Resistance Challenging the Logic of the Traditional Family
Collins writes: "Just as the traditional family ideals provide a rich site for understanding intersectional inequalities, reclaiming notions of family that reject hierarchical thinking may provide an intriguing and important cite of resistance." In light of the arguments that Collins makes about gender and race in the context of what she calls the "logic of the traditional family ideal", what could resistance of this sort look like? How effective do you think that sort of resistance would be, as compared to the efforts of other strategies political movements use in attempt to bring about change?
The article of It's All in the Family: Intersections of Gender, Race, and Nation really opened my eyes to this concept of intersectionality. One thing worth noting is that this article was published in the summer of 1998 which is a considerable time ago and needs to be taken into consideration when talking about the topic. As I was reading this article I couldn't help but to relate some of the concepts to my own family. And more specifically recognizing the privilege I possess through some of these systems of gender, race, class, and nation. I found it very thoughtful that instead of treating these systems as different topics, they can actually form together or "articulate" to better understand this mutual construction when looking at a traditional family functioning as a privileged exemplar of intersectionality. There is no doubt that intersectionality is still prevalent today, but I believe that there has been this ongoing resistance that has contributed to diminishing the "logic of the traditional family ideal" in the past 20 years.
As mentioned late in the article, this resistance is shown in the end of the 20th century through Black nationalist and feminist movements. I feel as though the question is representing these organizations as not effective and divisive. I can agree with that to a certain extent, but any movement dedicated to making change is always going to have some backlash. Especially when represented by a minority group. This resistance is still around to this day and becoming more powerful in having a lasting impact on rejecting the traditional family. Fundamentally however, these two groups are very different. I believe that the black nationalist movement has a more indirect way of challenging social inequality than the feminist movement does. This indirect form is not rooted in divisiveness, but in their culture. They are true to who they are with each other in how they interact. They aren't trying to single out other cultures, it is just the fact of who they are. That is how resistance can be effective. Similarly, this resistance from black nationalists is being shown currently through the black lives matter movement. While this movement is supported by a majority of people and cultures there is still people who will disagree with it. And curiously, the people I find to disagree with this movement generally represent intersectionality and the traditional family. When a socially constructed ideal such as the "traditional family" is threatened people get scared. This fear may cause disagreements, but fear is inevitable and a little fear is beneficial when change needs to be brought about. Change is rarely supposed to be comfortable especially when it challenges the socially constructed logic of the traditional family.
Hello Brody,
ReplyDeleteI agree that any kind of movement will have some backlash. In the feminist movement, the backlash is mainly sprouting from people calling it an "anti-family movement." Some women might not support this movement because an individual might not feel welcome due to their race or due to the backlash, threatening "traditional families". Change is difficult because it is not only challenging the "traditional family ideal", change is difficult because our whole entire social structure and political structure relies on this ideal. Also, many people in power think that these changes are a personal attack. There is definitely an ongoing resistance of diminishing the "logic of the traditional family ideal", but it is going to be difficult to fully diminish this ideal because it is intersected in all aspect of the United States.
ReplyDeleteHi Brody,
I think a very good point that you brought to my attention was the date of publication of Collins’ article. This is an important thing to keep in mind, as times have drastically changed in the last two decades. This is also a good technique to keep in mind when reading any articles, watching movies, listening to podcasts, etc. I thought your point that “fear is inevitable and a little fear is beneficial when change needs to be brought about” was a very strong and powerful one. Good job!