womanism
Walker's social theory
Womanism is a social and political framework centering the experiences of Black women, coined by Alice Walker in 1983 as an alternative to feminism.
Where feminism has historically centered white women's concerns, womanism addresses the intersection of race, gender, and class oppression.
A womanist perspective emphasizes community, spirituality, and the survival of entire peoples rather than individual advancement: Her womanist approach to healthcare considers both racial and gender disparities.
U.S. ethnic identity category
- African diasporaGlobal spread from one continent
- sisterhoodBond among women
- kinshipState of being related
- communityCollective of connected people
matrilineal · ancestry · heritage · Afrocentric · cultural · tradition · family · collective
- holisticAddressing interconnected wholes
- multidimensionalHaving many distinct aspects
- spiritualityConnection to the sacred
- healingRestoration of health
nurturing · self-love · wholeness · survival · flourishing · everyday · practical wisdom · lived experience
Gaining authority or confidence
- agencyPower to act
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
freedom · self-reliance · independence · dignity · resilience · strength · survival · thriving
Fair distribution of opportunities
- civil rightsGuaranteed individual legal protections
- community organizingCollective local civic engagement
- advocacyPleading for a cause
- grassrootsCommon people as political base
solidarity · collective action · mutual aid · reform · racial justice · reproductive justice · environmental justice · voting rights
Competition of speed
- genderSocial identity category
- classGrouping by shared traits
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- privilegeExclusive right or benefit
multidimensionality · discrimination · systemic · interlocking · simultaneity · standpoint · positionality · marginalization
African-American
U.S. ethnic identity category
- African diasporaGlobal spread from one continent
- sisterhoodBond among women
- kinshipState of being related
community · matrilineal · ancestry · heritage · Afrocentric · cultural · tradition · family · collective · racial
Alice Walker
- holisticAddressing interconnected wholes
- multidimensionalHaving many distinct aspects
- spiritualityConnection to the sacred
healing · nurturing · self-love · wholeness · survival · flourishing · everyday · practical wisdom · lived experience · mother-daughter
empowerment
Gaining authority or confidence
- agencyPower to act
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
resistance · freedom · self-reliance · independence · dignity · resilience · strength · survival · thriving · uplift
social justice
Fair distribution of opportunities
- civil rightsGuaranteed individual legal protections
- community organizingCollective local civic engagement
- advocacyPleading for a cause
grassroots · solidarity · collective action · mutual aid · reform · racial justice · reproductive justice · environmental justice · voting rights · Ida B. Wells
race
Competition of speed
- genderSocial identity category
- classGrouping by shared traits
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
privilege · multidimensionality · discrimination · systemic · interlocking · simultaneity · standpoint · positionality · marginalization · centering
- feminismfeminism, feminist theory, gender equality, feminist novels, feminist themes
- Alice WalkerThe Color Purple
- Black Feminismintersectionality, Angela Davis, Alice Walker, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells
- Black Thoughtdouble consciousness, Pan-Africanism, Afrocentrism, W.E.B. Du Bois, Afrofuturism
- Feminist Theorypatriarchy, male gaze, intersectionality, female gaze, Virginia Woolf
- liberation movementsgay liberation, queer liberation, animal liberation, national liberation, feminism
womanismpatriarchy
Male-dominated social order
male supremacy · male chauvinism · sexism · misogyny · anti-feminism