Introduction
Over the last five decades, feminist writers have developed a wide volume of literature in an attempt to address various problems affecting women in the society. In particular, they have attempted to develop feministic views and perspectives of society, especially in terms of politics, law, policing, prison, healthcare, and education. Nevertheless, feminist writers do not provide personal perspectives that agree with each other. In fact, the perspectives on all of these state institutions seem to be varying and sometimes disagreeing. While the work of feminist writers has contributed to the development and progress of laws protecting females in most state institutions, it is worth noting that female writers continue to develop feminist theories, most of which do not necessarily agree with each other.
Black feminist, for example, sometimes seem to contradict with the perspectives of their female counterparts. More so, poor black feminism has become the major topic of debate in the last few decades. In fact, their perspectives appear to contradict, in most aspects, with the state’s perspectives in various state institutions. Most feminist writers have criticized the state for disregarding the plight of poor black females in state institutions (Nash 16). Arguably, much of black feminist theories have insisted not only that the state has a particular perspective, but that the state’s perspective differs significantly, and problematically, from that of the black women in general and the poor black females in particular. The purpose of this paper is to analyze this argument in order to determine what is to be gained by rethinking the law and prison from some black feminist perspectives and theories.
Feminist perspective of state prisons
Several feminist authors have research the issue of women in prisons and the impact that female imprisonment has on the general society. However, most of the recent literature focuses on the disparities observed in the rates of incarceration of poor black women and those of their female and financially stable black counterparts. If the state was to rethink its imprisonment policies according to the female feminist theories developed in the last few decades, then a number of issues need to be analyzed.
Angela Davis (2) is one of the feminist writers who have attempted to focus on the issue of female imprisonment in the US. According to her work, Davis argues that women face gender discrimination in prison and private life. According to her perspective, female imprisonment is a “gendered public punishment” while domestic violence against women is a “private gendered punishment”. She attempts to use historical and philosophical connections between these two issues. In this context, Davis suggests that an integral relationship exists between women’s prison movement and women’s antiviolence movement, despite the fact that the two movements have remained separated over the last five decades (Davis 3).
Using a historical and philosophical point of view, Davis argues that imprisoned women have remained prone to sexual, physical, and mental violence. The author further argues that the number of imprisoned women, especially women of color, is increasing. In her discourse, Davis says that this is a state machinery to punish the poor black and colored women, especially because they face sexual and physical abuse that is not common in male prisons. She believes that the state has a different and often problematic perspective and policy on women’s imprisonment, which violates their national and international rights as humans. Therefore, her perspective is that the state should facilitate the process of forging alliances and establishing links between the local and state movements and international human rights in order to reduce the number of imprisoned women and eradicate sexual, physical, and mental abuse and rights violations in female cells. So, what can be gained from this perspective if the state was to rethink is imprisonment policies in relation to Davis’ argument?
Evidently, feminist authors like Davis tend to argue that the states’ perspective on the prison is wrong because it discriminates women, especially those from poor backgrounds and the colored. It is clear that this author wants the state to rethink its prison system in such a way that violence against women in prisons be taken as a national and international disaster, especially because the number of women in prisons is increasing. This perspective would result in a complete overhaul of the prison system in order to address the problems facing women in society.
A relatively lenient method of incarceration should be developed specifically for women (Davis 22). The number of imprisoned women would reduce significantly. In addition, the author’s perspective means that violence against women in prisons should be considered as an international problem. This is likely to influence the establishment of a global movement against women punishment in prisons through liaising and developing links with international movements for human rights. Thus, women would gain because they would be assured of their safety and lenient imprisonment methods.
Feminist perspectives on human rights movements
Other feminist writers have criticized the existing movements against violation of human rights, arguing that they fail to address the existing problems affecting marginalized women, especially the poor black and colored females in the US. For instance, Kimberly Crenshaw, a renowned feminist author, argues that poor black and colored females are the product of intersecting patterns of sexism and racism, which is perpetrated by rape, battering and violence mediated by males. Despite the existence of evidence on these problems, these females tend to be underrepresented (or fail to be represented) within the discourses of both antiracism and feminism. As such, there is a larger disparity because the existing human rights movements are also discriminating against these women.
In her perspective, Crenshaw wants the existing human rights movements to take the plight of black and colored women very seriously (Crenshaw 1244). In fact, she argues that the majority whites and financially stable groups are the only sections that have achieved a reduction of violence against women in the last few decades, yet the problem continues to escalate among the poor black and colored groups. Therefore, when the existing human rights movements rethink their position to incorporate Crenshaw’s ideas, the marginalized women are likely to obtain special regards and attention from the community. In fact, they are likely to obtain a special group status, which creates a possibility of giving them the rights to be treated through affirmative action.
Conclusion
These feminist authors tend to argue that the law should also be established in order to protect these groups, which is likely to reduce the rate of violence and abuse against them. In fact, it is evident that the feminists advocates for the establishment of international movements for the rights of the poor colored women as well as lenient laws for the incarceration of black women. Therefore, the males who tend to perpetrate violence against these women should face more strict punishment than those perpetrating other forms of violence.
Works Cited
Crenshaw, Kimberle. Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics and violence against women of color. Harvard Law Review, 43.1 (1993): 1241-1302. Print.
Davis, Angela. “Public imprisonment and private violence: Reflections on the hidden punishment of women”. Frontline feminisms: Women, war and resistance. Ed. Marguerite Waller and Jennifer Rycenga. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.
Nash, Jennifer C. “Rethnking intersectionality”. Feminist Review, 89.2 (2008): 1-15. Print.