Womanist

Womanist – a term introduced by Alice Walker, an American poet and one of the key figures associated with Black feminism, in her book “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens” (1983). Walker coined the term womanist by analogy with feminist and proposed using it to refer to feminists of color whose work, in her view, is marked by ethnically specific ways of posing problems and seeking solutions.

Walker argued that womanism offers a more egalitarian gender model, since it takes greater account of the spiritual, emotional, and bodily needs of both women and men (Sukovata, 2004, p. 408).

At the center of womanism is the Black woman. According to womanist theorists, the liberation of Black women would mean the liberation of all women, since achieving freedom for Black women requires the dismantling of all systems of oppression.

Reference:

Sukovata, V. (2004). Gender i relihiia [Gender and religion]. In Osnovy teorii genderu: Navchalnyi posibnyk [Foundations of gender theory: A textbook] (pp. 385–425). Kyiv: K.I.S. [in Ukrainian].

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