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Thoughts from ch. 22 on racism, heterosexism, and black sexuality



“Prisons for Our Bodies, Closets for Our Minds: Racism, Heterosexism, and Black Sexuality,” Patricia Hill Collins
Patricia Hill Collins considers the intersecting relationship between racism and heterosexism. She argues that the assumption that these two hegemonic ideologies represent separate systems of oppression obscures the fact that racism and sexism rely upon each other for meaning. Without sacrificing the acknowledgement of differences in the way that racism and heterosexism manifest, the author shows that the two systems converge and that both systems affect the everyday lives of all people.

In class we attempted to answer the following questions. Since we didn't get to all of them, I encourage you to make comments here answering one of the questions. I am particularly interested in responses to no. 2 and 3 since we ran out of time for this in the 10 am class.

1.     Discuss the ways in which heterosexism and racism are linked, historically, according to Patricia Hill Collins.
2.     The author writes that, “Sakia and her friends share with all women the vulnerabilities that accrue to women who negotiate public space.” Discuss what she means by the phrase “negotiate public space.” How was Sakia negotiating space? Do you agree that all women share the vulnerability the author describes? Why or why not?
3.     Discuss the differences and similarities between the stigmatizing and deviancy associated with Black sexuality and the stigmatizing and deviancy associated with LBGT sexuality, according to the author.
4.     Discuss how binary thinking produces hegemonic ideologies. How else might we think about race and sexuality in order not to support such ideologies?
5.     On what basis does the author argue that marriage regulation has been “needed” when it has been imposed? What conditions do you think the author believes would have been necessary for such regulation not to have been needed by those who imposed it?



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