Course name: PERSUASION; HIST, THRY & PRCT
Course Number: ENGL 3080
Instructor: Topping, Beth A.
Semester: Fall 2021
Introduction to Short Argument: Written
For this short argument I wanted to discuss the idea of intersectionality that needs to occur between women for all to progress. I chose these two speeches because they were both from different time periods and both women are different races that are struggling with some of the same battles. The reason for such a drastic time gap expresses the damage of separation within women in attempts for equality. Women are in desperate need of solidarity to not only show a force of power that is unbroken between all women but aligned morals/principles that will be unshaken. While the writing piece is not expansive to perpetuates the longing and isolation of the feminist movement between POC and white women. This helps draws comparisons in the opportunities and challenges that each woman must conquer. However, the writing needs to explore the rhetoric of white feminism and opportunity more not only to express the negatives of this branding but implore privileged women to examine their place in society to open doors for other women who lack access.
Short Argument #1: Written
Women have always had to fight for a space within a male dominated world. Many persuasive forms of arguments throughout humanity’s existence have shown this never-ending struggle for acknowledgement. Examining iconic pieces such as, “Ain’t I A Woman ” by Sojourner Truth or “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf; we see that this struggle has affected many women of each decade/era and race, despite living in different generations. The concept of intersectionality and feminism furthers the struggles of e ach woman as their stories resonate with each other. Sojourner Truth explores the trauma and hardships of being a woman under the scope of also being African American in her famous speech “Ain’t I A Woman”; here the raw feeling of being a black women beneath the patriarchy is translated by her pain of being seen as less than a woman for being a slave, but also less of a person for being a woman as well.
Virginia Woolf discusses this reasoning as well through clever rhetoric and theorization. She picks up Truth’s idea of women needing to fight for their place in society but expands on the concept of women needing to forge their own space and community outside of the patriarchal gaze. Woolf famously states that, “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction”. While this understanding of money in a capitalistic society is true, what is missing from this statement is women need “solidarity” if we want to covet things of our own. As many women of color often do not have access to large amounts of income as white women. This speech is a missed opportunity to create clear and sharp connections to other women that are different from Virginia Woolf herself. Sojourner Truth understands this aspect as she falls under the compartment of “other women” during the women right’s movement. She clearly saw that the road to female equality was not through the division of white women and women of color but the joining of forces to fight for something bigger than each other’s race.
The only way to reach for the promise of freedom and societal privileges for women is stop trying to divide women’s rights based on differences. Intersectionality includes everyone that falls into the female category and allows for no one to be left behind or disregarded. The feminist movement needs to move away from the idea of solely “white feminism” as that concept not only leaves behind many women of color but is not always generally appealing or equal to women of colors battles.
No woman is equal until all women are equal. Intersectionality protects all women and everyone in between.