The Impact of Identity on Political Policy: Black Female Legislators
By piecing together various research regarding gender identity and racial identity, I seek to understand how these factors can impact the policy priorities of black women in office.
Understanding the way that identity influences policy priorities can illustrate why diversity is necessary in governmental positions in order to better represent the average citizen. Data shows that the racial identity of black women is more politically charged than their gender identity but, for black women in office, one should expect both identities to impact policy preferences in a similar way and lead to legislation that seeks to empower the disadvantaged. This data supports the movement towards further inclusion of black females in public works such as legislating.
In Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex, Kimberle Crenshaw clarifies that “the intersectional experience is greater than the sum of racism and sexism” (209). It is not enough to look at racism and sexism on a single axis framework because that erases black women from important spaces of study (208). Due to the small sample size of black female legislatures, most political research looks at white women and black men in office. Researchers are often forced to piece together the experience of black female legislatures from this incomplete data so they must keep in mind that the data will not be enough to make full claims on the way identity influences the policy preferences of black women in office.
Group consciousness is important when it comes to politics because it unifies a group under a shared set of beliefs and can lead to the politicization of an identity. Patricia Gurin writes Women’s Gender Consciousness to understand group consciousness and asks the question, “Do more women believe that women are treated categorically?” (144). Women had a weak group consciousness and were more likely to identify with other categories or groups that they belonged to, such as race and age group, before identifying as a woman (154).
One example of this race solidarity over gender solidarity was in the case of Anita Hill testifying about Clarence Thomas sexually harassing her but generally being vilified for coming out against him during a crucial nomination.
Image Source: http://i.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1991/1101911021_400.jpg
In Doubly Bound, by Claudine Gay and Katherine Tate, research illustrates that black women identify “as strongly on the basis of their gender as their race, and that these gender and racial identities are mutually reinforcing” (169). While the common political theory is that race is more salient than gender, Gay and Tate collect data from two national surveys of black Americans to rebut this claim. Their data illustrates an intersectional identity for black women where they find themselves embracing their gender and race (169). Black women are not able to simply separate their race and gender because they are intertwined within their identity.
Beth Reingold continues to look at the policy priorities of female legislatures in Women as Officeholders and finds that researchers need to be mindful of other factors besides gender which influence a woman’s ability represent other women (22). Women of color will be more likely to focus on work that helps poor and working class women, as well as women outside the United States (23). Female legislators of color are more dedicated to an intersectional definition of feminism.
In Black Women in State Legislatures, Edith Barrett finds that black women focus on policies that are anti-discriminatory and benefit all, not just policies about their race or gender (199). These black female legislators are less likely to focus on which discrimination is worse and rather have a holistic view of their experiences (201). White women in office will focus on traditional values and black men in office will more often focus on traditional minority issues (199). Black women uniquely capture both aspects of racial and gender discrimination which makes them an asset to the common citizen.
The black female legislator shatters the myth that black feminist issues are too specific to matter to the average person because the black female legislator works to uplift all. For the views of more citizens, as well as black women themselves, to be represented, more black women need to be elected to congress.
For a list of black women currently in elective office in the US:
http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/women_of_color/FastFacts_AfricanAmericanWomeninOffice.php
Works Cited
Barret, Edith J. “Black Women in State Legislatures: The Relationship of Race and Gender to the Legislative Experience” in The Impact of Women in Political Office, Susan J. Carroll (ed.), Indiana University Press, 185–204.
Gay, Claudine and Kathrine Tate. 1994. “Doubly Blind: The Impact of Gender and Race on the Politics of Black Women. Political Psychology Vol. 19: 169–184
Gurin, Patricia. “Women’s Gender Consciousness.” Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 49, pp. 143-163.
Reingold, Beth. “Women as Office Holders.” Political Women and American Democracy Conference. University of Notre Dame. 5 May 2006. Speech.
Shapiro, Robert and Harpreet Mahajan. “Gender Differences in Policy Preferences.” Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol.50, pp. 42–61.
Swers, Michele L. Women in the Club: Gender and Policymaking in the Senate. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013.
