User:Mgardase1/sandbox

Women of color have challenged the use of the second-wave movement as it places women's oppression at the root of sexism, without any regards to other forms of domination. Generally speaking, women of color acknowledge that race acted as a foundational power structure that heavily effected their lives. The activist work of WOC has been erased from the second wave movement. The term, "multiracial" was used to illustrate the importance of race interacting with other forms of oppression to understand gender relations. With a strong focus on race, multiracial feminism acknowledges, "the social construction of differently situated social groups and their varying degrees of advantages and power". Although not heavily acknowledged upon the second wave movement, women of color and white women took a stand to combat racism and colonialism. Black feminists believed that, "cross-racial struggle made clear the work that white women needed to do in order for cross-racial sisterhood to really be powerful." White women also recognized that sexism was not the root of women's oppression. They collaborated to put forth a anti-rascist movement that incorporated interlocking forms of oppression. One definition of multiracial feminism is, "an attempt to go beyond a mere recognition of diversity and difference among women to examine structures of domination, specifically the importance of race in understanding the social construction of gender." The central point of this perspective is to focus in on the significance of race, institutionalized racism, and struggles against racial oppression to understand how various forms of domination influence women's experiences. Women of color provide an "outsider within" perspective as they are active participants in domination while also continue to be oppressed by it. In understanding multiracial feminism, it is important to note how interlocking forms of oppression persist to marginalize groups of people. Although people continue to be oppressed, others are privileged at the sacrifice of those who don't obtain benefits of the system. Patricia Hill Collins defines the term, Matrix of Domination, to refer to how various forms of oppression work different depending on what social location one obtains. In reference to this term, people will have varying experiences with gender, class, race, & sexuality, depending on what social position one has in relation to structural powers. In terms of interlocking oppressions, this results in different social groups experiencing varying subordination and privilege.