Proud Womanist.
1. From womanish. (Opp. of “girlish,” i.e. frivolous, irresponsible, not serious.) A black feminist or feminist of color. From the black folk expression of mothers to female children, “you acting womanish,” i.e., like a woman. Usually referring to outrageous, audacious, courageous or willful behavior. Wanting to know more and in greater depth than is considered “good” for one. Interested in grown up doings. Acting grown up. Being grown up. Interchangeable with another black folk expression: “You trying to be grown.” Responsible. In charge. Serious.
2. “A woman who loves other women, sexually and/or non-sexually.
Appreciates and prefers women’s culture, women’s emotional flexibility (values tears as natural counterbalance of laughter), and women’s strength.
Sometimes loves individual men, sexually and/or non-sexually.
Committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female.
Not a separatist, except periodically, for health. Traditionally universalist…
3. Loves music. Loves dance. Loves the moon. Loves the Spirit. Loves love and food and roundness.
Loves struggle. Loves the Folk. Loves herself. Regardless.”
4. “Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender.- Alice Walker
Womanism is pro-woman/people who identify as a woman, pro-black, and pro-humankind. Womanism recognizes that second and third wave feminism has not always been inclusive to black women and other women of color, and many brilliant women of color have been pushed out or ignored by mainstream white feminism. Black women face double jeopardy: racism from the white man and white woman and sexism from the white man, the white woman, and the black man. Womanism also acknowledges that women, especially women of color, exist at the intersection of class, racial, heterosexual, and sexual exploitation and oppression, and womanists actively, not passively, work towards correcting those wrongs.
The mainstream definition of feminism is the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes, but there are a couple of hidden gaps within this understanding. First, this shade of feminism assumes that all men/people who identify as such enjoy the same social, political, and economic rights as each other. A Latinx Fortune 500 CEO enjoy far better social, political, and economic benefits than a Native American Burger King manager. Second, it ignores the forces, espoused by people of all genders and sexualities, that perpetuate inequalities, such as classism, misogyny, misandry, and racism. It must be noted that, from the atrocious institution of slavery to the damaging and damning Jim Crow Era to the immoral and reprehensible separation of immigrant children from their asylum-seeking parents, white women have always been complicit in advancing the power of systemic racism and classism. Third, and most importantly, feminism is not one size fits all. Equality should not be the goal of the feminist agenda: unity and equity should be. The social, political, or economic needs of an upper-middle-class white female lawyer are not equal to the those same needs of a black female sex worker, and vice versa. There is a complexity to every person who flourishes under womanhood. Our issues demand action, empathy, and unity. Solidarity should be embraced across feminist thoughtspaces, advocating for the liberation of most disenfranchised femmes and females, from the bottom to the top.
Modern day feminism needs a revamp. It has been corrupted by people who hold sexist beliefs and attitudes towards members of all sexes. We need a new purpose. We need a new rallying cry. Let’s define womanism and her sister, feminism, as movements to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. Let’s be, as Alice Walker said, audacious, outrageous, and courageous. Let’s be womanish.
