce Pratt's "Two Small-Sized Girls" described the oppression she faced as a lesbian. The poem is a part of her collection "Crimes Against Nature", named after her experience when she lost custody of her children based on the state's "crime against nature" statute criminalizing homosexual activity. Fortunately, she was able to reconnect with her children.

Facing Oppression as a Lesbian and Woman of Color

Facing Oppression as a Lesbian and Woman of Color

“But I who am bound by my mirror / as well as my bed / sees causes in colour / as well as sex” (Lorde 12-15).

Audre Lorde wrote about the oppression she experienced as a lesbian and a black woman in her poem "Who Said It Was Simple". She believes that LGBTQ issues are connected to black issues because both groups face oppression and share the same objective of achieving liberation.

No Hierarchy of Oppression

No Hierarchy of Oppression

Audre Lorde believed that having the belief that one identity or oppression trumps another is, itself, oppression. She believes that oppressing homosexuals is also an act of oppressing women and multicultural because the LGBTQ community includes women and a variety of cultures.

Today, the world has become significantly more progressive than it was during the time both poems were published, but there is still so much work that needs to be done. We must not let our oppressors divide us. We must fight against hate. We must demand the rights that all women deserve; the same rights that Audre Lorde and Minnie Bruce Pratt fought for.

Liberation

The 1960s was the up roar of the women's liberation movement. Lesbian Feminism, emerged due to the response of the Women's Movement excluding Lesbian Feminist. Feminst that lesbian's were just a sex issue rather than a political issue.

Liberation for lesbians

Liberation for lesbians

“"It is the primacy of women relating to women,of women creating a new consciousness of and with each other,

which is at the heart of women’s liberation and the basis for cultural revolution.” (The Woman Identified Woman, 236)

What Liberation was for the Women's Movement

What Liberation was for the Women's Movement

Provided advocacy and help for :

* Reproductive Rights

* Domestic Violence

*Sexual Assault

*Maternity Leave

*Equal pay

Achivements of Liberation

Achivements of Liberation

Work Cited

Work Cited

Anderson, Kelly. “Minnie Bruce Pratt.” Voices of Feminism Oral History Project, Smith College, www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/ssc/vof/transcripts/Pratt.pdf. Accessed 17 Nov. 2017.

“Chapter 2: Social Acceptance.” Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project, 13 June 2013, www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/06/13/chapter-2-social-acceptance/.

Daniels, Jessie. “The Second Wave: Trouble with White Feminism -.” Racism Review, 11 Mar. 2014, www.racismreview.com/blog/2014/03/04/second-wave-white-feminism/.

Dudley, Rachel A. “Confronting the Concept of Intersectionality: The Legacy of Audre Lorde and Contemporary Feminist Organizations.” McNair Scholars Journal, vol. 10, no. 1, Article 5, 2006. scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mcnair/vol10/iss1/5/.

“Exhibition: Audre Lorde – The Berlin Years.” Freie Universität Berlin, Freie Universität, 3 June 2014, www.jfki.fu-berlin.de/en/library/holdings/audrelorde/exhibition/index.html.

Jones, Kathleen. “Minnie Bruce Pratt · LGBT Identities, Communities, and Resistance in North Carolina, 1945-2012” Outhistory, outhistory.org/exhibits/show/nc-lgbt/queer-nc/minnie-bruce-pratt.

Lorde, Audre. “"There is no Hierarchy of Oppressions".” UC San Diego, University of California, lgbt.ucsd.edu/education/oppressions.html.

Pratt, Minnie B. “Family.” Minnie Bruce Pratt, www.mbpratt.org/family.html.

Quotes, More Famous. “Minnie Bruce Pratt Quotes: Top 3 Famous Quotes by Minnie Bruce Pratt.” More Famous Quotes, www.morefamousquotes.com/authors/minnie-bruce-pratt-quotes/.

Thapa, Saurav Jung. “Gender-Based Violence: Lesbian and Transgender Women Face the Highest Risk but Get the Least Attention.” Voices, 27 Nov. 2015, blogs.worldbank.org/voices/gender-based-violence-lesbian-and-transgender-women-face-highest-risk-get-least-attention.

“What was the Second Wave Feminist Movement?” DailyHistory, 17 Sept. 2017, dailyhistory.org/What_was_the_Second_Wave_Feminist_Movement%3f.

“Women’s History in the U.S.” National Woman's Party, Sewall-Belmont House Museum, nationalwomansparty.org/learn/womens-history-in-the-u-s/.

Group info

Group info

Members:

Danielle Baxter

Chantelle Davis

Trevor Kerby

Kamryn Levins

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