"The "unknown" is often depicted in racist literature as the "darkness" within a person. Similarly, sexist writers will refer to fear in the form of the vagina, calling it "the orifice of death." In contrast, it is a pleasure to read works such as Maxine Hong Kingston's Woman Warrior, where fear and alienation are described as "the white ghosts." And yet, the bulk of literature in this country reinforces the myth that what is dark and female is evil. Consequently, each of us-whether dark, female, or both-has in some way internalized this oppressive imagery. What the oppressor often succeeds in doing is simply externalizing his fears, projecting them into the bodies of women, Asians, gays, disabled folks, whoever seems most "other.""
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Short story writers from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesMemoirists from the United StatesEducators from the United StatesFeminists from the United States
Original Language: English
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Sources
CherrĂe Moraga, This Bridge Called My Back
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maxine_Hong_Kingston
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Maxine Hong Kingston
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